The first week of October has now come to an end. I had to work on a few days but otherwise was able to get out birding and catch up with the continued fall migration. I began the month hitting a few spots mainly trying to find warblers and I was able to track down 14 species for the day including a few late species. I had a few other late species among the 75 species I was able to find on the first.
I had to work the 2nd (with just a brief stop in the East Meadows on my way in) but got out on the morning of the 3rd and went right over to Arcadia where I had a selection of sparrows but given the poor management of the area for birds the counts and diversity was down from previous years...sad for an area that has been stellar for years in the fall. I turned up a few more species as I worked toward home to take Wilson for a walk before taking a nap.
I had to work again on Friday so not much for that day. Although I was exhausted after another busy shift at work I nonetheless headed out to try to tack down some birds. I made a stop at UMASS and then a few more stops in Amherst and Belchertown before I made it home. I had a meeting with the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee late in the morning so I was not able to stay out as long as I wanted to. Somehow I was able to stay awake during the entire five hour meeting before crashing after dinner.
There was a big night of migration on Saturday night into Sunday morning (the largest number of migrants in a single night this fall with an estimated 3.2 million plus birds crossing over the county per the estimate by Birdcast). There was a big influx of several species with the largest numbers being White throated Sparrows and Yellow rumped Warblers. The diversity certainly dropped as more and more birds moved off to the south. Notables included a Gray cheeked Thrush, a late Ovenbird and the continued Black bellied Whistling Duck among nearly seventy species for the day. It was a cold start in the low 40's but it warmed nicely to the low 70's with wall to wall sunshine.
I ended the first week of October staying in the south Quabbin area. As I headed out before sunrise I had to contend with breezy conditions and occasional rain that turned into a steady rain for a few hours. Needless to say the results to start the day were less than great although I did turn up a single Bonaparte's Gull among the Ring billed Gulls at Winsor Dam. Once the rain ended I took a few walks in Belchertown and had some somewhat cooperative photographic subjects. The diversity of species was quite low but I was happy to just be out and not have it too cold. I certainly concentrated on warblers for the week but did have some others and by the end of the first week I tallied 109 species...not too bad given the early migration this fall.
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