A nearly recording setting September comes to an end

Veery, Rail trail, Ware, MA, Sep 26, 2023

Northern Waterthrush, Rail trail, Ware, MA, Sep 26, 2023

Cape May Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 27, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 27, 2023

Swamp Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 27, 2023

Cape May Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 28, 2023

Northern Parula, UMASS demonstration forest, Belchertown, MA, Sep 28, 2023

Surf Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 29, 2023

A very productive September has now come to a close.  Although not record setting for overall species in Hampshire County it did come very close with a total of 170 species, which fell just short of my best ever September back in 2021 when I had 171 species.  Between other obligations and work for the end of the month I got out birding on a few mornings and I continued to concentrate heavily of warblers and finished with my highest total ever for me in September in the county with 28 species.  After work on the 25th the remnants of Ophelia continued to drop some rain on the area and I made a few stops on my way home and most every farm field I checked in Northampton and Hadley featured Pectoral Sandpipers (areas off to the south had several hundred birds as the storm forced birds migrating off the coast to come back to land).  On Tuesday I stayed local with stops in a few areas around Quabbin and in Ware with the most productive being along the rail trail.  On the 27th I spent a few hours at Arcadia and had a productive morning thanks to sunny conditions that got the birds active as it warmed up.  I had hopes for a full morning at Arcadia on Thursday but the low clouds and fog kept activity low and I cut my time short there and searched out other locations with more sun.  After a bit under two hours of waiting for the fog to burn off I headed across the river to look for fog free areas with my first stop at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River where the fog continued.  I then headed further east and eventually got out of the fog in Belchertown.  Friday I had just a little bit of time before we had to head to Sturbridge for a ten o'clock appointment with Wilson (more on that below).  The weather was less than cooperative with rain that started around dawn and continued throughout the day, dropping a few inches of rain.  All was not lost with the crappy weather as it put down a few unusual species at Winsor Dam including half a dozen Surf Scoters and a Bonaparte's Gull.

Wilson out enjoying the start of foliage season, Belchertown, Sep 27, 2023

Wilson enjoying the sun, Home, Sep 27, 2023

After nearing his full recovery from surgery back in early June he unfortunately had the tumor on his right front paw rupture several days ago.  The tumor appeared almost exactly two years ago and after lots of consults and thought we decided to not take any drastic action at the time and we are still comfortable with that decision as it gave him almost two more years of being active (minus his unrelated surgery this summer).  We had a surgical consult regarding the tumor on Friday and as expected there are few good options.  His future holds at least a partial amputation (and possibly a full one).  Our aim is to give him the best possible quality of life for his remaining time with us.

Four mornings at Arcadia at the peak of fall passerine migration (plus a few other stops along the way)

Connecticut Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

American Redstart, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Eastern Towhee, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Eastern Phoebe, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Lincoln's Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Gray Catbird, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Scarlet Tanager, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Red shouldered Hawk, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Sunrise, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

Monarch, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2023

I spent the last four mornings at Arcadia taking advantage of good overnight migration conditions, beautiful mid September weather with cool nights and sunny days (except for today) and some time off.  My main focus was on tracking down warblers before many of the species disappear to the south for winter (birds are smarter than us in that respect!).  Much more on warblers for the four days can be found at the following link.  I did something similar last year too and it was interesting to see the difference from one year to another as well as one day to another.

On Wednesday I arrived to a cool and calm Arcadia with just a small amount of fog.  The activity slowly picked up after I arrived and I found a couple Cape May Warblers travelling together.  As I was trying to get some photos of them another bird popped up and it was a Connecticut Warbler!  The bird actually stayed in view for over a minute (an eternity for the species) and despite the low light levels I got some photos.  I then walked a few more miles and ran across a number of pockets of birds with a few mixed species flocks including some high counts of a number of warblers with double digit counts of Tennessee Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula plus others and also had a couple of slightly late Yellow Warblers and my first 'yellow' Palm Warbler of the fall.  Non warbler highlights included Great crested Flycatcher, a couple Tree Swallows, three Swainson's Thrushes, almost a dozen Lincoln's Sparrows and five Scarlet Tanagers and others...check out the list linked above.  I had 84 species during my four and a half hours there and almost 90 by the end of the day after taking some walks with Wilson.

Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Sandhill Cranes, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Eastern Phoebe, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Sep 21, 2023

 Gray Catbird, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Northern Parula, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Blackburnian Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Bay breasted Warbler with extensive rufous coloration, Belchertown, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Black and White Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 21, 2023

Thursday was an even cooler morning with temps starting off in the low 40's.  Activity was a bit slower compared to the previous day but it was still a very productive morning with a total of 70 species at Arcadia and a total of 91 for the entire day in the county.  I covered most of the same areas as the previous day but missed a couple spots and spent less time at Arcadia overall.  Highlights included the four Sandhill Cranes that have been in the area for several weeks, a continued Great Crested Flycatcher and a total of a dozen species of warblers including above typical numbers of Nashville Warbler and Tennessee Warblers as well as a late juvenile Yellow Warbler.  My next stop across the river at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River produced some slightly late Tree Swallows and a Bank Swallow, at least one Marsh Wren, a Connecticut Warbler and a flyover Dickcissel.  A final stop at a spot in Belchertown produced several Cape May Warblers and a Bay breasted Warbler with an extensive amount of rufous coloration remaining (even in areas there should not have been rufous even in a breeding plumage bird).

Orange crowned Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Cape May Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Tennessee Warbler and Northern Parula, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Red eyed Vireo, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Black throated Green Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Philadelphia Vireo, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Warbling Vireo, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Eastern Wood Pewee, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Downy Woodpecker, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Northern Harrier, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

My third morning at Arcadia featured another great showing of species with a big raptor highlight at the end of my time there...more on that spectacle at an earlier post: Big Broad winged Hawk flight.  One of the big highlights for me was finding not one, but two very early Orange crowned Warblers among a total of 15 species of warblers there....I missed it being my earliest date for Orange crowned Warbler in the county by a day and usually I don't find the warbler here until October.  Great numbers of Tennessee Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Cape May Warblers, Northern Parula and Chestnut sided Warblers continued (or increased) from previous mornings.  Other unusual/late species around included Least Flycatcher and Warbling Vireo plus above typical counts for a number of other species with a total species count for the morning there totaling 81 species (check out the eBird list linked above for totals and lots more photos).  A couple other stops later in the day when out with Wilson kicked the total for the day up to 88 species.

Sandhill Cranes, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Sep 23, 2023

Black throated Blue Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 23, 2023

Tennessee Warblers, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 23, 2023

American Black Ducks, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 23, 2023

To end my mornings at Arcadia I met up with former valley birder Devin for a fruitless quest to finally find him a Connecticut Warbler in the county.  The cloudy, cool and breezy conditions did not help us at all.  Nonetheless we still had a decent morning and did bag him a new county bird with a view of the continued Sandhill Cranes.  As expected with the above mentioned weather conditions the activity was much reduced from previous mornings but we still had 69 species total with several counts that tripped the eBird filters but no real rarities beyond the cranes.  We had a lucky 13 species of warbler including my first Black throated Blue Warbler in the last few mornings.  The weather also made photography a bit difficult so not nearly as many photos as previous mornings.  I didn't have time to hit any other spots on my way home beyond very brief visits due to rain and other pending commitments.  

During my four mornings at Arcadia I found a total of 103 species (trip report link here) and when including my other stops during this time period I had 114 species (that trip report link here).  My best morning I got to 91 species and I'm sure with a little more effort and birding through the afternoon I could have broken the 100 species mark without too much difficulty showing that there is still some decent diversity around here through mid September.