Poverty Mountain bird survey ends out May

Red tailed Hawk, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Eastern Phoebe, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, Shutesbury, MA, May 31, 2026

Pink Ladyslippers, Pelham, MA, May 31, 2026

Adams Brook, Shutesbury, MA, May 31, 2026

As is always the case May has gone by too fast and I ended the month assisting with the 21st year of the Poverty Mountain bird survey at Kevin and Cynthia's fantastic property in the corner of Amherst, Pelham and Shutesbury.  I stuck around the house longer than usual this morning to make sure Wilson was doing well enough after some surgery he had yesterday.  It was a tough afternoon and overnight for him (and us) but he had improved quite a bit so I headed out for a few hours to assist with the count.  It was not the highest count but not too bad given the cold weather to start the day.  I found a total of 50 species for the count and I'm sure a few other species got added by others elsewhere.  

Eastern Bluebird nestlings, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Hooded Merganser eggs in duck box #2, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Eastern Bluebird fledglings, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 31, 2026

Once back home late in the morning I checked the nest boxes and found some very freshly hatched Eastern Bluebirds and the Hooded Merganser still sitting on eggs in duck box #2.  I also have a Gray Catbird on a nest in some of the low bushes near the house.  A check of the camera on the water feature turned up a number of captures including at least three Eastern Bluebird fledglings.

Overall the month was fairly productive with 168 species in Hampshire County, which is slightly below usual but it did produce my first new Hampshire County species for the year with a Loggerhead Shrike a couple days ago. 

 

Great start to October with a possible Yellow rumped Warbler hybrid plus lots of late migrants

Yellow rumped Warbler (possible hybrid or aberrant individual with yellow throat, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Black throated Blue Warbler with unusual plumage, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Orange crowned Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Ruby crowned Kinglet, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Blackburnian Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Golden crowned Kinglet, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Blue headed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, Oct 2, 2025

Red tailed Hawk, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2025

Eastern Phoebe, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 1, 2025

Ovenbird, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Oct 1, 2025

Despite a cool down the last couple days and breezy conditions I have had some interesting birds as I have concentrated on warblers to start off the month and have found 16 species of warblers so far including two very unusual individuals.  Both individuals were in the same general area of each other among a mixed flock in Belchertown.  The first was a Yellow rumped Warbler with a yellow throat that is either a hybrid of the Audubon's and Myrtle subspecies or an aberrant plumaged individual.  The jury is still out on what to actual call the bird...no matter what it is it was certainly exciting to run across (and actually get photos of!).  The other interesting bird was a male Black throated Blue Warbler with a white throat and additional white plumage on the flank.  The last couple nights (especially September 30th into October 1st) were big migration nights and the influx of late season passerine migrants has been impressive with loads of Golden crowned and Ruby crowned Kinglets as well as multiple species of sparrows at every stop.  Raptors have also been moving too with some great looks at multiple species.  We are headed toward another warm up through the weekend and then we will see another cold front come through by mid next week.  

Third week of September ends

Yellow bellied Flycatcher, Belchertown, MA, Sep 21, 2025

Common Yellowthroat, Belchertown, MA, Sep 21, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Sep 21, 2025

Cedar Waxwings, Ware, MA, Sep 21, 2025

Gray Catbirds, Ware, MA, Sep 21, 2025

Red tailed Hawk, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 20, 2025

Swamp Sparrow, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 20, 2025

Sandhill Cranes, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2025

Red Squirrel, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2025

Sliver of a moon, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 20, 2025

Wilson taking a break, Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, Sep 20, 2025

Connecticut Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 19, 2025

The third week of September ended with even more great migration conditions but most birds seemed to have moved right on by without stopping with the last couple mornings being much more quiet than anticipated given the number of migrants in the air overnight.  Nonetheless I still found some birds with some unusual ones for the last week including a continued pair of Sandhill Cranes at Arcadia, a couple Connecticut Warblers and a Mourning Warbler.  Overall migrants were around in lesser numbers than expected and this may be due to weeks of mainly good migration conditions and drought conditions to the north which both combined to make some birds move earlier than typical.  To end out the week I spent my morning yesterday at Arcadia before moving on to Hickory Ridge.  All of the typically sparrow filled fields have been mowed down at Arcadia...not exactly good management for birds.  Today I started off in Ware and then worked my way back to Belchertown.  Certainly a few pockets of birds including a rather cooperative Yellow bellied Flycatcher (I have had a great fall for this species around here).  

