Lincoln's Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 15, 2023
Yellow Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 15, 2023
Gray Catbird, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 15, 2023
Black Bear, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 15, 2023
Broad winged Hawks, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 15, 2023
Prairie Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 14, 2023
House Wren, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 14, 2023
Rose breasted Grosbeak, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 14, 2023
Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 13, 2023
Cape May Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 13, 2023
Tennessee Warbler, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Sep 12, 2023
Black throated Green Warbler, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Sep 12, 2023
Yellow bellied Flycatcher, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Sep 12, 2023
Red Crossbill Type 4, Quabbin Gate 11, Pelham, MA, Sep 12, 2023
American Golden Plover, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2023
Mid September has arrived and with it the peak in fall migration as far as overall diversity is concerned. There are still big numbers of sparrows to come and waterfowl is yet to arrive in any numbers but now is the time to get out and enjoy the greatest diversity and pleasant weather conditions. The weather looks to turn more fall like with multiple days and nights of good migration conditions to come. The big weather event over the next week plus will be the passing of Hurricane Lee off to our east (more on that below). September has so far produced a decent number of species for me with a few rarities with many of those covered in earlier posts including White rumped Sandpipers, both American Golden Plovers and Black bellied Plovers, Baird's Sandpiper and Connecticut Warbler as well as others. I have now had a total of 160 species so far in Hampshire County for the month including 27 species of warblers. I have been out a bit each morning I have had off the last few days and have some good stuff although at times it seemed a bit quiet given the time of year. Today the winds from the storm offshore increased throughout the day out of northeast and multiple raptors took advantage of the winds and steamed by in good numbers. Looking at information on Birdcast, last night saw 1.2 million birds move over the county but results on the ground today seemed to point toward many of those moving right on past. We shall see what the next several days bring and I would encourage anyone with some free time to get out and look around and see what you can find as soon many of the species around now will not be seen again until next spring.
Projected path of Hurricane Lee per the NHC 2PM update, Sep 15, 2023
Now a look at Hurricane Lee as it continues to move north with a likely landfall on the far south end of Nova Scotia. It has already weakened considerably to a Cat 1 hurricane from when it was a major hurricane for several days. It still has a very large wind field and the eastern part of Massachusetts and Maine will get some impacts with near hurricane gusts, rain and some beach erosion. The storm is just too far away to bring us much in the way of avian activity but there is always a chance that migrants already moving south will hit the storm and detour around it and perhaps something unusual will show up. Without any rain to force stuff down the best bet could be either a typical hawk watching site on one of the local ridges or perhaps a stationary count at Winsor Dam looking out over the Quabbin. It is worth looking as you just never know with these storms. Maine, Nova Scotia and other parts of Atlantic Canada could certainly see some unusual species associated with the storm. If the storm had tracked a few hundred miles west we would be in line to get some major potential impact and birds but not the case this time. There are still several weeks of hurricane season to get through so you never know what could happen and I will keep my eyes on the tropics through November.
**********update on 9/17. At least one wayward bird showed up in the area during the wind associated with the hurricane yesterday. Ted found a Parasitic Jaeger at Goodnough Dike in Quabbin Park (his eBird list with photos here). My only county record of the species was during Hurricane Irene...the list from that day here). I'll write up more about this in a future post.
Black Bear, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 5, 2023
White tailed Deer, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 11, 2023
Tufted Titmouse, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 14, 2023
Northern Parula, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 11, 2023
Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Belchertown, MA, Sep 11, 2023
The cameras at the house have captured a number of things lately including Black Bear and White tailed along Jabish Brook and a number of species at the water feature.
Wilson on the bed during a thunderstorm, Home, Sep 11, 2023
Wilson continues to recover well from his surgery and he felt well enough to jump up on the bed during one of our many thunderstorms during the last week (he is not allowed on the beds or furniture but I make an exception when he is stressed out by storms).
