May comes to an end

Arctic Terns, Quabbin Gate 5, Belchertown, MA, May 13, 2022

White eyed Vireo, Fisk Meadow WMA, Chesterfield, MA, May 24, 2022

Red headed Woodpecker, Quabbin Park, MA, May 26, 2022

Cattle Egret, Hadley, MA, May 1, 2022

Canada Goose goslings, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 3, 2022

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 5, 2022

Black throated Blue Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 6, 2022

Lawrence's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, May 7, 2022

Great Egret, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, May 10, 2022

White crowned Sparrow, Quabbin Park, MA, May 12, 2022

Worm eating Warbler, Skinner SP, Hadley, MA, May 14, 2022

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 16, 2022

Blackburnian Warbler, Cadwell Memorial Forest, Pelham, MA, May 18, 2022

Red eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, May 21, 2022

Common Yellowthroat (with a bit of a lower eye arc), Ware, MA, May 26, 2022

Hooded Warbler, Westfield, MA, May 28, 2022

Spotted Turtle, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA,  May 28, 2022

A quick summary of the big month of May now that it has come to an all to quick end.  Overall the month ended with a lower than normal total species for me in Hampshire County with 170 species (my lowest total in the last five years but still an impressive tally).  Migration was a bit later than has been typical the last several years but it finally increased mid month when I had an impromptu big day in Hampshire County with 142 species.  There were a number of highlights including an amazing 18 Arctic Terns at Quabbin (a new species for me in the county...#303), a White eyed Vireo, a Cattle Egret, a returning Purple Martin in Hadley and a Red headed Woodpecker in Quabbin Park plus others.  June still has the potential of some late migrants and hopefully a rarity or two but I will spend a lot of time conducting various breeding bird surveys.

Hooded Merganser chicks in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2022

Raccoon, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 26, 2022

American Crow, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 24, 2022

On the last day of the month I checked the last remaining duck box nest and found newly hatched out Hooded Mergansers that will fledge soon.  Another year of two successful Hooded Merganser nests plus another box that ended up with lots of eggs but the nest was abandoned.  At least the crows and raccoons got to enjoy the eggs left over.

Cattle Egret breaks my previous Hampshire County record for a single year

Cattle Egret, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Cattle Egret, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Cattle Egret, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Turkey Vultures, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

November is off to a great start in Hampshire County with two rare birds in as many days as well as multiple lingering species.  The rarity today was a Cattle Egret found by Theresa at the Holyoke Dam late in the afternoon.  I got a text from her regarding the identification and we both agreed on Cattle Egret.  It was a species I was thinking might show up in the area after seeing multiples of the species being reported in the northeast US as well as adjacent areas of Canada (Scott also reported another in Franklin County today as well and another showed up in Hampden County).  I got word out to a few people as I made the drive down.  The river was very high (as high as I have ever seen it in November) so the only spot for the gulls and the egret to roost were the buoys and the stuck logs above the dam.  I arrived and Theresa and Joe were at the spot but the egret had walked behind one of the large buoys and was temporarily out of view.  After a few minutes of waiting it walked out from its hiding spot and showed fairly well both on a log and eventually on one of the buoys.  With the other sightings in the area I would not be surprised to hear of more showing up.  The influx of Cattle Egrets may perhaps rival a similar event that occurred in the area back in November 2018 when several individuals showed up and lingered for at least a week.  The Cattle Egret becomes species #249 for me in Hampshire County this year which sets a new record for me, beating my previous high I set last year.  Cattle Egret can be a tough species to turn up around here most years so I was happy to have one show this year.  The other big rarity for November so far was a Common Gallinule that showed up in Hatfield and continued at least through today.  As I was leaving the dam a large group of at least 16 Turkey Vultures were coming in to roost in the area...a high count for this late in the year.

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Black Vultures, Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Fox Sparrow, Wentworth Farm Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Northern Harrier, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Rusty Blackbirds, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Dawn, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 2, 2021

Moon, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 2, 2021

My main focus when I headed out this morning was to try to track down warblers and I managed to find two species of warbler with the expected Yellow rumped Warblers as well as a late Palm Warbler.  I started off before dawn at Arcadia with highlights being a couple Northern Harriers and a decent sparrow show despite a lot of habitat being cut down in the various fields.  My next stop at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River produced more Northern Harriers, half a dozen each of Purple Finches and Rusty Blackbirds as well as the Palm Warbler.  I continued moving back east toward home and along the way found four Black Vultures roosting in Hadley and a decent selection of species at Wentworth Farm Conservation Area.  After taking Wilson for a walk and running some errands I noticed a report from Ted of a large variety of waterfowl (with hundreds of Brant)  at Winsor Dam this morning (as well as a Dunlin).  I stopped by the dam briefly and had all three scoter species on the water including one group of White winged Scoters in fairly close.  I was surprised as the conditions overnight into the morning did not hold much promise of producing a great day at Winsor Dam but sometimes the birds surprise you. 

