Black crowned Night Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Black crowned Night Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Belted Kingfisher, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Double crested Cormorants, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Little Blue Heron, Hatfield, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Little Blue Heron, Hatfield, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Little Blue Heron, Hatfield, MA, Aug 12, 2021
Great Egrets, Hatfield, MA, Aug 12, 2021
I have spent as much time as I could this month checking for unusual waders and today I finally got a good payoff with both Black crowned Night Heron and Little Blue Heron (bagging me a total of five species of waders for the day). I began what would likely be the hottest day of the year at Lake Wallace (where I have stopped many times so far this month...more on that below). I had the usual good showing of Green Herons (with 11 today) plus a few Great Blue Herons. As I continued to scan around the edge of the reeds I found a juvenile Black crowned Night Heron (a first for me at Lake Wallace...my 165th species there and my seventh wader species there). With a rare wader species already in place for the morning I decided to hit a few more spots to try to find more and my next stop was down to the Holyoke Dam where I had just Great Blue Herons (as well as good numbers of Double crested Cormorants). I then headed toward home but then saw a report from Ted of a Little Blue Heron in Hatfield and after a couple texts I heard it was relocated by Mary so I headed in that direction and arrived to find the bird there. I checked a few nearby areas for Great Egrets and eventually found half a dozen in the same area the Little Blue Heron had been in earlier. A great morning despite the very hot and humid conditions.
The biggest sighting in western Massachusetts in the last couple weeks would without question would be the first state record of Roseate Spoonbill that showed up in southern Berkshire County on Sunday August 8th and seen on and off for the next few days. With the impressive incursion of this species to the north over the last several weeks I had a feeling one would show up in Massachusetts and it was nice that it decided to show up in western Massachusetts (hopeful it or another will make it to the valley).
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 11, 2021
Before another overtime shift on Wednesday I stopped by Lake Wallace and had my highest number yet of Green Herons for the year with at least 14 present.
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2021
Great Horned Owl, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2021
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 9, 2021
Purple Martins (with young looking out of nest), Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Aug 9, 2021
Before work on Saturday and Monday I made an early morning stop at Lake Wallace to look for waders with a number of Green Herons and Great Blue Herons around but nothing unusual. I also had a brief stop to check on the Purple Martins in Hadley and had at least two young birds peaking out of the nesting gourd. This successful nesting attempt is the first successful one in Hampshire County in around a hundred years! On Sunday morning I made a few stops on my way home from work but didn't find many waders.
Great Egret, Hatfield, MA, Aug 6, 2021
Green Heron, Hatfield, MA, Aug 6, 2021
Great Blue Heron, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Aug 6, 2021
Great Egrets, Meadow St field, Amherst, MA, Aug 6, 2021
Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2021
On Friday I decided to head east and hit a number of spots in search of waders (with the distant hope of finding a late reported Little Blue Heron in Hatfield). It was a bit foggy to start the day but eventually it burned off and it warmed up quite a bit. I started at
Great Pond and had a few each of Great Blue Heron and Green Heron as well as a very large roost of Common Grackles, Red winged Blackbirds and European Starlings with a total of several thousand total individuals present. I also had some other marsh birds including a Sora, two Virginia Rails and at least one Marsh Wren. I then checked a number of other locations in Hatfield including areas along the Connecticut River and several farm fields. I found a single Great Egret and a Green Heron in a small wet area of a farm field but otherwise struck out in finding any waders. I then headed north and over the river in Sunderland and then down south to check a few spots in Hadley and Amherst. I came across at least four Great Egrets in the farm fields near
Meadow St and also had a number of shorebirds in a small puddle (including Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Killdeer). My final stop for the morning looking for waders was to
Lake Wallace where I added more Green Herons and Great Blue Herons.
As the month of August marches on the hurricane season ramps up as the busiest part of the season arrives (through early October). After a lull after a record early season start the tropics have started heating up as more and more tropical waves comes off of Africa. Tropical Storm Fred formed a few days ago but after moving over the high mountains of Hispaniola it has been broken up badly. It is forecast to eventually reform and possibly hit Florida as a tropical storm. Another storm is likely to form and pass near the northern Lesser Antilles over the weekend and there are more waves behind that one.
Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2021
Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2021
Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2021
Black capped Chickadees with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2021
I continue to come across a number of recently banded birds in the yard and the camera at the water feature has also captured a number (with up to three banded chickadees in view at once).
