Poverty Mountain bird survey

Black Bear, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 29, 2022

Belted Kingfisher, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 29, 2022

Fog over the marsh, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, May 29, 2022

I made the trek over to Kevin and Cynthia's property this morning to conduct the annual bird count there.  I have lost count of how many years I have been doing this survey but I suppose it must be over 15 by now.  Before making it over to conduct the survey I took a walk along the rail trail in Amherst in the hopes of finding some late migrants and had some luck when I ran across an Acadian Flycatcher.  Most of the remaining birds appeared to be breeders.  The best non birding sighting of the morning was a Black Bear that appeared out of the fog at the edge of the marsh.

I arrived up at the bird survey site around 7AM and then went out with a number of other birders and we managed to find a total of 26 species for our portion of the survey during two hours of walking.  I'm still waiting to hear back the overall total from Kevin and I will post those numbers when I get them.  It was a gorgeous day to explore their impressive property and the weather could not have been better with comfortable temps, low humidity, no wind and sunny skies and almost no mosquitoes or other annoying insects.  

Glossy Ibis and an early American Redstart yesterday and then rain today

Glossy Ibis, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 25, 2019

Glossy Ibis, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 25, 2019

Hairy Woodpecker, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 25, 2019

Black and White Warbler, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 25, 2019

Great Blue Heron, rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 25, 2019

I managed to get a few hours off in the morning yesterday for my birthday before going into work and I enjoyed a productive morning that started off a bit chilly (36 degrees) but warmed up nicely once the sun came up.  I started off my morning at Winsor Dam where I had at least two Eastern Whip Poor Wills calling.  My next stop was over to the rail trail in Amherst going from Station Road up to Hop Brook.  The best birds were waiting for me up at the Hop Brook marsh where I heard a Virginia Rail calling as I arrived and as I scanned the marsh I quickly found a single Glossy Ibis...a quite rare species in Hampshire County.  I have only had sightings of the species on five other occasions in the county before yesterday at the following locations and dates:

1 on Apr 22, 2004 at Arcadia
3 on Apr 18-25, 2013 at Hop Brook in Amherst
5 on Apr 15, 2014 along Aqua Vitae Rd in Hadley
1 on Jun 28, 2016 at Arcadia
2 on Jul 31, 2017 at Arcadia

I watched the ibis for several minutes as it fed and actually called once as some geese were flying around near it.  I texted a number of people to see if they were available to come see the rarity for themselves.  The bird was still there when I left but people were unfortunately unable to relocate it later in the morning.  Another unusual bird at the marsh was a Sora that called a couple times as I was admiring the ibis.

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2019

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2019

I then headed back toward home to check out Quabbin Park for about an hour and a half.  The best sighting was an early male American Redstart (the record beats from previous earliest date a few days...my old record was April 29 in 2017).  Lots of other migrants around with high counts of Blue gray Gnatcatchers, Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Towhees and Black and White Warblers (actually a drop in numbers of these species from April 24 but still a good morning).  I made a few other stops on my way into work but didn't find anything too unusual.  The month is still shaping up to be one of the best every for overall number of species and rarities...I'll review it all in detail once the month ends.

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 26, 2019

Today has featured rain most of the day with occasional downpours and some thunderstorms.  I stopped along Aqua Vitae Road on my way home and although the area looks perfect for shorebirds I once again came up empty in that department.  A stop at Winsor Dam turned up some Bufflehead but nothing else too unusual although a Red breasted Merganser and some Bonaparte's Gulls were reported later.

My first week back in the north with lots of good stuff including two species of warblers

Common Yellowthroat, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jan 17, 2019

Swamp Sparrow, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jan 17, 2019

Song Sparrow, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jan 17, 2019

Snow Goose, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Jan 17, 2019

Mute Swans, Connecticut River, South Hadley, Jan 16, 2019

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jan 15, 2019

Hooded Mergansers, Swift River, Ware, MA, Jan, 16, 2019

Barred Owl, Hadley, MA, Jan 12, 2019

Now that I have been back from Costa Rica for a week I thought I would take a look at the birds I have been able to catch up with in Hampshire County since I have been back.  I had a lot of catching up to do and thankfully the weather has been cold but snow free allowing me to catch up with 79 species in the county so far.  There are a number of rarities that continue (although I didn't make it back soon enough to see the Canvasback or Great Cormorant) and I have caught up with most of them including Snow Goose, Cackling Goose, Gray Catbird and Ruby crowned Kinglet.  I have also managed to find a few others before today including a few Hermit Thrushes, a Yellow rumped Warbler on the 15th and Lapland Longspur and White crowned Sparrow on the 12th.  Today was a banner day for birding here despite the cold temperatures.  I headed over to Amherst along the rail trail in search of a flock of Pine Grosbeaks seen there yesterday.  Although I didn't think the chances were high the birds would still be around I decided to give it a try.  I missed the grosbeaks but did manage to find a flock of half a dozen Common Redpolls that were last seen flying northwest toward Amherst College.  The best bird of the morning by far was a Common Yellowthroat that popped up briefly before disappearing and not being seen again.  The yellowthroat is very rare around here in winter with just a handful of records and my first one ever in January.  I'm making a special effort this year to turn up warblers and the effort paid off this morning.  Other notables for the morning included a Swamp Sparrow and Yellow breasted Sapsucker.  It now appears that winter will be arriving with a vengeance with a major storm of snow and ice this weekend followed by bitter cold air for early next week...inevitable given that it is January but not looking forward to it!