Trip to Florida in late March

Least Bittern, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

We finally managed to get away for a little this year with a short trip down to Florida after being stuck in the north due to the ongoing travel issues from the pandemic. With some of the travel rules relaxed for travel in the US and with both of us being vaccinated we felt comfortable with going. Unfortunately there are still too many rules for international travel so no luck with going to more exotic locales for now. We flew down to West Palm Beach on Thursday and spent one night in that area before heading north to Melbourne Beach where we spent four nights before ending the trip with one night in Orlando.

Black bellied Whistling Duck, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Green Heron, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Anhinga on nest, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Solitary Sandpiper, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Ovenbird, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

Ocean view, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 26, 2021

On the first full day we spent about an hour and a half at the always productive Green Cay Wetlands before visiting with some family. Not much unexpected at Green Cay but I did finally add a new species with sightings of the now well established introduced population of Egyptian Geese in the nearby area. After lunch we started the drive north along the east coast of the state up to Melbourne Beach. 

Brown Pelican, Coconut Point Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 27, 2021

With three full days available to explore the local area around our lodging in Melbourne Beach I spent all of my time in the local area with multiple visits to Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Coconut Point Sanctuary and Pelican Island NWR (plus a few other spots).

Saturday morning I started off at Maritime Hammock Sanctuary before sunrise (sunrise at this time of year is not until 7:15 which is about 45 minutes later than it is at home at this time of year). I then headed to Coconut Point Sanctuary before a return trip back to Maritime Hammock. Nothing too unusual to report and in fact many areas were very quiet with little bird activity with warblers especially sparse.

Western Spindalis, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Western Spindalis, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Bobcat, Pelican Island NWR, Vero Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

Osprey, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 28, 2021

On Sunday I decided to head a bit further south to Pelican Island NWR (the first NWR in the country). I arrived just as it was getting light enough to see and headed out on one of the trails. It was fairly quiet on the trail so I headed back toward the parking lot in the hopes of finding some birds elsewhere. I quickly noticed a bunch of birders and stopped to talk to them. Apparently a Western Spindalis was seen at the location yesterday afternoon and several birders had arrived to try to relocate it. This species occurs in The Bahamas and Cuba (and a few other islands) but is very rare in the United States with a handful of records in southern Florida. I had seen the species in the US once before back in February 2017 at Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP and on multiple occasions outside the US so not a new bird for me but to see one this far north would be nice so I spent some time looking. After a bit of looking someone else turned the bird up actively feeding and very occasionally calling. I got some great looks at it as well as some distant photos. I assume the bird came north courtesy of southeast winds the previous few days. Unfortunately the winds didn’t seem to bring in much in the way of other migrants and all the areas I checked for the remainder of the morning were quiet. I stayed out until midday enjoying another hot and sunny day. In addition to the birds I had a sighting of a Bobcat as well as a snake (racer species I believe). 

Cattle Egret, Indian River Lagoon Preserve SP, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

Snowy Egret, Indian River Lagoon Preserve SP, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

Raccoon, Maritime Hammock Sanctuary, Melbourne Beach, FL, Mar 29, 2021

Monday was a little cloudier and cooler but still in the 70’s for most of the day. I tried my luck once again at Maritime Hammock but it was once again very quiet. After my fairly short time there I headed back to the lodging and then we went nearby to kayak for a few hours along the Indian River where we saw some Manatees and dolphins as well as a decent selection of birds. After our kayaking time I went out for another few miles of walking at the nearby Indian River Lagoon Preserve SP. As it was midday and the breeze had picked up quite a bit it was not too active. 

Common Gallinule with chicks, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Common Gallinule chick, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Purple Gallinule, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Little Blue Heron, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

Pied billed Grebe, Orlando Wetlands Preserve, Christmas, FL, Mar 30, 2021

On our last full day in Florida we left Melbourne Beach and headed north and west toward our final destination in Orlando. We stopped at the always productive Orlando Wetland Park for a few hours in the sun and heat and I walked a few miles adding typical species to my list for the trip. Waterfowl was a present in fairly low diversity as I'm assuming many species have already left for points north (with the main exception being Blue winged Teal). I also had loads of Common Gallinule and American Coots around and came across a few recently hatched Common Gallinule chicks. After finishing up at the park we headed west to Orlando and I got a couple of short walks in late that afternoon and the following morning.

Overall for the trip I found a total of 110 species with three new for Florida and one new life bird bringing my life total to 1580.  Warblers were relatively sparse with only ten species seen during the week (more on warblers on the trip at the following link)