A record setting June comes to a very hot end

House Wren with leg bands feeding young at nest box, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jun 29, 2021

Purple Martin, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 29, 2021

Peregrine Falcon juvenile, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 29, 2021

Killdeer juveniles, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 28, 2021

Eastern Meadowlark, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 28, 2021

A record setting June for me in Hampshire County is now almost over and it has ended on a very hot note with the arrival of our second heat wave of the season with highs topping out in the mid to upper 90's for multiple days with high humidity.  I ended the month with a total of 145 species, easily beating my previous high of 136 (set in both 2019 and 2020).  There were a number of rarities around in addition to the peak of breeding season.  Among the rarities were Blue Grosbeaks, Purple Martins, a Northern Harrier late in the month, Least Bittern and Marsh Wren.  As the month comes to an end there are more and more recently fledged birds around as well as some species starting their second broods.  

More Purple Martins in Hadley

Purple Martins (three in view at once), Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Purple Martins (three in view at once), Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Purple Martins, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Purple Martin, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Purple Martin, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Barn Swallow and Bank Swallow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Black Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

Brown Thrasher on nest, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 27, 2021

I headed out this morning before the extreme heat arrived with the beginning of our second heat wave of the year.  We have had fairly strong southerly winds for a couple days and the temperatures have started to respond with highs today in the low 90's with increasingly high humidity.  The highs for the next few days loom to reach the mid 90's with high indexes in the 105 degree range.  My morning started off around dawn at Lake Wallace (which was fairly quiet...I think mainly due to the drawdown on the water levels this season).  I'm forever hopeful that someday Black bellied Whistling Ducks will make an appearance at Lake Wallace but today was not the day.  I then made my way down to the Holyoke Dam which held a few dozen vultures including at least four Black Vultures.  The Chimney Swift count was down a bit from just a couple days ago when it peaked at over 400.  As I had some errands to run in Hadley I headed north next with stops at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and the Honey Pot.  I was stopping at Silvio Conte NWR mainly to check on the ongoing pair of Purple Martins that first showed up in mid June.  I arrived to find one sitting outside the gourd the pair has been favoring the last couple weeks.  As I was watching the single bird I heard some martins calling and noticed the bird sitting on the gourd was looking skyward.  Within a few moments two more Purple Martins arrived!  At this point the individual sitting outside the gourd quickly entered the gourd and I didn't see it leave.  I thought I heard another martin calling but could not be sure.  There are now at least three (and possibly four) Purple Martins present.  One of the remaining martins started investigating one of the other gourds.  Really amazing to have even one Purple Martin around but to have more than that is crazy given how rare the species is in the western part of the state.  My stop at the Honey Pot was mainly to try to find the ongoing (but sporadically seen) Blue Grosbeaks.  There were a few other birders present and despite our best efforts we struck out on the grosbeaks.  Nonetheless we still had some good birds with nesting Brown Thrasher and Northern Mockingbird as well as a flyover Northern Harrier (unusual in the county in June).

Large vulture roost at the Holyoke Dam

Black Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Turkey Vultures and a Black Vulture, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Turkey Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Turkey Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 21, 2021

Turkey Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 21, 2021

Black Vulture, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 21, 2021

I first noticed a large gathering of vultures at the Holyoke Dam on June 15th when I made a stop after work, arriving at the dam around 8:30am.  At that point I had 78 Turkey Vultures and three Black Vultures.  Another stop on June 21st (a bit earlier in the morning...around 7:30am) produced an even larger gathering with 102 Turkey Vultures and 4 Black Vultures (my largest gathering of vultures I have ever had in Hampshire County).  With the larger numbers present early and birds already in the air when I arrived on both of these previous mornings I really wanted to get there at first light and I did that today.  Unfortunately (and quite surprisingly) I could only turn up a single Turkey Vulture!  I made a few stops at the dam over the course of the early morning but the vultures never arrived.  Not really sure on the reason why there were so few today.  I will stop down that way again over the next few weeks to see if the large numbers return.

The Holyoke Dam has become a great location to get high counts of Turkey Vultures in the county with my highest counts prior to this year all coming from that location over the last few years with the previous high count of 72 back on July 4, 2018.

Osprey, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Double crested Cormorants, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Common Mergansers, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 21, 2021

Bald Eagle with leg bands, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 24, 2021

Bald Eagle with leg bands, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 24, 2021

Double crested Cormorant, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 24, 2021

In addition to the vultures, the area around the dam has featured some notable species or high counts of common species including at least 285 Chimney Swifts, a least a dozen Double crested Cormorants, an Osprey and a banded Bald Eagle over the course of my multiple visits.

Breeding Bird Survey completed this morning

Swift River at BBS stop #9, Ware, MA, Jun 19, 2021

Large field at BBS stop #29, Monson, MA, Jun 19, 2021

Cedar Waxwing, Monson, MA, Jun 19, 2021

Louisiana Waterthrush, Monson, MA, Jun 19, 2021

I completed my Breeding Bird Survey route this morning despite some less than ideal weather to start.  The route begins in Belchertown at 4:42am and then travels south through Ware, Palmer and Monson and ends near the Connecticut line.  It consists of 50 stops at one half mile increments for three minutes each.  I have been running the route for eleven years now (I even ran it last year despite the official survey oddly being cancelled due to the pandemic).  The route began with overcast conditions and a slight breeze and after several stops it started to pour.  I almost scrapped the route for the day but then the rain stopped as quickly as it started so I continued on.  There were a couple more sprinkles along the way but by half way through the sun was coming through and by the end it was mostly sunny.  Overall for the route this year I had 71 species, which is around average and the same number of species I had last year. This year turned up two new species for me on the route with a Red tailed Hawk and Eastern Meadowlark.  I have now found a total of 109 species along the route.  I covered the all the previous year totals in my post on the survey last year.  Unfortunately eBird changed the way one can easily manipulate data so I can't break down the most numerous species this year. 

