October comes to an end

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 30, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 30, 2022

Savannah Sparrow, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 30, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 30, 2022

I ended the month with a few stops on my way home on a chilly morning mainly looking for warblers and I found three species including a late Common Yellowthroat and a few late Palm Warblers.  I also added my first Snow Bunting for the fall, bringing my total for the month in Hampshire County to a slightly above average 151.  The forecast for the next week or so looks to feature above normal temperatures continuing with no really cold weather in the immediate future.

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 28, 2022

Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 28, 2022

Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 28, 2022

Red breasted Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 28, 2022

Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 28, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 28, 2022

Wild Turkeys, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 28, 2022

Black Scoters, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 28, 2022

I added a more waterfowl for the month on the 28th following a big night of migration (the biggest night of the fall for overall numbers according to Birdcast with an estimated 4.28 million birds passing over the county).  I thought Arcadia would be the place to be but the area turned out to be quite quiet with little in the way of passerine migration evident.  I did have woodcocks still flying around in the morning plus continued decent numbers of Purple Finches flying over but sparrow numbers were very low and the only warblers around were some Yellow rumped Warblers.  A group of four Black Scoters in the Oxbow were a bit unusual for the location but not totally unexpected given the large number of the species being reported elsewhere on larger bodies of water.  After running some errands in Northampton I headed over to Winsor Dam and found large numbers of Black Scoters continuing with at least 266 present in a few groups.  There were also a couple Red necked Grebes way out.  I then headed home to take Wilson for a walk and do stuff around the house.  Late in the afternoon I headed back to Winsor Dam and the waterfowl were even more impressive with 316 Black Scoters, 3 Surf Scoters, 17 White winged Scoters, 5 Long tailed Ducks, four Red breasted Mergansers among some eleven species of waterfowl.  There were also three Bonaparte's Gulls mixed in among the Ring billed Gulls.

A little waterfowl but not too much

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 27, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 27, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle' with white splotches on face, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Oct 27, 2022

Dark eyed Junco, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Oct 27, 2022

Black capped Chickadee, Belchertown State School, Belchertown, MA, Oct 27, 2022

The forecast for the day called for strong northwest winds throughout the day which certainly held the promise for an influx of waterfowl and I was over at Winsor Dam before the sun came up.  Given the date, forecast conditions and lack of a large influx of waterfowl so far for the season I thought for sure it would be a great morning at Winsor Dam.  I arrived to a find the conditions nearly calm and Ted just having just arrived also.  Eventually the winds started picking up but they were mainly west to start and not too strong.  We had a few birds around but certainly nothing unusual.  We had a bit of excitement early on when we had a cormorant fly in that seemed very long tailed and had us contemplating Neotropic Cormorant but eventually we were able to get decent enough looks at it to determine it was just a Double crested Cormorant.  More people arrived a bit later but overall a slow day at the dam that I really thought would be more active.  I hit a few other nearby spots and turned up some passerines including an oddly plumaged Yellow rumped Warbler.

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 26, 2022 

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 26, 2022 

White winged Scoters and Long tailed Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 26, 2022 

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 26, 2022 

Tuesday had an almost tropical feel to it with a few downpours in the morning and temps that started around 58 (the typical high temp this time of year) and then climbed up through the 60's before topping off in then low 70's by the afternoon with very humid conditions (dew points in the upper 60's).  I made a few stops at Winsor Dam over the course of the morning and turned up some waterfowl with the highlights including a Red throated Loon, a dozen Common Loons, a Long tailed Duck and five White winged Scoters.  

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands and White throated Sparrow, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 25, 2022

Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 25, 2022

Red breasted Nuthatch, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 24, 2022

A check of the camera on the water feature continues to show birds coming in so my initial plan to button it up for the year was changed and instead I just power washed the rock and kept the water flowing and the camera checking.  Among the latest captures were more of my banded Black capped Chickadees.  

Warm and productive start to the fourth week of October and a slow third week of the month

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Red tailed Hawk, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Swamp Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

White crowned Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Nashville Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Wilson waiting to play ball, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 22, 2022

The beginning of the fourth week of October started out well with a number of unusual/late species around this morning.  It was a cold start with yet another morning temp below freezing but thanks to abundant sunshine it eventually warmed into the upper 60's by the end of the day.  I started my morning at Arcadia after work with the main goal being to track down some warblers and I a bit of luck with a total of five species including a few late species with two Common Yellowthroats and a Black throated Green Warbler (much more on warblers during the last week plus at the following link).  Among the other species present I had a few other noteworthy sightings including a male Northern Shoveler that flew over and eight species of sparrows including my first Fox Sparrow of the fall.  I then made a brief stop at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and had another late warbler with the sighting of a Nashville Warbler.  I also had some European Starlings doing some great mimicking with one doing a perfect Eastern Wood Pewee song and another doing a Green Heron 'skeow' call.   I spent part of the remainder of the day enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and playing with Wilson.

