Snowy Egret, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Snowy Egret, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Snowy Egret and Great Blue Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron and Great Egret, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Great Egret and Great Blue Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Green Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Belted Kingfisher, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 9, 2025
White tailed Deer fawn, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025
Black throated Green Warbler, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 8, 2025
Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 8, 2025
Golden crowned Kinglet, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 8, 2025
Great Egret, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025
Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025
Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025
It has been a good few days for various wader species in the area with the highlight by far being a Snowy Egret that Theresa found yesterday and I was able to relocate early this morning. I was up early and out the door to make a trip over to Lower Mill Pond in Easthampton. I was there before sunrise and was rewarded with a flyby Black crowned Night Heron, which I was never able to relocate on the ground (almost certainly the same individual Theresa also found yesterday). As I waited for the sun to rise a Great Egret flew in to join the Great Blue Herons and Green Herons already present. The Great Egret was immediately followed by the Snowy Egret (five waders in perhaps 15 minutes...not bad at all in the valley!). I got a number of digiscoped shots in the morning light. I also checked Arcadia and the Holyoke Dam before heading back toward home with a stop off at Lake Wallace. Yesterday I had my first Great Egret since spring time and also had my highest count so far this year of Green Herons at Lake Wallace with an impressive 31 individuals.
I also spent some time yesterday exploring at Gate 8 at Quabbin in the quest to track down Red Crossbills and Golden crowned Kinglets for the month and I happily was quite successful with both species present as well as other species.
In the last few weeks I have a total of eight species of waders with the most unusual among them being
White Ibis,
Glossy Ibis,
Least Bittern and the Snowy Egret. I also had American Bittern in the spring and missed on a Little Blue Heron that showed up when I was unable to chase it...so a very good year for waders so far.
Hermit Thrush, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2025
Red winged Blackbird, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2025
Baltimore Oriole and American Robin, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2025
Black and White Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Black capped Chickadee, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2025
Northern Flicker, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2025
The camera at the water feature has captured quite a few species in the last.....days with a few new ones of the year. I have attached just a small sample of the many photos captured.
