August has started off quite productive as I was able to take advantage of some days off and very cooperative weather. The weather to begin the month has felt more like mid September with sunny skies, low humidity and cool temps that set a record this morning with a low in the mid 40's. Yesterday I headed out before dawn with the main goal being to catch up with a few species of warblers that by and large have already headed south including Louisiana Waterthrush, Worm eating Warbler and Cerulean Warbler. I started off with a hike up to the top at Skinner SP, braving the mosquitoes and finding eight species of warblers including the three mentioned above. A couple more brief stops in Hadley turned up a number of new species for the month. I then headed up to the Pelham area before making a late morning stop at a small area in Quabbin Park. I ended the day with an amazing 97 species despite not hitting some habitat that certainly would have produced several more species plus dealing with some winds that kicked up mid morning.
Today I stayed in the south Quabbin area and started my morning listening to Eastern Whip Poor Wills, American Woodcock and Virginia Rails at Quabbin Park. I then made a short visit to an area in Ware before returning to Quabbin Park once the gates to the park opened up. I had two goals for the day and they were to track down the remaining expected warblers I did not find yesterday and record more Red Crossbills. I was successful with both goals, with my warbler total reaching 19 species already for the month and recording multiple groups of Red Crossbills. By the end of the morning I had reached 113 species for the month in the county...my highest early season total ever.
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