Purple Martins continue and a large gathering of vultures

Black Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Turkey Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Turkey Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Double crested Cormorants, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Osprey, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Northern Flicker, Mitch's Way, Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Purple Martins and Tree Swallow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Purple Martins, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

Purple Martin, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 15, 2021

After a long shift at work I got out this morning and after a couple quick errands I headed over to check on the Purple Martins in Hadley.  I arrived to find one sitting at the entrance of one of the martin houses and after watching for it for several minutes the female came out of the house and then they flew off together.  They returned with the female carrying some nest material and she quickly entered one of the houses and then emerged and sat and preened.  A couple Tree Swallows harassed the martins for a bit before they left them alone.  It will be very interesting to see if they have success in nesting.

Without any rain on the immediate horizon I decided to take advantage and make a few more stops with my next stop down to Mitch's Way.  The mosquitos were bad but the breeding birds were good.  Nothing too unusual but there were a few fledglings out and about (no sign of the Mourning Warbler that was present for a few weeks).

My next stop was down to the Holyoke Dam where I turned up a number of notable species (mainly for the number of individuals).  The vultures were a highlight with at least 78 Turkey Vultures and three Black Vultures.  I also had at least 55 Chimney Swifts, a dozen Double crested Cormorants and an Osprey.  There were also quite a few swallows around with five species present.  With these swallows and the Purple Martins earlier I had a half a dozen species of swallows and martins in the county in a single day...something I have never done before.  With a few new species today I made it to 137 species in Hampshire County for the month which tops my previous best June totals of 136 in 2019 and 2020 with half the month still to go.  I'm also well ahead of where I usually stand for totals in the county YTD with 224 species so far (previous best year being 218 at this point...I have no idea if this means another record breaking year but time will tell).

Purple Martins attempting to nest in Hadley

 

Purple Martin, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 13, 2021

Purple Martins with Tree Swallow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 13, 2021

Purple Martins, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 13, 2021

Purple Martins, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 13, 2021

Purple Martins, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jun 13, 2021

Another very rare species for the area has shown up and looks to be attempting to nest here.  This time it is a pair of Purple Martins that were originally found by a friend of a friend when she was visiting Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River on Friday.  I got a message about the birds on Saturday morning after I had already gotten to work so I would have no chance to try to see them until this morning when I got out of work.  Many birders were able to relocate them on Saturday and the birds were observed bringing leaves into one of the artificial martin houses that were installed this year.  I really did not think there was any chance martins would show up to use them and the installation would only provide additional nesting locations for the House Sparrows of the area.  I was very happy to be wrong about that assumption.  A little about the history of Purple Martins in the area.  In the late 1800's through the early 1900's there were multiple colonies in western Massachusetts but after a few cold snaps and especially after severe competition from the introduced House Sparrow the species disappeared from the area as a breeder and became an increasingly unusual visitor.  They were also in competition for nesting locations with another introduced species (European Starling) as well as Tree Swallows.  In the more recent past the species has been less than annual and is usually seen during rainy, cool weather that concentrates groups of swallow species.  I have personally seen the species in Hampshire County just three times before today with singles along the Connecticut River in Hadley in August 2015, at Winsor Dam in April 2016 and at Lake Wallace in September of 2016 (this last one was the only previous one I got photos of).  The two today were fairly cooperative but spent a lot of time high in the trees along Moody Bridge Road before they would disappear for a bit (presumably to feed over one of the many nearby fields).  After almost an hour of waiting the martins came in to the nesting gourds and allowed for more close study through the scope.  It will be interesting if they stick around and try to nest.  It will be tough with some fairly aggressive neighbors including Tree Swallows, European Starlings and House Sparrows

Blue Grosbeaks back in Hadley

Blue Grosbeak, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 10, 2021

Blue Grosbeak, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 10, 2021

Blue Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 10, 2021

After a few unsuccessful attempts lately to relocate a/the Blue Grosbeak I had in the Honey Pot section of Hadley I finally found a pair today.  I originally had one singing very distantly at the location on May 22 and then briefly heard it again perhaps a week later.  A few others were able to get views and photos of a male in the last few days so I decided to spend some time trying again to track them down and perhaps get some evidence of breeding once again.  This species is very rare here in summer and only in the last couple years has it bred here with the first suspected record in 2019 and the first confirmed record last year.  After a bit of looking this morning I eventually had a pair of silent birds moving around quite a bit.  Hopefully they will breed successfully here once again.

Brown Thrasher, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 10, 2021

Brown Thrasher building nest, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 10, 2021

Common Merganser with ducklings, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jun 10, 2021

As I looked around for the Blue Grosbeaks I came across quite a few other species with a family of Common Mergansers in the Connecticut River and a number of Brown Thrashers including a pair building a nest.

House Wren with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jun 10, 2021

Eastern Bluebird nest with young, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jun 10, 2021

Gray Catbird nest with young, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jun 10, 2021

At home the Eastern Bluebird and Gray Catbird nest continue to host rapidly growing young with the adults coming and going fairly constantly.  I also caught up with a few of the birds recently banded in the yard.