The start of May

Red tailed Hawk, Ware, MA, May 1, 2025

Black capped Chickadee, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2025

 Pine Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2025

Brewster's Warbler, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2025

Solitary Sandpiper, Amherst, MA, May 2, 2025

May is off to a good start with a continued influx of birds with decent migration conditions.  The first day of the month produced over a hundred species despite me not be able to stay out as long due to some commitments at home.  Today started off with some thunderstorms that moved through starting around 3:20AM which woke me up and had me worried Wilson would be a mess (which is typically the case).  After lots of flashes and rumbles and me waiting for Wilson to lose it he finally woke up and wandered a little around 4:30 and seemed totally unfazed...a positive aspect of him becoming nearly deaf I guess.  Still surprised the rumbling didn't make him nervous.  After waiting around a bit to see if he remained calm (which he did) I headed out to a few areas to check on arriving migrants before I headed back home.  I almost stayed around the Quabbin area to see if any migrants got put down by the weather but was afraid the fog would make seeing anything at the dam impossible so I headed to Amherst and Hadley instead (there were a number of unusual waterfowl put down in Franklin County at Barton's Cove so perhaps I should have stayed at Quabbin...always the problem of spring...too many places to be at the same time to try to catch something interesting.  I decided to concentrate on warblers and had some good luck with the highlight being a Brewster's Warbler.  Even without a lot of time I managed a hundred species today and 104 yesterday...gotta love May!  The weather now looks to take a rainy turn as a cut off low in the Ohio valley will continue to pinwheel in rain from time to time until at least Wednesday.  At least it will not be rainy all the time and the rain could even result in some species being put down by the weather.

Breeding Bird Survey route completed this morning with my highest species count ever

Dawn at the UMASS orchard, BBS stop #3, Belchertown, MA, Jun 2, 2024

Red tailed Hawk, BBS stop #15, Palmer, MA, Jun 2, 2024

Farm fields, BBS stop #29, Monson, MA, Jun 2, 2024

Chestnut sided Warbler, BBS stop #34, Monson, MA, Jun 2, 2024

Prairie Warbler, BBS stop #34, Monson, MA, Jun 2, 2024

I ran my Breeding Bird Survey route for my 15th consecutive year and I managed to get the highest species total I have ever had with 84 species (my previous high was 2019 with 83 species).  My average species per year since I took over the route stood at 72 before this season, with my lowest species count being 56 back in 2012.  For those who don't know what a Breeding Bird Survey entails I will give a quick overview.  The survey routes consists of 50 stops for three minutes each at half mile increments and many have been conducted for years thus showing population trends among species over time.  As an example the route that I now run was started in 1967 and has been conducted by someone every year since.  My route begins in Belchertown and runs south through Ware, Palmer and Monson to the Connecticut border.  The route begins early at 4:42AM and I usually finish up some time after nine.  It is interesting to see how the species count and make up changes over time.  It is also a little sad as with each passing year more and more houses pop up along the route and with the houses come a loss of forest species and all the perils to birds that people bring.  I try to conduct the route on a Sunday to minimize traffic noise and disturbance from people.  I have now had a total of 114 species over the years along the route with three new species this year (Common Merganser, Orchard Oriole and Northern Waterthrush).  Not much of a chance to get photos of anything as I don't have time to track down species given the time constraints of the survey.

Below is table of each year I have conducted the survey

year                 # of species            date of survey

2010                 71                          June 20

2011                 64                          June 26

2012                 56                          June 3

2013                 67                          June 23

2014                 70                          June 15

2015                 75                          June 14

2016                 78                          June 19

2017                 73                          June 22

2018                 71                          June 22

2019                 83                          June 9

2020                 76                          June 14

2021                 71                          June 19

2022                 78                          June 5

2023                 77                          June 25
2024                 84                          June 2

At least half a dozen Pine Warblers continue at Winsor Dam plus other sightings from the last several days

Pine Warblers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 20, 2024

Pine Warbler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 20, 2024

American Robins, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 20, 2024

Pine Warblers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 20, 2024

Red tailed Hawk, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 19, 2024

Eastern Bluebird, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 19, 2024

Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures, Moody Bridge Rd, Hadley, MA, Feb 19, 2024

Song Sparrow, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, Feb 18, 2024

Pine Warbler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 17, 2024

Pine Siskin, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 17, 2024

Golden crowned Kinglet, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Feb 17, 2024

Wilson after a haircut, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 16, 2024

I have spent the last several days when I was free mainly keeping a close tab on the continued group of overwintering Pine Warblers at Winsor Dam and although the numbers have varied from day to day, there are at least a half a dozen individuals that continue through today.  Lots more details and photos at the above link in regards to the warblers.  Besides the warblers I have found a number of other notable species both at the dam and at other locations plus the species one would expect here in February, although the waterfowl numbers continue to be low.  Hopefully the numbers will pick up as February ends and March begins.  

Fresh shavings in duck box #1, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 16, 2024

Hairy Woodpecker and Downy Woodpecker, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 18, 2024

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 17, 2024

Eastern Bluebirds, Home, Belchertown, MA, Feb 17, 2024

I also got around to checking all the duck boxes at the house to prep them for the upcoming nesting season.  The camera I set up on the suet feeder captured a number of species including a continued banded Black capped Chickadee.