Record setting September ends with an American Coot

American Coot, Oxbow, Northampton, MA, Sep 30, 2020

American Coot, Oxbow, Northampton, MA, Sep 30, 2020

Dark eyed Junco with White throated Sparrows, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 29, 2020

Black throated Green Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 28, 2020

September has now come to an end and with it the peak of passerine migration. Certainly there are still warblers and vireos and others to be found in the next few weeks as well as the peak of sparrow migration but the big numbers and diversity of passerines are gone from the area until next May.  Overall September was sunnier than average with lots of nights of great migration conditions which probably was the cause in the low numbers of several species of warblers (more on warblers for the month at the following link). I think the great migration conditions just kept the birds moving on to the south in general. There were a fair number of unusual species around for the month (including an American Coot that arrived right at the end of the month) and this helped me reach my highest ever total for species in Hampshire County in September with a total of 169 species. This beat my previous high of 164 in 2018 and was well above the typical average September which is usually in the low to mid 150’s.   October looks to be starting out a little wet to be quickly followed by sunny and cooler conditions for the first few days of the month and generally cooling as true fall starts to set in.

The new water feature continues to attract new species with Dark eyed Junco and Black throated Green Warbler in the last couple days plus loads of White throated Sparrows.