Some Least Bitterns yesterday during a walk with Devin and a new Hampshire County species for me today with a Stilt Sandpiper

Least Bittern, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Least Bittern, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Least Bittern, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Least Bittern, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Least Bittern, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Least Bitterns, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Rose breasted Grosbeak, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Green Heron, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Great Blue Heron, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Eastern Coyote, Rail trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 21, 2025

Yesterday morning I caught up with former valley resident Devin who was in the area for some music work.  We decided on meeting at the rail trail in Amherst where we would try to turn up a Least Bittern (which would be a county bird for Devin).  I arrived a little early and walked by the marsh where a Least Bittern has been heard or seen very sporadically for a few months and had no luck.  The species has gone largely silent by this point in the year so didn't have much faith in finding one.  Once Devin arrived we started a walk along the trail and after watching a number of Green Herons flying around we approached the area where the Least Bittern has been and had one fly out of the reeds and then land in a reeds out of view.  We looked for a bit and I saw just the head of the bird showing and got Devin on the bird.  It then flew out to a more exposed perch and allowed for some great views and photos.  As we watched the bittern a second one flew out to join the initial bird.  The two of them flew around a bit for several minutes, occasionally landing in open.  The best looks I have had of the species this year by far.  Having two around certain points toward the potential for nesting once again.  We had great looks at a number of other species of birds plus had a brown colored Eastern Coyote in a freshly cut field.  It was nearly the exact same color as a White tailed Deer...a cool looking coyote.

Spotted Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 22, 2025

Semipalmated Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 22, 2025

Least Sandpipers, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 22, 2025

Killdeer, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 22, 2025

 

Spotted Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 22, 2025

On my way to work this morning I decided to see if I could track down any shorebirds or waders.  A bit of north winds brought in some cool temps (low 50's) overnight and I thought some shorebirds would respond to the good early season migration conditions.  I briefly checked for waders and shorebirds in Hadley before heading to the East Meadows.  I came up to a small muddy area that had some great shorebird habitat and immediately started scanning the multiple birds present.  The first scan through produced a number of species with the most unusual among them being a rare for the area Stilt Sandpiper.  It was in the same general area as a few Solitary Sandpipers and was standing upright and seemed very nervous.  I was able to get good views for about 30 seconds and then decided to try to get the scope out to get better views and some photos.  As I was getting ready to get out of the car the bird took off and headed off to the south.  I got the scope out and started scanning through the remaining birds and hoped the Stilt Sandpiper would return, which it never did.  I was short of time and after around twenty minutes I had to head to work.  Besides the Stilt Sandpiper I had five other species of shorebirds and got some photos of those.  Stilt Sandpiper is a very rare species here and this was actually the first one I have ever had in the county!  This addition brings my Hampshire County list to 308.

Gray Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 20, 2025

Opossum, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 19, 2025

Raccoon, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 19, 2025

I checked the camera at the water feature yesterday and besides a number of bird species captured I had a few mammals including Gray Fox.

Eastern Whip Poor Will surveys and guiding for a visitor from India

 

Porcupine, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 5, 2025

Goodnough Dike at sunset, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 4, 2025

I conducted my first Eastern Whip Poor Will surveys on Wednesday night.  The first route consists of six stops within Quabbin Park and then four more going south of Quabbin.  It was a very successful survey with Eastern Whip Poor Wills heard at all but the last stop with a total of 16 individuals at survey stops and another nine heard between stops.  It was a perfect night for the survey despite a lot of mosquitoes.  Other highlights of the route included a Great Horned Owl perched on the wall of the dike and at least three Porcupines.

My second survey occurred last night on the restricted access Prescott Peninsula.  It was a warm evening with loads of mosquitoes.  When I arrived at the first stop at the lower end of the peninsula I was greeted by a Porcupine in almost the same tree I had a family of Black Bears greet me a few years ago.  Certainly quite lucky with seeing Porcupines on these surveys this year!  Although the high clouds shielded the moon a bit the light was still enough to see fairly well throughout and should have been good for the birds but I had a very low count overall with just three Eastern Whip Poor Wills at survey points plus one in-between stops.  All were in the first three stops at the lower end of the peninsula.  The habitat at the more northern stops seems to have gotten better for the species but there were none to be found.  Although the count of Eastern Whip Poor Wills was less than I hoped I did have Barred Owls at two stops including at least one juvenile calling with an adult nearby.

