The last few days and an update on hurricane season

Purple Finch, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 14, 2020

American Golden Plover, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2020

Northern Parula, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2020

Brown Thrasher, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2020

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 12, 2020

American Redstart, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 12, 2020

Northern Cardinal, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 12, 2020

The last few days have featured a decent selection of species but no big influx as the migration conditions have been less than ideal but that looks to change overnight as strong northwest all day today will slacken a bit and allow a large movement of birds tonight.  There have been a number of species hanging on a bit late into the month plus I finally caught up with my first American Golden Plover for the season (and many others got to come by to enjoy it).  September has been very productive for me so far with a total of 150 species so far in Hampshire County which is well ahead of average (my previous best by this date is 141 species in both 2018 and 2012 and 2018 set my all time September best total at 164...we shall see where the month ends up).  The influx of Red breasted Nuthatches and Red Crossbills continues and the number of Purple Finches have increased dramatically in the last few days with double digit counts at multiple locations...it looks to be a very interesting fall for irruptive species.

Tropical activity in the Atlantic as of 2:00PM, Sep 14, 2020 (image from NHC)

As expected with how the year has gone so far the tropics are very active with a record tying five named storms as of today (Hurricanes Paulette and Sally and Tropical Storms Rene, Teddy and Vicky).  Hurricane Paulette struck Bermuda today as a Cat 2 storm and is now moving out into the open Atlantic and will likely become a major hurricane at some point but is no longer a threat to any landmass.  Hurricane Sally is in the Gulf of Mexico and is forecast to slowly move ashore near the Louisiana/Mississippi border as a Cat 2 tomorrow.  TS Rene is now a remnant low that will dissipate in the next couple days.  TS Teddy is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane but will not have any impact on any landmass as it moves northwest well to the east the the Lesser Antilles.  TS Vicky will likely dissipate well out in the Atlantic over the next several days.  The NHC is also following two more areas of interest with one in the western Gulf of Mexico (which has a low chance of development) and another tropical wave coming off of Africa which has a moderate chance of development in the next five days.  None of these storms pose a threat to the northeast at this point but always worth keeping a wary eye on what has so far been a record setting hurricane season that continues until November.