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Eastern Bluebird, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Song Sparrow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Green Heron, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Swift River, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2022

I was not able to get out birding as much as I wanted to during most of the third week of the month as I had to spend most of the week dealing with oil furnace issues as the old unit finally bit the dust and I had to schedule multiple days to get everything replaced...an expensive nightmare but I was glad it happened when I had some time off and it was not the dead of winter.  I was able to make a few somewhat productive stops on my way home from work on Sunday.  Monday was a cool and foggy morning and my stops in the Hadley area did not produce too much.  A cold front came through and then we had multiple days of southwest winds which would typically give us warmer temps but the winds instead delivered the coldest air of the season as there was a cold pocket of air that had dropped down to the Gulf Coast and the southerly winds brought us that air.  We had multiple mornings with below freezing temperatures and fog.  From Tuesday-Thursday I could only get out a little in the morning before I had to get home to meet contractors to work on the heating system so had few birds during this period.  I was able to get out on one afternoon and turned up a slightly late Green Heron but otherwise the birding was fairly bland with just the expected species around.  I did notice a definite increase in the numbers of Hermit Thrush and Winter Wren around as well as both species of kinglets during the week.  I wish I could have been out later in the morning as the sun heated up some edge habitat but it was not to be that week.  I only turned up two new species for the month that week with a Ruffed Grouse on the 19th and four Horned Grebes on Thursday morning at Quabbin, bringing my monthly total for Hampshire County up to 142 which is a bit above typical for the third week of October.  

Hermit Thrush, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 13, 2022

American Robins, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

I finally checked the camera at the water feature again and found a few late season captures.  I will probably be shutting it down for the winter in the next week or so.

Bobcats, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Bobcats, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Bobcats, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

The camera along the brook at the house also produced some good stuff with the highlight being lots of captures of Bobcats including the interaction of a couple of individuals.

A few rare birds for the second week of October including a Nelson's Sparrow

 

Nelson's Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Oct 14, 2022

Nelson's Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Oct 14, 2022

Nelson's Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Oct 14, 2022

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2022

Palm Warbler 'western', Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2022

Song Sparrow, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2022

Swamp Sparrow, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2022

Savannah Sparrow, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Oct 14, 2022

I ended the second week of October with a few noteworthy species.  The heavy rain and wind overnight was forecast to come to an end around dawn and then get sunny but the rain and mist lingered through a good portion of the morning and the sun really never broke out.  Despite the conditions I headed out after work with my first stop down to Arcadia but the rain was too heavy to spend much time outside so I decided to swing through the very muddy East Meadows looking for shorebirds but came up empty but I didn't cover many areas.  Instead I decided to head over to Hadley where a Nelson's Sparrow has been seen for a few days.  I arrived in the area and went out in the rain and wind and was rewarded with great looks at the Nelson's Sparrow among the other sparrows present.  The area cannot take many visitors but if you keep the road open so the town can come in and out and do not trespass on the nearby private land the bird is quite easy to get (at least it was for me) and you won't create issues .  Nelson's Sparrow is a rare bird in the area and this is only my third record I have ever had in Hampshire County with my previous both being at Arcadia (Sep 30, 2004 and Oct 13, 2014).  Once I had my fill of the Nelson's Sparrow I headed home and took Wilson for a walk before I headed out on my own again.  I decided to try Covey WMA with the main goal being an Orange crowned Warbler.  I eventually found a very active spot with loads of sparrows and a few warblers and after a lot of looking I had brief but good views of an Orange crowned Warbler but the bird was just not cooperative for photos.  The Orange crowned Warbler becomes warbler species #47 for me this year worldwide and is likely the last new warbler species for the year unless a big rarity shows up by the end of the year.  More on warblers for the second week of October can be found at the following link.  Although I'm not working on a big year for Hampshire County this year and have not been immediately chasing most rarities that have shown up I nonetheless find myself at a respectable 237 species so far for the year, which turns out to be my second highest total by this date but still trailing quite a bit from my best year that occurred last year when I had 243 species at this point and ended the year with 250 species.  Still not doing a big year but it will be interesting to see what the total turns out to be by the end of the year.

