Third week of October

White throated Sparrow, Amherst, MA, Oct 15, 2024

Gray Catbird, Amherst, MA, Oct 15, 2024

Canada Geese, Amherst, MA, Oct 16, 2024

Red bellied Woodpecker, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 16, 2024

Northern Cardinal, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 16, 2024

Song Sparrow, Amherst, MA, Oct 17, 2024

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Amherst, MA, Oct 17, 2024

White crowned Sparrow, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 17, 2024

Cooper's Hawk, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 17, 2024

Purple Finch, UMASS, Amherst, MA, Oct 19, 2024

Merlin, Amherst, MA, Oct 19, 2024

Dark eyed Junco, Amherst, MA, Oct 19, 2024

Nashville Warbler, Amherst, MA, Oct 19, 2024

Ruddy Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 21, 2024 

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 21, 2024 

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Oct 21, 2024 

Northern Flicker, Amherst, MA, Oct 21, 2024 

Song Sparrow, Amherst, MA, Oct 21, 2024 

The last week has produced a few new species for me for the month, which now stands at 132 (which is one of my lowest totals for October in several years).  I have continued to concentrate on warblers so I'm sure I have missed some species I would otherwise have tracked down for the month.  The weather has been fairly cooperative with mostly sunny conditions through most of the last week with steadily increasing temperatures (with cool to cold mornings every day).  Migration conditions were overall conducive for birds to move and loads of stuff moved through.  Sparrows, raptors and other late season migrants continue to show in good numbers and waterfowl is slowly continuing to increase in diversity.  Purple Finches have also arrived with multiple individuals heard at most every stop for the past week.  The weather looks to remain sunny and warm for a couple more days before more seasonable temps arrive.

Wilson recovering from surgery, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 21, 2024

Our boy Wilson had to have another surgery on Saturday to remove a few masses before they became too problematic for him.  We anxiously await the results to see if we are dealing with more cancer.  He is slowly recovering and hopefully he will be back to his old self soon.

A record setting November comes to an end

Redhead, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Nov 21, 2022

Palm Warbler 'western', Hadley, MA, Nov 20, 2022

Greater White fronted Goose, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 20, 2022

Cackling Goose, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Nov 19, 2022

Black legged Kittiwake,Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 10, 2022

Common Eider (with Black Scoters), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 9, 2022

Sandhill Cranes, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 9, 2022

Orange crowned Warbler, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Golden Eagle, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 7, 2022

Ruddy Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 2, 2022

Eastern Phoebe, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Nov 1, 2022

November has now almost come to an end and it was a very active month here with a total of 124 species in Hampshire County for me.  This beats my previous best November in 2020 when I had 122 species.  The average over the last ten years is about 95 species for the month but I have exceeded 100 for the last five years.  The high count is thanks to a number of rarities, a few lingering species and some irruptive species.  The rarities included Red Phalarope, Yellow headed Blackbird, Golden Eagle, Sandhill Cranes, Common Eider (county species #304 for me), Black legged Kittiwake and a Redhead.  Waterfowl figured prominently in the total for the month with 32 species (geese, ducks, loons, grebes, etc) but I did miss some species I would typically find in November (like Red necked Grebe).  Irruptive species that have shown up so far included Evening Grosbeaks, Red Crossbills and Pine Siskins.  If the finch forecast pans out as predicted this winter will be very good for a large variety of irruptives...time will tell.  I found a total of five species of warblers for the month, a decent count for the month but not my best November ever.

Black capped Chickadee with leg bands, Home, Belchertown, MA, Nov 8, 2022

Dark eyed Junco, Home, Belchertown, MA, Nov 13, 2022 (last capture of the year at the water feature)

Bobcats, Home, Belchertown, MA, Nov 1, 2022

White tailed Deer, Home, Belchertown, MA, Nov 17, 2022

Gray Foxes, Home, Belchertown, MA, Nov 25, 2022

I continue to capture some good stuff on the camera I have at the house positioned along Jabish Brook with several mammals including paired up individuals.  I also buttoned up the water feature for the year and had lots of good stuff over the course of the season.

Yellow headed Blackbird, American Coots and other waterfowl for the last two days

American Coots, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

American Coots, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Blackbirds leaving roost, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Black capped Chickadee without a tail (AKA Chickadee Antpitta), Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Rusty Blackbird, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Song Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Fox Sparrow, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

House Finch, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Nov 3, 2022

I headed over to Hatfield before dawn to check some areas in the area of Great Pond in the hopes of finding some lingering warblers once things warmed up.  I made a few stops along the river and turned up several Eastern Screech Owls plus a Snow Bunting flying around and calling before the sun came up.  I then spent the next few hours at Great Pond looking for late warblers and other lingering species.  Thankfully there were no hunters around for the morning and it was a pleasure to be outside, even if it was a bit chilly early on before the sun started warming things up a bit.  I turned up a nice high count of American Coots among the limited diversity of waterfowl.  I could hear lots of calling from blackbirds and grackles that were roosting at the pond and eventually the hordes took off in mass over the course of about ten minutes when thousands of birds streamed out to the south.  I was scanning through the masses and as a group of a thousand plus Common Grackles flew by low I picked out a lone male Yellow headed Blackbird among them.  The birds were gone before I had a chance to try to get the camera for a photo.  I got the word out about the bird as quick as I could and amazingly Cory turned up what was almost certainly the same bird flying south and calling along the river in Hadley perhaps ten minutes after I saw it in Hatfield.  I suspect the bird will return to roost at Great Pond again so hopefully others will get to see it.  Yellow headed Blackbird is a fairly rare species here and I have had six records of the species ever in Hampshire County with all but one being in fall and the other being in February this year.  The post about the one I had in October of last year has more links to other sightings over the years.  Always a fun species to turn up among the hordes of blackbirds and grackles.  Besides the species mentioned above there were lots of other stuff among the 51 species present including loads of House Finches and American Goldfinches and eight species of sparrows but just one species of warbler.

Turkey Vulture, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Red breasted Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 3, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 3, 2022

After my time at Great Pond I started my way toward home but did stop for a short visit to Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River looking for warblers but finding none at all.  It was not a totally unproductive stop as I had three Turkey Vultures and three Evening Grosbeaks that flew by calling and headed off to the southeast...the grosbeaks look to be staging an incursion into the area that is just beginning and hopefully lots more will follow.  I also made a brief stop at a dead calm Winsor Dam where I had nine species of waterfowl including a couple Red breasted Mergansers and a distant Red throated Loon.

Ruddy Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 2, 2022

Ruddy Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 2, 2022

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 2, 2022

On the second I headed out mainly in search of lingering warblers and despite hitting a number of spots in Hadley and Amherst I only managed to find some Yellow rumped Warblers.   While I was out I heard about ten Ruddy Ducks at Winsor Dam and eventually I made my way over there and the ducks were still present.  Ten is a great count for this species that can be tough to find in the county for some reason.  I also had a high count of 22 Long tailed Ducks plus a couple Greater Yellowlegs.  It was a nice and warm day eventually with highs that hit 70.