A few more waders and shorebirds (plus others) the last few days

Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Solitary Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Solitary Sandpipers, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Spotted Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Belted Kingfisher, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Double crested Cormorant, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2016

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2016

I spent the morning today hitting up several spots mainly in search of waders and shorebirds and although the numbers were still quite low at least there was some variety with three species of waders (Great Egret, Great Blue Heron and Green Heron) and four species of shorebirds (Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper). It continues to be tough to find decent habitat in he county for the species mentioned above. The continued drought has kept the water levels low along the river which means some sandbars on the river but also means the otherwise productive shallow areas have been overgrown with vegetation. I'm sure the sandbars would be productive if the river didn't have so much boat traffic on it but that is just not the case. I started off the morning trying to view the river before activity got too heavy but fog made viewing impossible. I then headed over to Arcadia where I had a couple Great Egrets in flight plus a small plowed field with over a dozen Killdeer. Despite some effort in the area I was never able to find where the egrets settled down. Lower Mill Pond once again provided the most variety in regards to shorebirds with a few Killdeer and Spotted Sandpipers plus at least seven Solitary Sandpipers (with some interesting interaction between them....see attached video: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/28751549541/in/dateposted-public/
I then continued on to the Holyoke Dam where I had a dozen Double crested Cormorants, five Great Blue Herons, two Spotted Sandpipers and three Least Sandpipers. Decent numbers of gulls continued there with around eighty Ring billed Gulls. I wish the Holyoke Dam area were a bit closer because I'm certain it would prove very productive with more continuous coverage. A brief stop at Lake Wallace produced the expected waterfowl plus seven Green Herons.

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2016

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2016

Green winged Teal with Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2016

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 6, 2016

Yesterday I stayed local with early morning stops at Lake Wallace and Quabbin Park. Lake Wallace once again produced some decent waterfowl numbers with the highlights including a Green winged Teal and 87 Wood Ducks. Other notables at the lake included a season high eleven Green Herons and a flock of hundreds of blackbirds and grackles. No luck finding the Lesser Scaup at Winsor Dam but I did have three Common Loons there. Quabbin Park itself was fairly quiet with just a couple Spotted Sandpipers along the shore and a couple of mixed species flocks that certainly hint at what is to come over the next several weeks as migration picks up.

Green Heron, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Aug 5, 2016

Mink, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 5, 2016

Great Blue Heron, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 5, 2016

Red tailed Hawk, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, Aug 5, 2016

On Friday I did mainly the same route I did today but with a few added stops in Hadley. Highlights from Friday included half a dozen Green Herons and 310+ Tree Swallows along the rail trail in Amherst; a few Fish Crows at the Honey Pot and ten Double crested Cormorants, 11 Great Blue Herons, 107 Ring billed Gulls and 55+ Chimney Swifts at the Holyoke Dam.  I also had a Mink at the dam that kept popping in and out of view as it worked its way around the rocks.

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 5, 2016

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 5, 2016

The Gray Fox made a couple of more appearances on Friday morning stopping by at around 2:30AM and again a little after 4AM.  The hummingbirds are maxing out around now with up to seven in view at once (who knows how many individuals are actually around). I have also had a Louisiana Waterthrush singing a few times in the early morning along Jabish Brook.