Friday, July 9, 2021

More rainy days with the passage of Tropical Storm Elsa


Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 9, 2021
Purple Martin, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jul 9, 2021
Barn Swallows, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jul 9, 2021

Our very wet July has continued with a couple more very rainy compliments of a front and the passage of Tropical Storm Elsa.  The storm made landfall over the southeast section of Massachusetts today and is now headed rapidly off to the northeast.  We escaped any major wind impacts with the main issue being heavy rain.  After I got out of a long night at work I made my way toward home with a few stops prior to the arrival of the storm including a stop at Silvio Conte NWR and Winsor Dam.  I had an appointment at the house so could not spend a lot of time exploring so both of the stops were brief but I did find a very unhappy and soggy Purple Martin at its probable nesting location.  The dam was very quiet and very rainy.  I did venture out one more time to Winsor Dam just as the rain was starting to end and had a little more luck (but not much).  The winds had picked up a bit at this point but were still not too bad.  The only notable birds were a shorebird that flew by too fast to ID and a somewhat unusual for the location and date Osprey fighting the wind.  I have not heard of anything unusual associated with the storm as of yet but will update as I hear about reports.
Solitary Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 8, 2021

Before work yesterday I made a trek into the muddy East Meadows following some strong overnight thunderstorms.  I made it down to 'the' puddle and found a single Solitary Sandpiper (my first of the fall migration) plus several Spotted Sandpipers and Killdeer.  


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