I have been watching the changing forecast all day today for Hurricane Henri and after a forecast jog over to the west this morning the latest forecast from the NHC has it coming right over the valley, which would put us in the sweet spot for unusual species to show up. The storm is currently a Category 1 storm with winds of 75MPH with higher gusts. It is forecast to gain a little more strength but should still stay a Category 1 storm before making landfall on Long Island. It will rapidly lose intensity but should still be a tropical storm as it moves through inland Massachusetts. The exact track will almost certainly change somewhat but the cone of uncertainty continues to tighten up as the storm gets closer and the potential is there for some really good stuff to show up in the area. I will be out looking starting tomorrow morning and especially tomorrow afternoon into the evening as the worst of the storm moves in. This will probably be the last update here on the storm until after it passes. If you can get out there and hit bodies of water and flooded fields (if it is safe to do so) and try to get photos if you can to document any rarities and get positive identifications on species you do not know. A great article on what to look for with the storm can be found at the following link.
I headed out this morning and you would never know a hurricane was on the way. It stayed very humid all day with temps into the 80's with a mix of sun and clouds (with the sun winning out). I made a dawn stop at Lake Wallace and then down to check out a small puddle in Granby that has produced some shorebirds lately (and hopefully will attract more from the storm moving through). Nothing unusual there but a count of eight Solitary Sandpipers was nice. I then headed to Herman Covey WMA mainly to see if the large beaver dam that failed resulted in some good mud flats for shorebirds....it did not. I did come across a decent mixed species flock there including another early Northern Parula and a Mourning Warbler among eight species of warbler.
In the evening while going out to grill I noticed a few Common Nighthawks moving north and they just kept coming. Over the course of around 40 minutes I had at least 406, which is my highest count ever at the house (previous high count was 388 on August 24, 2009).
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