The first few days of August

Gray Catbird, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Aug 5, 2026

Common Yellowthroat, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Aug 5, 2026

Blue Grosbeak, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Aug 5, 2026

Wood Duck, Rail Trail,  Amherst, MA, Aug 4, 2026

Red tailed Hawk, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Aug 4, 2026

 

Black throated Green Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 2, 2026

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 2, 2026

Killdeer, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 2, 2026

Looking northeast from Gate 52 over a low reservoir, Quabbin Park, MA, Aug 2, 2026

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 1, 2026

Yellow bellied Sapsucker, Skinner SP, South Hadley, MA, Aug 1, 2026

House Wren nest with nestlings, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 1, 2026

It has been a somewhat average start to August with widely variable weather including some humidity, heavy rain and then more fall like days with cool mornings.  I got out at least a bit every morning and found a total of 126 species so far with the only somewhat unusual species being continued numbers of Red Crossbills in various locations, Grasshopper Sparrow, a slightly late Orchard Oriole and continued Blue Grosbeaks in Hadley.   We are forecast to warm up again with a possible heat wave starting tomorrow and lasting into the weekend.  I will get out early to beat the heat.  On a bird related note the American Ornithological Society (AOS) is in the midst of having their annual conference and this year it is occurring at UMASS!  Wish it was not so expensive to go as it would have been interesting to hear some of the talks and presentations.  

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.