Finally got a Clay colored Sparrow after a couple attempts plus some other stuff the last few days

Clay colored Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 24, 2025

Clay colored Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 24, 2025

Lincoln's Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 24, 2025

Lincoln's Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 24, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 24, 2025

 

Spotted Lanternfly, Belchertown, MA, Sep 24, 2025

Cooper's Hawk, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 23, 2025

Lincoln's Sparrows, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 23, 2025

Eastern Phoebe, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 23, 2025

Eastern Wood Pewee, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 23, 2025

Magnolia Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 23, 2025

Yellow Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 22, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 22, 2025

Red breasted Nuthatch, Belchertown, MA, Sep 22, 2025

Yellow bellied Flycatcher, Belchertown, MA, Sep 22, 2025

Wood Duck, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sep 22, 2025

I finally managed to get at look at one of the Clay colored Sparrows at Honey Pot this morning in overcast conditions and occasional light rain.  I initially was not going to try again but when I woke up and saw it was not raining as much as expected and after hearing Joe had one again the previous evening I made the trip back.  I also figured there was a chance of shorebirds being forced down by the weather (this turned out to not be the case).  I managed to get a couple second view of the sparrow not long after arriving and then it did not show again for me for an hour and a half.  I then decided to check other areas around the Honey Pot before giving it one more try.  This time the sparrow was much more cooperative and I was able to get some great looks and some photos plus got Scott and Julie on the bird before I left.  Another new species for the year in the books.  Despite the drizzle at times I headed to a few areas to look for warblers and found a few pockets of them.

Yesterday I made my first attempt to find the Clay colored Sparrow(s) at the Honey Pot found by Joe and Aaron the day before without any luck despite spending well over an hour in the area.  A bunch of other sparrows were in the area including my highest count yet for the fall of Lincoln's Sparrows.  I made a few other stops on my way and turned up more migrants but nothing unexpected.

To start off the third week of September I stayed in the Belchertown/Pelham area and had a number of notable species including Virginia Rail, Warbling Vireo, yet another Yellow bellied Flycatcher, loads of Red breasted Nuthatches, 14 species of warblers including another Connecticut Warbler and a very early Orange crowned Warbler.  It was another sunny and beautiful day and a great start to another week.  

I also got some sad news yesterday evening when I got a phone call letting me know my uncle Ed had died at home out in Washington.  He had an eventful and varied life including a full career in the navy and we shared many of the same outlooks on life and I always saw a lot of myself in him.  We always had a great connection and I will sorely miss our messages back and forth regarding so many topics.  He had an exceptionally sharp mind and certainly lamented the mess this country has become at the hands of those who want to take away our freedoms. We were scheduled to meet up with him this coming summer when we would be going out that way on vacation but that plan has changed.  

A good start to February

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Feb 2, 2022

February is off to a good start with temperatures finally warming up a bit after many days that have been just frigid and miserable.  I enjoyed the warmer weather by birding a good portion of the morning after I got out of work.  My main goal for the morning was to find a warbler for the new month and I was lucky enough to find at least three Yellow rumped Warblers continuing at Arcadia.  This now makes 58 continuous months of having at least one warbler species in Hampshire County.  More on the warblers for the day can be found at warblers to start February.  Once I had found some warblers I spent the rest of the morning checking various areas for rarities and lingering species and had some success.

Lapland Longspur, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Feb 2, 2022

My next stop was the East Meadows where there were multiple flocks of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings with at least two Lapland Longspurs mixed in.

Clay colored Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Clay colored Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Vesper Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Savannah Sparrow, Hadley, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Rough legged Hawk, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Rough legged Hawk, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Northern Harrier and Rough legged Hawk, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Feb 2, 2022

I then went across the river and hit a variety of spots in Hadley where I had a Gray Catbird, a Clay colored Sparrow, a couple White crowned Sparrows, a Vesper Sparrow plus a decent showing of raptors.  Most of these species have been around for at least a few days but the Clay colored Sparrow was a new one and I was able to put a couple other people on the bird as they stopped while I was looking at it.  Remember to respect the fact that many of these areas in Hadley are not public and one should only bird from the road and not block traffic.  With patience you will get to see many of these species.

Gray Catbird, Cold Spring Orchard, Belchertown, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Northern Bobwhite, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Northern Bobwhite, Herman Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Feb 2, 2022

After getting quite a few good birds I headed for home and got Wilson and we went for a walk where we picked up a continuing Hermit Thrush (no photos of that today).  On our way back home we had a couple other good incidental sightings including a Gray Catbird that flew across the road and then perched in some dense thickets and a couple of very lost looking Northern Bobwhite feeding along the road (stocked birds that somehow have managed not to get shot or hit by a car).  

