The first week brings in some waders and shorebirds

Great Egret, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 5, 2019

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 5, 2019

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 5, 2019

Great Egrets, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 3, 2019

Solitary Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 6, 2019

With the beginning of August comes the dispersal of a number of waders and the beginning of shorebird migration and with them the chance for unusual species to show up.  The number of Green Herons at Lake Wallace continues to increase, reaching a high of 14 on Monday.  Great Egrets have started showing up right on time with numbers continuing to increase (with a high so far of nine at the Oxbow at Arcadia on Saturday morning).  Oddly I hit a number of spots today looking for unusual waders and could not even turn up a single Great Egret!  Shorebirds are starting to trickle in with my first Solitary Sandpipers of the season this morning at Lower Mill Pond plus the expected Spotted Sandpipers and Killdeer at a few locations.

More egrets, herons and shorebirds the last couple mornings plus an update on the tropics

Great Egrets, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Great Egrets, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Great Blue Heron and the head of a Canada Goose, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Least Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Solitary Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Green Herons, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 20, 2016

Solitary Sandpipers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 20, 2016

I spent another morning after work stopping at a few spots on my way home including Arcadia, Lower Mill Pond, the Holyoke Dam and Lake Wallace.  Arcadia was fairly quiet with the best sighting being four Green Herons chasing each other around and being quite vocal as they did so.  Lower Mill Pond held a few shorebirds including eight Killdeer, half a dozen Least Sandpipers and two Solitary Sandpipers.  Holyoke Dam was active once again with 14 Double crested Cormorants, 13 Great Blue Herons, a dozen Great Egrets, two Green Herons, 78 Ring billed Gulls and 55+ Chimney Swifts.  A brief stop at Lake Wallace mid morning found 48 Wood Ducks and a couple each of Green Herons and Solitary Sandpipers.

Killdeer, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 19, 2016

Yesterday I stopped briefly along the CT river in Hadley and had three Great Egrets and then headed across the river to Easthampton where I had a few shorebirds in Lower Mill Pond but nothing unusual.

As of today the tropical Atlantic continues to increase in activity with Tropical Storm Fiona still spinning way out in the Atlantic but being beaten up badly and the forecast for her being no threat to any landmass.  A couple of more tropical waves show potential for development in the next 5-10 days.  Invest 99L is midway between Africa and the Lesser Antilles and will be slow to develop but if it holds together and develops it could pose a threat to the US but there are more questions than answers at this point.  The hurricane center gives this invest a 60% chance of development in the next five days.  Another wave just coming off the coast of Africa is being given a 70% of development within the next five days.  I will update as needed on these systems as time goes on but it certainly bears watching.

The last couple mornings

Great Egrets, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 18, 2016

Great Blue Herons, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 18, 2016

Common Merganser, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 18, 2016

Double crested Cormorants, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 18, 2016

Killdeer, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 18, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 18, 2016

After getting out of work this morning I made my rounds trying to catch up with some unusual herons or egrets along the Connecticut River. I didn't find anything too unusual but the number of Great Egrets around is fairly high. I started off at Arcadia where it was very quiet so I moved on to Lower Mill Pond where I had a small selection of shorebirds and just a single Great Blue Heron. I then headed further south to check out the Holyoke Dam area not just for any unusual waders that might be around but also in the hopes of finding a Laughing Gull (more on that below). I didn't find any unusual gulls at the dam but did have a decent number of waders including 20 Great Blue Herons and 10 Great Egrets. Other notables there included 17 Common Mergansers, 18 Double crested Cormorants and around fifty Chimney Swifts. I also made a brief stop along the river in the area of the Honey Pot where I had a couple more Great Egrets. I also made a brief stop at Winsor Dam in the hopes of a tracking down any unusual gulls but found nothing beyond a few Ring billed Gulls. Once again there was no sign of the Lesser Scaup and I'm thinking it may be gone for good this time. A walk with Wilson at Lake Wallace turned up the expected species for a midday visit including a half a dozen Green Herons.

Green Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 17, 2016

Least Sandpipers, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 17, 2016

Yesterday morning on my way to work I stopped along the river in Hadley at the Dawson Conservation Area and had three Great Egrets in the river plus a couple Great Blue Herons. A brief run though Arcadia didn't produce too much with just a half dozen Killdeer in the small field they have been in for a few weeks now. Lower Mill Pond produced one each of Great Blue Heron and Green Heron plus four species of shorebirds (Killdeer and Least, Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers).

