A hot July comes to an end with a Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 31, 2025

Glossy Ibis, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 31, 2025

Glossy Ibis, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 31, 2025

Solitary Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 31, 2025

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 31, 2025

Double crested Cormorant, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Jul 31, 2025

The hot and humid month of July has now come to an end.  July is usually a fairly slow month for birds overall but it did have some big highlights for me including two new species for me in the county with a Stilt Sandpiper and a White Ibis bringing my Hampshire County total to 309 and then added a Glossy Ibis this morning (becoming likely the first person to ever get two ibis species in Hampshire County in a single month).  I'm actually at my highest total ever in the county YTD with a total of 225 species as of today...I have not really chased any rarities either but perhaps I should now and possible top my best year ever in the county.  I also retired last week and now can devote all my time to birding, travel and hanging out with Wilson.  There was also some sad news with the passing of long time valley birder Tom Gagnon in the early part of the month.