Mallards and a couple American Black Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 2, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 2, 2022

A final stop for the morning at Winsor Dam found the reservoir nearly completely frozen with just a small area of open water.  There were a number of ducks on the edge of the ice but nothing unexpected.  I managed to find 51 species for the morning without a lot of effort which is fairly good for the beginning of February.  Despite the warmer temperatures it is still cold and I'm already missing Costa Rica (even after getting stuck down there for an extra week after catching Covid).  If one wants to feel a little warmth check out the two posts from my trip down there linked below:

Costa Rica part 1

Costa Rica part 2

Three consecutive mornings at Arcadia

 

Yellow Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

Tennessee Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

Red eyed Vireo, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

Wood Duck, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

Scarlet Tanager, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

Swamp Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

House Wren, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

Brief lifting of the fog to see the full Harvest Moon, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 21, 2021

I decided to try something a little different this year for what looked to be the peak of migration (at least as far as overall diversity of passerines are concerned).  Usually I try to hit new areas each morning but this year I decided to visit the same area for three consecutive mornings to get a real feel for the turnover of species with multiple nights of great migration conditions.  The area I chose was Arcadia and I was not disappointed with my choice.  Each morning was a bit different and all featured some great birds (and thankfully fewer mosquitoes than has been the case lately).  Today was the last of my three mornings there and the composition of birds changed a bit from the previous day with a noticeable increase in sparrows and a reduction in warbler numbers and diversity.  The weather was also tougher for finding birds this morning with dense fog that did not lift until a bit after nine.  The early fog made viewing a bit of a challenge with visibility so low at times it was tough to see the tops of the tallest trees in the area.  Once the fog lifted I was treated to yet another crystal clear sky with low humidity and light breezes.  Overall for the morning I found a total of 83 species with the highlights including at least half a dozen American Woodcocks (more on the species below), a continued Least Flycatcher, four species of vireos, a dozen House Wrens, a large incursion of sparrows including high counts of White throated, Lincoln's and Swamp Sparrow and a dozen species of warbler including some high counts and late species (see imbedded eBird list above).

Northern Parula, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2021

Great Blue Heron, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2021

Wilson's Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2021

Black and White Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2021

Blackpoll Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2021

Yesterday at Arcadia produced my highest species count of the three days with 90 species over the course of the entire morning.  This high total is a combination of spending a bit more time at Arcadia, covering areas I could not get to the day before and another night of great migration conditions.  It was yet another beautiful morning to be out with sunny conditions all day with no fog.  I turned up a few species of waterfowl I missed on the previous day with a Green winged Teal and a female Northern Pintail being new species.  I also maxed out the number of American Woodcocks leaving their roost at dawn with at least eight flying out.  Raptors also figured in to the higher species count with many species moving including a few small kettles of Broad winged Hawks.  Flycatchers of note included a Least Flycatcher and 17 Eastern Phoebes.  As the morning warmed up multiple vireos species continued to sing and I got recordings of a couple.  Sparrows also increased compared to the day before (but still lower in number compared to what I had today).  Warblers were also still around in good numbers with a total of 16 species with notables including four Tennessee Warblers, 19 Northern Parula, multiple Yellow Warblers, nearly thirty Blackpoll Warblers, lots of Palm Warblers (of both subspecies) plus a Wilson's Warbler (no day is complete without one!).  I also tallied four Scarlet Tanagers and another Dickcissel. 

Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2021

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2021

Lincoln's Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2021

Nashville Warbler, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2021

Great crested Flycatcher, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2021

Clay colored Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2021

Lincoln's Sparrows, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 19, 2021

On Sunday at Arcadia I had my greatest diversity of warblers for the three mornings with a total of 18 species of warblers including my third Connecticut Warbler of the fall as well as high counts of Nashville Warbler and Northern Parula plus a nice early showing of 'yellow' Palm Warblers.  When I arrived in the morning I got to witness the first of three mornings of watching multiple American Woodcocks leave their roosting spot in a cornfield and fly out to other locations for the day.  I also had multiple birds flight calling overhead predawn with Swainson's Thrushes the most obvious.  The weather was perfect with wall to wall sunshine and pleasant temperatures.  With it being a weekend there were a fair number of birders around but thankfully there are spots to get away from the crowds.  Other highlights for the morning included couple late flycatchers with a Least Flycatcher and Great crested Flycatcher, a Clay colored Sparrow (my 241st species in Hampshire County this year...crazy and way ahead of any previous year...more on that in a post at the end of the month), an influx of Lincoln's Sparrows and a flyover Dickcissel.  I would have covered even more areas for the morning but a folk fest at Arcadia in the middle of peak migration put an end to those plans.  Nonetheless it was still a fantastic morning with a total of 80 species.