Now for more about the Laughing Gulls mentioned above. There have also been a couple of Laughing Gulls that have shown up inland in Massachusetts during the last few days with one found by James Smith up at Turners Falls on August 15th (link to his blog post here: http://pioneerbirding.blogspot.com/2016/08/ma-laughing-gull-in-gill.html)and seen the next day too.  Another was seen on August 17 and 18 at Wachusett Reservoir in Worcester County.  Both birds are juveniles and perhaps got pushed here by the southerly winds over the last few days. Laughing Gull is very unusual inland in Massachusetts and almost always is associated with storms (mainly tropical systems) so the arrival of these birds here is even more unusual as we have had no storms. Speaking of the tropics Tropical Storm Fiona recently formed well out in the Atlantic and the guidance suggests it should curve out to sea and not be a threat to the US but it will certainly be worth watching. There are a few more tropical waves coming off Africa which could also spin up into tropical systems going forward. The most active point of the hurricane season is rapidly approaching so likelihood of systems forming increases over the next several weeks.

Our second heat wave of the season continues plus a taxonomy update and a hurricane season prediction update

Louisiana Waterthrush, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 13, 2016

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 13, 2016

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 13, 2016

Solitary Sandpiper, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 13, 2016

Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 13, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 13, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 13, 2016

The second heat wave of the season continues today with predawn temperatures in the 70's.  This heat wave should be shorter than the last but the temperatures have been even higher in the mid 90's with very high humidity (dew points in the mid 70's) giving a heat index between 100-105....work has not been fun under these conditions!  I got out early for a few hours today with stops at Lake Wallace and Quabbin Park.  Lake Wallace held 86 Wood Ducks, a dozen Green Herons (my highest count there yet this season for this species), a couple Solitary Sandpipers, at least three Virginia Rails and a somewhat cooperative Louisiana Waterthrush that I was able to digiscope.  Quabbin Park was fairly quiet with just the expected species with few birds vocalizing although Eastern Wood Pewees and Red eyed Vireos were still carrying on fairly constantly.  No sign of the Lesser Scaup at Winsor Dam once again this morning.  I have not seen it since August 1st so perhaps it finally moved on due to the ongoing construction near the HQ building or got taken by a predator.  I will still keep an eye out for it because it has resurfaced before when I thought for sure it was gone.

Green Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 12, 2016

Solitary Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 12, 2016

Great Blue Herons, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 12, 2016

Double crested Cormorants, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 12, 2016

Double crested Cormorants, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 12, 2016

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 12, 2016

Yesterday after work I hit a few spots before it got extremely hot.  I started off at Arcadia and had just a few Killdeer in the small field that produced dozens just a few days ago.  I then headed over to Lower Mill Pond where I had a little more luck with the following shorebirds on the mudflats:  Killdeer, two each of Least and Spotted Sandpipers and half a dozen Solitary Sandpipers.  Other notables there included five Great Blue Herons, four Green Herons and an Osprey.  My next stop down at the Holyoke Dam produced a dozen Common Mergansers, 8 Double crested Cormorants, five Great Blue Herons, 124 Ring billed Gulls and at least 55 Chimney Swifts.  By the time I made it to Lake Wallace it was already quite warm (mid 80's) so didn't have tons of activity but still managed 44 Wood Ducks and five Green Herons.

On Wednesday morning I didn't have much time to stop anywhere plus the thick fog once again made any viewing tough.  I made a brief stop at the Oxbow but didn't turn up anything too impressive but that was not surprising given the two eagles moving around the area.  The best birds of the morning were at least 13 Fish Crows along King Street in Northampton near Stop and Shop.


The recent taxonomy update has been done through eBird to reflect the recent changes made regarding splits of species, lumps and name changes.  The splits have resulted in my life list climbing by three to 1205.  The splits included Gray necked Wood Rail into Russet naped Wood Rail (seen on the Caribean side of Costa Rica) and Gray cowled Wood Rail (seen on the Pacific side of Costa Rica); the split of Green Violetear into Lesser Violetear (seen in Costa Rica) and Sparkling Violetear (seen in Ecuador); and the split of Western Scrub Jay into California Scrub Jay (seen in CA) and Woodhouse Scrub Jay (seen in AZ).

NOAA released the latest predictions for the hurricane season a couple days ago and the season is expected to be the strongest since 2012 with between 12-17 named storms (5-8 of those being hurricanes and 2-4 being major hurricanes).  These numbers are a slight increase from predictions earlier in the season.  The season has so far produced five named storms with two of those being hurricanes.  Below is an excerpt from the latest NOAA prediction:
“We’ve raised the numbers because some conditions now in place are indicative of a more active hurricane season, such as El Niño ending, weaker vertical wind shear and weaker trade winds over the central tropical Atlantic, and a stronger west African monsoon,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “However, less conducive ocean temperature patterns in both the Atlantic and eastern subtropical North Pacific, combined with stronger wind shear and sinking motion in the atmosphere over the Caribbean Sea, are expected to prevent the season from becoming extremely active."

