More shorebirds today

Sanderlings, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Sanderling, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Sanderling, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Killdeer, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Least Sandpipers, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Semipalmated Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

I headed out before dawn this morning to head over to the East Meadows in the hopes that some of the shorebirds seen yesterday were still around (more rarities showed up throughout the day after I left but I didn't have the energy to go back again yesterday).  I arrived in the area when it was still dark but I could already hear Killdeer.  As the light slowly increased I started picking out the birds near the remaining large puddle (amazing how fast the water soaked up...shows just how dry it has been).  I picked up several Least Sandpipers and a single Sanderling before a Peregrine Falcon zipped in and flushed up everything.  As the light steadily increased more birders arrived but the large variety of yesterday appeared to have largely moved on (this is what typically occurs with shorebirds downed by heavy rain...as soon as the rain stops most move on).  I tried a few other spots in the meadows with a few other birders but did not turn up too much else.  I then headed over to Arcadia to try to turn up some passerines but activity was very low there so I retuned once again to the East Meadows.  On this stop I had great looks at the continued Sanderlings and got some decent digiscoped photos.  With some decent shorebird habitat continuing I would not be surprised if a few more shorebirds make an appearance over the next few days.

Bobolinks, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Besides the shorebirds there were lots of Bobolinks and Red winged Blackbirds around but no other rarities (at least that I could find).  The next couple nights look to feature good migration conditions and I suspect the next few mornings could be really good for seeing birds.