Warm and productive start to the fourth week of October and a slow third week of the month

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Red tailed Hawk, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Swamp Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

White crowned Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Nashville Warbler, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 22, 2022

Wilson waiting to play ball, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 22, 2022

The beginning of the fourth week of October started out well with a number of unusual/late species around this morning.  It was a cold start with yet another morning temp below freezing but thanks to abundant sunshine it eventually warmed into the upper 60's by the end of the day.  I started my morning at Arcadia after work with the main goal being to track down some warblers and I a bit of luck with a total of five species including a few late species with two Common Yellowthroats and a Black throated Green Warbler (much more on warblers during the last week plus at the following link).  Among the other species present I had a few other noteworthy sightings including a male Northern Shoveler that flew over and eight species of sparrows including my first Fox Sparrow of the fall.  I then made a brief stop at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River and had another late warbler with the sighting of a Nashville Warbler.  I also had some European Starlings doing some great mimicking with one doing a perfect Eastern Wood Pewee song and another doing a Green Heron 'skeow' call.   I spent part of the remainder of the day enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and playing with Wilson.

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Eastern Bluebird, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Song Sparrow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Oct 16, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Green Heron, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Swift River, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2022

I was not able to get out birding as much as I wanted to during most of the third week of the month as I had to spend most of the week dealing with oil furnace issues as the old unit finally bit the dust and I had to schedule multiple days to get everything replaced...an expensive nightmare but I was glad it happened when I had some time off and it was not the dead of winter.  I was able to make a few somewhat productive stops on my way home from work on Sunday.  Monday was a cool and foggy morning and my stops in the Hadley area did not produce too much.  A cold front came through and then we had multiple days of southwest winds which would typically give us warmer temps but the winds instead delivered the coldest air of the season as there was a cold pocket of air that had dropped down to the Gulf Coast and the southerly winds brought us that air.  We had multiple mornings with below freezing temperatures and fog.  From Tuesday-Thursday I could only get out a little in the morning before I had to get home to meet contractors to work on the heating system so had few birds during this period.  I was able to get out on one afternoon and turned up a slightly late Green Heron but otherwise the birding was fairly bland with just the expected species around.  I did notice a definite increase in the numbers of Hermit Thrush and Winter Wren around as well as both species of kinglets during the week.  I wish I could have been out later in the morning as the sun heated up some edge habitat but it was not to be that week.  I only turned up two new species for the month that week with a Ruffed Grouse on the 19th and four Horned Grebes on Thursday morning at Quabbin, bringing my monthly total for Hampshire County up to 142 which is a bit above typical for the third week of October.  

Hermit Thrush, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 13, 2022

American Robins, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

I finally checked the camera at the water feature again and found a few late season captures.  I will probably be shutting it down for the winter in the next week or so.

Bobcats, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Bobcats, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

Bobcats, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2022

The camera along the brook at the house also produced some good stuff with the highlight being lots of captures of Bobcats including the interaction of a couple of individuals.