The heat wave finally ends

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2016

Green winged Teal, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2016

Least Sandpipers and Solitary Sandpiper, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, July 29, 2016

I got up before dawn today and noticed it was already rainy fairly steady so I thought I would go out to try to find some shorebirds put down by the weather.  I checked a number of fields in Hadley but came up empty.  Most of the spots I have had shorebirds in the past are either overgrown at this time or still full of unharvested crops.  I had some luck at Lower Mill Pond with four Killdeer, two each of Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper and nine Least Sandpipers (including one larger than normal individual that I tried hard to turn into something unusual).  Arcadia and a few spots along the river turned up no shorebirds at all. Yesterday there was a large influx of waders into Stebbins in Longmeadow with dozens of Great Egrets as well as a few Snowy Egrets and Little Blue Herons.  I hoped I would have some luck with some of those individuals coming a bit further north but I didn't find any unusual waders at all.  The Green winged Teal I found yesterday at Lake Wallace was still there today.

The heat wave finally ended (just barely as it made it to 89 today) after eight straight days above 90.  The forecast for heavy rain through most of the day did not turn out to be the case with just some early rain that ended by mid/late morning and we got between a quarter and half inch of rain.  Elsewhere weather wise the tropics now have two invests (96L and 97L) way out in the Atlantic that at least should be watched.  Long term forecast do not show either developing much but there are many variables that could change.

Green winged Teal (with Wood Ducks), Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 28, 2016

Green winged Teal (with Wood Duck), Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 28, 2016

Virginia Rail, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 28, 2016

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 28, 2016

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 28, 2016

I stayed local yesterday with stops at Lake Wallace and Quabbin Park early in the morning.  Lake Wallace had decent numbers of the expected waterfowl species as well as an unusual for July Green winged Teal.  I last saw the bird heading northeast with a group of Mallards.  Other notables at the lake included at least seven Green Herons and a somewhat cooperative Virginia Rail.  No luck finding the Lesser Scaup at Winsor Dam but there was more noise than unusual there due to some ongoing construction.  My brief stop at Quabbin Park turned up four Spotted Sandpipers at gate 52 plus a flyover Evening Grosbeak.

Common Grackles, Home, Belchertown, MA, July 27, 2016

Cedar Waxwing, Home, Belchertown, MA, July 27, 2016

Striped Skunk, Home, Belchertown, MA, July 27, 2016

I added a couple more bird species to my water feature list when the motion camera caught a couple Common Grackles and a Cedar Waxwing on July 27th.  These two species become species #29 & #30 for the water feature.  I also added another mammal species when a Striped Skunk showed up early in the morning on Saturday.

Heat wave continues

Great Blue Heron, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, July 27, 2016

Least Sandpipers and Killdeer, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, July 24, 2016

Just a few stops in the mornings over the last few days on my way to and from work didn't produce anything too unusual but there were a number of highlights which I have listed below.  Migration is slowly starting to gather some steam with the majority of obvious migrants being shorebirds with a scattering of other families too.

Sunday:  Killdeer, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpiper and 7 Least Sandpipers at Lower Mill Pond.

Monday: 5 Killdeer and 7 Least Sandpipers.

Tuesday:  36 Wood Ducks, 166 Mallards, 3 Green Herons.

Wednesday:  6 Great Blue Herons and 8 Killdeer at Arcadia; 5 Killdeer, 3 Spotted Sandpiper and a Solitary Sandpiper at Lower Mill Pond; 7 Double crested Cormorant, 33 Turkey Vultures, 72 Ring billed Gulls and at least 110 Chimney Swifts at the Holyoke Dam.

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, July 25, 2016

At home the Gray Fox once again came into the water feature early Monday morning and the camera caught a shot of it.

The heat wave continues unabated for the seventh day with temps today in the low 90's.  The forecast calls for at least one more day in the 90's which would make for the longest heat wave here since 1995.  It has been a very warm and dry July as our drought conditions continue to get worse.  The tropics may finally be coming back to life after a long lull in the hurricane season (not too unusual in July) as a tropical wave coming off Africa has the potential to develop.  Any development is still days away and the large amount of dry air associated with the Saharan Air Layer may still impede development....time will tell.