The last week back home

Black and White Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2026

Pine Warbler, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2026

Purple Finches, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2026

Beaver gathering grasses, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 21, 2026

Wilson checking out some deer, Belchertown, MA, Apr 21, 2026

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 20, 2026

Merlin, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 20, 2026

Osprey carrying nest material, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 18, 2026

Osprey carrying nest material, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 18, 2026

Ring necked Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 18, 2026

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 18, 2026

Tree Swallow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 18, 2026

American Robin building nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 17, 2026

Red Eft, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 17, 2026

Now that I have been back from my trip to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona for almost a week I will try to catch up on some sighting here.  When I first arrived home last Wednesday we were in the midst of a big warm up with highs in the 70's and 80's and I got to enjoy the beautiful weather for a few days before it got much cooler and eventually cold.  There were some early arrivals during the warm spell but now things have slowed a bit as expected with colder weather and poor migration conditions.  Nonetheless birds still trickle in as it is getting toward the end of April and birds will move even in less than ideal conditions.  I have added a dozen new species for the year here since getting back with the most unusual one being an American Bittern plus a few early arrivals including Solitary Sandpiper, Northern House Wren and Black and White Warbler.  Birds are starting to nest in numbers including a variety of raptor species that only breed in small numbers in the county including Osprey at Lake Wallace plus Merlins and Sharp shinned Hawks at Quabbin.

More migrants the last several days for the mid part of September

 

Merlin, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sep 16, 2024

Swamp Sparrow, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Sep 16, 2024

Sandhill Cranes, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 15, 2024

Yellow throated Vireo, Belchertown, MA, Sep 15, 2024

Black and White Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 15, 2024

American Golden Plover and Killdeer, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 15, 2024

House Finch, Amherst, MA, Sep 14, 2024

Eastern Towhee, Belchertown, MA, Sep 13, 2024

Black throated Green Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 13, 2024

Palm Warbler 'western', Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2024

Indigo Bunting, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2024

Yellow Warblers, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 12, 2024

The last several days have featured very pleasant weather with cool mornings and warm afternoons with abundant sunshine.  The winds have also been mainly calm and a decent amount of birds have moved most nights, although many seem to be flying right past.  Nonetheless there are birds around every day and I have added a few species for the month with my total standing at 147 species, which is a bit behind a typical September for me.  My back has still been giving me problems on and off, which has kept me from driving as much but has kept me walking more.  The forecast for the next week seems to feature more of the same weather with just a slight chance of some showers during the period.  Still waiting for another big influx of birds...time will tell when (and if) this will happen.

Birthday birding

Palm Warbler (yellow), Gate 9-Quabbin, April 25, 2012

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle), Gate 9-Quabbin, April 25, 2012

Black and White Warbler, Gate 9-Quabbin, April 25, 2012

Song Sparrow, Gate 9-Quabbin, April 25, 2012

Black capped Chickadee, Gate 9-Quabbin, April 25, 2012

I took the day off from work today for my birthday and spent the morning exploring various areas around Quabbin trying to find some new arrivals.  I did not find any new species for this migration season but still had some good birds.  I was really hoping to find a southern warbler (Yellow-throated, Prothonotary, etc) that was carried north by the southern winds of last week and the storm over the weekend.  Despite my best efforts I had no luck finding any.  The day started out at a chilly 35 and warmed up to the mid 50's before the breeze really kicked in and cooled it down a bit again.  I started the day Quabbin Park.  I had a few loons and eagles in the usual spots.  The Blackburnian Warbler present near Goodnough Dike was still there this morning.  The number of Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Towhees and Yellow-rumped Warblers continue to go up.  I also ran across a pair of very vocal Cooper's Hawks copulating just off the road.  The male was then breaking off sticks and carrying them into the nest site.  I next headed for Quabbin Gate 9 (more accurately the large marsh opposite Gate 9).  I ran into a nice large group of warbler here with several coming in quite close for good looks.  After walking as far as I could there I headed up to Gate 12 and walked down about a half mile.  Quite a few woodpeckers in the area as well as a calling Broad-winged Hawk low over the trees.  I then headed down to Gate 8 and drove down to the end.  It was quite quiet here so I didn't stay too long.  A couple other quick stops didn't produce any birds of note.  I stopped briefly at home and picked up Wilson and he headed to Covey WMA for a long walk around the area.  Some good birds but nothing out of the ordinary.  During the afternoon I had a few Broad-wings streaming north very high up but little else.