Bobcat, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jan 8, 2019

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jan 2, 2019

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jan 15, 2019

The cameras around the house continue to produce with multiple captures of Bobcat as well as the continued banded Black capped Chickadees.

A slightly nicer day today with warmer weather on the horizon

Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 11, 2018

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 11, 2018

Red bellied Woodpecker excavating a nest hole, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 11, 2018

Black capped Chickadee, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 11, 2018

Eastern Phoebe, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 11, 2018

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 11, 2018

April continues to be cooler than normal with a little more snow yesterday but thankfully today we had a brief respite with morning sun and temperatures eventually getting to near normal (after a record low this morning of 22 degrees).  The next few days are forecast to bring warmer temperatures on southerly winds with the chance for temperatures into the 70's on Saturday.  Migration has so far been fairly slow but I suspect it will pick up a bit if the forecast plays out as advertised.  Despite fighting yet another cold I made it out a bit before a doctors appointment and found some early migrants around including three species of warblers, quite a few Eastern Phoebes and Hermit Thrushes at multiple locations. 

Eastern Phoebe with leg bands (only the white band on the right can be seen here), Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 11, 2018

Eastern Phoebe, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 11, 2018

American Robins with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 11, 2018

American Robin with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 11, 2018

American Robin with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 11, 2018

Duck box with eggs, Home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 11, 2018

I spent most of my time around the house today and was rewarded with multiple banded birds in the yard including the return of my banded Eastern Phoebe.  The two previously seen banded robins are still around and appear to be paired up as they stayed close to each other most of the time I saw them.  I also checked the two duck boxes with eggs in them and one had a Hooded Merganser sitting on eggs when I checked (no photo of that box) and the other box had a full clutch of eggs covered with down.  Not sure what species is in the second box but I have never had anything but Hooded Mergansers however there is always the chance the nest is from Wood Ducks as I have had them in the stream on many occasions (including today). 

Sightings in the third week of April

Palm Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2017

Louisiana Waterthrush, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 20, 2017

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 20, 2017

Pine Warbler, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2017

Rusty Blackbird, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 19, 2017

Carolina Wren, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 18, 2017

Pileated Woodpeckers, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 18, 2017

As the third week of April comes to an end migration continues to pick up with new birds showing up everyday.  Some notables I have had over the last several days included both Blue headed Vireo and Broad winged Hawk on the 15th, Blue winged Teal and Black and White Warbler in Hadley on the 17th, an Eastern Whip Poor Will at Winsor Dam on the 18th (I had two there yesterday), House Wren at Mitch's Way also on the 18th and a Bonaparte's Gull at Winsor Dam on the 19th.  The warblers are just starting to arrive with decent numbers of Pine, Palm and Yellow rumped Warblers around plus a few Louisiana Waterthrushes and Black and White Warblers.  I was expecting some unusual stuff to be brought down by the raining weather overnight into this morning but no luck at the places I checked.  The next week into May should bring in a big influx of both numbers and variety.  This year I have decided to see how many warbler species I can find within Hampshire County by focusing on them.  My previous best years have been 2014 and 2016 with 32 warbler species plus a hybrid...we shall see what this year brings.

In other news a tropical storm (Tropical Storm Arlene) has formed way out in the Atlantic, which is quite unusual for April.  It is no threat to any landmasses but certainly interesting to see this time of year.

Weekend birding brings a couple new arrivals

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Field Sparrow, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Brown Thrasher, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Pine Warbler, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Blue Jay building nest, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Pileated Woodpecker, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Apr 24, 2016

Another crisp cool morning with bright sunny skies found me trying a few spots in the south Quabbin area trying for whip poor wills and marsh birds. It was a little too breezy at some spots and quite cool so I struck out on finding anything interesting. I decided to head over to the rail trail to try to find some sunny spots that might attract some birds and I had some decent luck with some good photo ops. I also found a Green Heron (#133) to add to the county list this year. After the rail trail I headed over to Silvio Conte NWR in Hadley and then eventually over to a small section of Quabbin Park. Not a blockbuster day but very nice nonetheless. Full lists with additional photos below.

Rail trail-Amherst:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29163036

Silvio Conte NWR:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29163739

Quabbin Park:  http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S29164796

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 23, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 23, 2016

On Saturday I headed out right at dawn to try to catch up with some marsh birds but could not find anything beyond Virginia Rail in the spots I checked. I checked Lake Wallace plus a few small marshes around Quabbin. I also checked Winsor Dam and Beaver Lake looking for unusual waterfowl but found none. I did spend a fair amount of time checking Quabbin Park and was rewarded with my first Black and White Warblers (#132) of the year plus ever increasing numbers of Blue gray Gnatcatchers, Pine Warblers, Yellow rumped Warblers, Chipping Sparrows and Eastern Towhees as well as others. Ended the morning with five species of warblers...just a taste of what is to come over the next few weeks. The morning was cloudy (which made photography tough) but eventually the sun broke out around midday.

American Robin on motion camera, Belchertown, MA, Apr 23, 2016

I also recently set up a small water feature to attract more birds (mainly inspired by a similar set up Steve M. has that attracted a Lawrence's Warbler last year). I just set up a motion camera on it yesterday and the first bird that I managed to capture was an American Robin. Blue Jays and White throated Sparrows showed up today. It will be interesting to see what shows up when I'm not looking.