I had to work on the 13th so only had a very limited time to bird on my way in and I decided to stop off at Fitzgerald Lake and see if I could find anything unusual on the water.  The walk to the boardwalk was full of chips and songs of White throated Sparrows.  Once I got to the water I started scanning and found the usual assortment of waterfowl but on my second scan around I had a distant American Coot working its way along the edge of the reeds.  I didn't have the scope or good camera with me and the distance was too far for the iPhone binocular combo to work for photos.  A short but worthwhile stop that turned up what can be a tough species to find in the county for some reason.

Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 12, 2022

Red bellied Woodpecker, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 12, 2022

House Finch, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 12, 2022

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 12, 2022

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 12, 2022

Wilson, Reed Conservation Area, Belchertown, MA, Oct 12, 2022

On my third consecutive early morning visit to Arcadia I had to contend with fog once again but thankfully it burned off a bit after eight and then warmed up nicely.  I walked for a few miles over the course of a few hours and had some decent variety and numbers but nothing too unusual among the 59 species there.  Highlights did include a couple American Woodcocks flying around at dawn, an unidentified peep that flew past early, hundreds of sparrows with seven species represented and five species of warbler.  

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', North Hadley, MA, Oct 11, 2022

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 11, 2022

Blackpoll Warbler with growth on face, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 11, 2022

White throated Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 11, 2022

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 11, 2022

I spent a second consecutive morning at Arcadia on Tuesday.  I drove through intermittent fog to get there but when I arrived the area was relatively fog free as it started to get light and I had hopes for a sunny morning but it was not to be.  The fog descended as the sun came up and persisted throughout my entire time there.  I spent three hours waiting for the fog to lift before I finally decided to head elsewhere in the hopes the fog would be less elsewhere.  During my time at Arcadia I had 61 species with highlights including eight species of sparrows with Song Sparrow and White throated Sparrow being the most numerous, four species of warbler with a high count of Common Yellowthroats and a single Blackpoll Warbler with a growth on its face.  I tried a few spots along the river in Hadley but the fog was just as persistent there.  The fog never lifted until I made it back to home very late in the morning at which point it warmed up nicely into the low 60's.   

Palm Warbler 'yellow', East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 10, 2022

Black bellied Plover, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 10, 2022

Swamp Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 10, 2022

White crowned Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 10, 2022

I spent the first of three consecutive mornings at Arcadia on Monday where I covered a variety of areas although I stayed away from the marsh where I could hear hunters firing away early on (although it is within the wildlife sanctuary if a hunter can access the area via boat it is totally legal, even if a bit ethically questionable...the hunters are certainly not doing themselves any favors with public perception with hunting in a wildlife sanctuary).  Nonetheless I had a productive morning even without a visit to the marsh and turned up 62 species with highlights including nearly a dozen Purple Finches flying over, seven species of sparrows, a late Connecticut Warbler among five species of warblers (not my latest date for Connecticut Warbler which I set last year when I had one continuing through October 15th).  I also made a brief visit to the East Meadows and had a flyby Black bellied Plover among the other more expected species.

Eastern Phoebe, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2022

Common Yellowthroat, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2022

Swamp Sparrow, North Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2022

I started the morning of the 9th at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River where I spent a relatively short amount of time but still turned up some good stuff including a couple late species including Wood Thrush and American Redstart.  I then hit a few spots along the river in Hadley and had mostly expected species but did find an unexpected Yellow billed Cuckoo.  Once it got a bit sunnier I returned to Silvio Conte NWR and spent about an hour and half exploring the area.

White rumped Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Oct 8, 2022

Bald Eagle ('Merica!!!), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 8, 2022

Surf Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 8, 2022

After I got out of work on Saturday morning I headed over to the East Meadows in the hopes that some of the White rumped Sandpipers seen there the previous day would still be around and I found a very cooperative individual right away.  The bird was surprisingly tolerant of all the activity on the road and did not flush at all.  After getting my fill of the sandpiper I drove down the road a bit and then had a flock of half a dozen White rumped Sandpipers briefly stop in a small puddle before taking off again...easily the largest number of White rumped Sandpipers I have ever had in the county.  I also had an American Golden Plover that flushed up and was last seen heading south over the meadows.  I then headed toward home with a stop at Winsor Dam where the highlight was a group of 17 Surf Scoters showing fairly close in (at least for Winsor Dam).  This turned out to be the largest group of this species I have ever had in the county (and the largest flock for the county in the eBird database)...a very productive morning for sure.