The last few days have featured above normal temperatures with highs reaching into the 70's on Wednesday and Thursday and the upper 60's today. This looks to be the last warm spell for awhile as we enter further into fall and our weather gets progressively cooler. I took advantage of the nice weather to get out when I could. I had to work on Wednesday but did get out after work on Thursday morning (more on that below). Today I decided to concentrate on a variety of spots on the east side of the river in Hadley. I started my morning at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River where I had at least four American Woodcocks still hanging around with some still doing flight displays and other flushed from the trails. The thickets there produced at least three Gray Catbirds as well as seven Hermit Thrushes including one singing softly as well as a slightly late Eastern Towhee. I also had some flyby finches including at least one Pine Siskin with American Goldfinches plus three finches that may have been White winged Crossbills. As I was getting ready to leave I had a Nashville Warbler moving through the weedy fields near the parking lot...a good start to the morning for sure. My next stop was up to North Hadley to check a few overgrown fields mainly looking for sparrows and some late warblers. I arrived there just as the sun was hitting a tree line along the river and I turned up some good stuff including a Tennessee Warbler and two Nashville Warblers. No unusual sparrows there but some good numbers. I then stopped at a couple other spots along the river including the Honey Pot but didn't find anything too unusual. A stop along the Fort River was a bit more productive with at least three Gray Catbirds and a Common Yellowthroat (plus loads of deer ticks!). With my time for the morning rapidly running out I decided to make another stop back at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, covering a few areas I did not hit earlier in the morning. The short stop proved productive with a Marsh Wren and a Common Yellowthroat. Overall it was a fantastic late October morning with 60 species for the morning including multiple late species and some rarities.
After work yesterday I headed right over to Arcadia where I had some good stuff including a Red eyed Vireo, at least two House Wrens, a dozen Purple Finches (mainly calling flyovers), half a dozen species of sparrows, two Common Yellowthroats and an Indigo Bunting. A total of 51 species in just over an hour and a half. I then made a brief stop in the East Meadows but didn't find anything too unusual.
The camera on the water feature continues to capture birds including a Hermit Thrush that showed up for a couple days.
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