Buff breasted Sandpiper yesterday and continued Dickcissel today and the latest on Hurricane Irma

Buff breasted Sandpiper, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2017

Buff breasted Sandpiper, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2017

Buff breasted Sandpiper, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2017

I finally had some luck with shorebirds yesterday morning on my way to work when I found a Buff breasted Sandpiper at the Honey Pot.  This species is less than annual around here so I was very happy to find it (my last record was exactly three years ago on September 7, 2014).  The conditions were great for an unusual shorebird to show up with rain on and off since the previous day into the overnight and after not finding any the day before it was nice to finally get a reward for checking lots of fields.  The only other shorebird species around were Killdeer with a couple with the Buff breasted Sandpiper and a few dozen in a field in the East Meadows.  I'm sure there were more shorebirds around but the conditions were muddy and I had limited time before work.

Dickcissel, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 8, 2017

Dickcissel, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 8, 2017

Palm Warbler (western), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 8, 2017

Rose breasted Grosbeak, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 8, 2017

White tailed Deer, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 8, 2017

Red Squirrels, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 8, 2017

Striped Skunk, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 8, 2017

After getting out of work today I headed over to Arcadia and spent a few hours there and found a number of good stuff including at least two Dickcissel (it is looking to be a fantastic year for this species around here), a Willow Flycatcher still calling, my first Palm Warbler and Lincoln's Sparrow for the fall and still good numbers of Bobolinks.  Besides the birds I had several mammal sightings including a yearling White tailed Deer that followed me around quite closely for about 30 minutes plus a Striped Skunk that crossed right in front of me near the Ibis Pool and then had a family of Red Squirrels chasing each other around a tree.  Full list with more photos here:  Arcadia

Three hurricanes in the Atlantic (Katia, Irma and Jose), Sep 8, 2017

Hurricane Irma continues to plow its way through the Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas and Cuba on its way to a landfall somewhere in southern Florida.  The storm should then run up the middle of Florida before weakening overland to the northwest in Georgia.  It is still a very strong storm (an upper end Category 4) and will almost certainly cause a whole lot of destruction before it finally dissipates.  There should be no real impact here at all beyond perhaps some bringing some rain mid/late next week but even that might not occur.  As expected the islands in the northern Lesser Antilles suffered catastrophic damage and unfortunately are in line to possibly be hit again by another major hurricane on Saturday as Hurricane Jose (Category 4 with 150 MPH winds) will move through.  The residents and wildlife there that did make it through Irma now have to face yet another similar storm...tough situation for all involved.  There is actually a third hurricane (Hurricane Katia) in the southern Gulf of Mexico which will hit Mexico with rain and wind today into the weekend.  A very busy Atlantic hurricane season at the moment to be sure!

As far as birds displaced and carried along with the storm, eBird has recently posted an article concerning the potential species involved as well as a live map of reported rarities.  Link to article here:  Hurricane Irma and birds.  I will update later on exactly what unusual species turned up.

Hurricane Irma update

Hurricane Irma striking Barbuda, Sep 5, 2017

Hurricane Irma projected path as of 8AM, Sep 6, 2017

Hurricane Irma strengthened further yesterday becoming a very dangerous high end Category 5 hurricane with winds that reached 185 MPH sustained with higher gusts (only one other storm in the Atlantic, Hurricane Allen in 1980, had stronger winds at 190 MPH).  The pressure has dropped to 916 mb and the storm looks to maintain this strength or become even stronger. There is really nothing of consequence stopping the storm as the conditions are damn near perfect for it. At this point the northern Lesser Antilles have already been directly impacted with the storm hitting Barbuda last night and Saint Martin getting hit now.  The islands that take a direct hit will undoubtedly experience catastrophic destruction...a storm of this power will level most everything. Irma becomes one of the strongest hurricanes ever in the Atlantic basin and the strongest storm ever outside of the Gulf of Mexico or north of the Caribbean so a record breaking storm already. The projected storm track continues to show the storm being a major threat for a direct hit to the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas and the Greater Antilles before almost certainly having a direct impact to the United States. Florida is almost certainly to be hit but the real question is exactly where on the peninsula.  The latest guidance points away from the storm making it across the peninsula and impacting the Gulf of Mexico side but instead the storm is likely to track up the peninsula or stay just offshore on the east coast...still question marks but make no mistake the storm will impact the US mainland in some form.

What effect will the storm have on bird life? Migrants will likely fly around the storm (if they have the ability) but many will certainly perish in the storm. The birds on the islands will also take a major hit with winds from a Category 5 storm but hopefully they will find some places to hide out and ride out the storm.  There are a number of endemic species that could suffer some heavy loss due to their restricted range on some of the islands being directly impacted (the Barbuda Warbler comes to mind as one example).  Pelagic birds will certainly be entrained within the storm and once landfall occurs the birds that survive will be dumped inland...where that happen will depend on the track of the storm...more on that later.

There is also a newly named storm (TS Jose) behind Irma that also could develop into another hurricane and track up through the northern Lesser Antilles but more about that at a later time.