Birds the last few days (with some continued rarities), some bad thunderstorms and a tropical update

Little Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Brown Thrasher, Robbins Rd, Ware, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Black and White Warbler, Robbins Rd, Ware, MA, Aug 24, 2020

Red breasted Nuthatch, Robbins Rd, Ware, MA, Aug 24, 2020

With the power being out overnight (see below) I figured I would have to hang around the house to get the generator running and get the house back to some semblance of order but thankfully the power came back on a bit after five I was able to get out early and make my way over to Lake Wallace to check on the herons coming in from their overnight roost.  I had a count of 31 Green Herons (my highest for the season so far) and the continued Little Blue Heron.  In addition I had at least four Virginia Rails (two adults and two fairly young juveniles...videos of both at the links below), a Common Nighthawk over the marsh and a flyover Red Crossbill.  My plan was to then head over to bird a large part of Quabbin Park but the gates remained closed (probably due to storm damage) so I had to be content with just a few areas accessible and had a nice show of Red breasted Nuthatches (a theme for the entire morning in every area I stopped).  I then headed over to Ware and birded an area in the west part of town and had some mixed flocks as migration continues starts to really get underway. After dodging several roads blocks on the way home due to trees and power lines down I picked up Wilson and we went for a walk in Belchertown and had a double digit count of Red breasted Nuthatches...a really impressive incursion of this species is currently underway (more on that at the Birdcast link.)

Blue Grosbeak carrying food, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Aug 22, 2020

Blue Grosbeak, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Aug 22, 2020

Merlin, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Aug 22, 2020

On my way to work on Saturday morning I stopped off at the Honey Pot and had at least five Blue Grosbeaks still present including a juvenile still being fed by an adult male.  Another neat sighting was a Merlin that came cruising in and almost managed to get a Mourning Dove.

large hail, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 23, 2020

We got hit with some sever storms in the early evening yesterday with lots of lightning, wind and heavy rain and the biggest hail I have ever seen at home (up to quarter size).  We lost power around six and never got it back until around dawn this morning.  Areas just a few miles to the east had even more extensive damage while areas just to the west didn't even get a drop of rain.


A quick update on the tropics as of today.  Tropical Storm Marco is nearing a landfall in Louisiana but thankfully it has been greatly weakened by wind shear and will hit as a weak tropical storm at best.  Tropical Storm Laura on the other hand is currently a strong tropical storm sitting on the south side of Cuba and predicted to head off into the Gulf of Mexico and develop into a potential strong hurricane and landfall somewhere in the area of the Texas and Louisiana border late Wednesday into Thursday.  More on the avian potential with both storms can be found at the following Birdcast link.

American Redstart, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 20, 2020

Blue Jay, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 20, 2020

Northern Flicker, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 20, 2020

Common Grackle, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 19, 2020

The camera at the water feature has started picking up some increased activity after being fairly quiet for a few weeks.