Indigo Bunting, Skinner SP, Hadley/South Hadley, MA, Jun 4, 2025

Common Raven, Skinner SP, Hadley/South Hadley, MA, Jun 4, 2025

Ovenbird, Skinner SP, Hadley/South Hadley, MA, Jun 4, 2025

Cerulean Warbler with leg bands, Skinner SP, Hadley/South Hadley, MA, Jun 4, 2025

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jun 3, 2025

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Jun 3, 2025

Red winged Blackbird feeding young at nest, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Jun 2, 2025

Short tailed Weasel, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Jun 2, 2025

Semipalmated Plover, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jun 2, 2025

Semipalmated Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jun 2, 2025

I was able to guide for a visitor from India for a few hours for three mornings earlier this week and thankfully the weather cooperated quite well despite some cool morning starts.  I had to shift my other commitments around a bit and keep the birding to just a few hours in the morning but it was great to show someone all the great stuff we have around the area despite not being in a major birding area.  This was the second time I guided for her with the first time being last fall.  We covered a variety of areas from the farm fields along the river where we had a decent selection of shorebirds to Quabbin Park and Skinner State Park for a wide variety of forest birds plus a few other brief stops.  Overall we had 98 species with many of those being life birds for her.  We also had some fantastic mammals sightings with a close encounter with a Short tailed Weasel, Black Bear and a selection of other more common stuff.

Shorebirds in late July following historic flooding

Semipalmated Sandpiper, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, Jul 19, 2023

Least Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 21, 2023

Killdeer, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 21, 2023

Greater Yellowlegs, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 21, 2023

Greater Yellowlegs, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 21, 2023

Solitary Sandpiper, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, Jul 21, 2021

Killdeer, Least Sandpipers and Solitary Sandpiper, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, Jul 21, 2021

High water level mark on vegetation, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, Jul 21, 2021

Killdeer, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 22, 2023

Sunrise through the fog, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 22, 2023

Lesser Yellowlegs with Killdeer, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Jul 23, 2023

Solitary Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Jul 23, 2023

Least Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Arcadia, Easthampton, MA, Jul 23, 2023

After returning home from our brief trip down south I made it out a bit on the last several mornings trying to catch up with a number of shorebirds that have arrived in the area following some record setting floods that occurred right before we left.  A number of unusual shorebirds showed up when we were gone (including multiple Short billed Dowitchers, a couple Sanderlings and a Whimbrel) plus more expected species.  It is unusual for the area to feature multiple locations with good shorebird habitat in later July but I suppose that is the silver lining from all the flooding.  The water levels continued to drop during the last few days but many muddy pools remained.  I was able to get out on the morning of the 19th after getting home the night before and found a number of shorebirds along Aqua Vitae Road with five species present with the most unusual being a Semipalmated Plover.  On my way to work on the 20th I stopped at Aqua Vitae Road again plus the Arcadia area and once again had five species of shorebirds.  Once I got out of work on Friday morning I first headed to the East Meadows where I found half a dozen species of shorebirds and then onto Aqua Vitae Road once again, which also featured a half dozen species.  A series of storms came through on Friday afternoon and evening courtesy of cold front.  I had hope for some good stuff coming in after the front but the fog made viewing tough and a stop in the East Meadows produced just three species of shorebird on Saturday morning.  After work on Sunday I made a few stops to check once again on the shorebirds and the most productive stop was my first at Arcadia where I had a half a dozen species of shorebirds with above normal counts for both Solitary Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs (as well as double digit counts of Killdeer and Least Sandpiper).  The spot looks prime to attract more stuff over the next several days.  The East Meadows had just Killdeer and Aqua Vitae Road had just three species.  Overall the last last few days have produced eight species of shorebird for me...not too bad for late July.

More shorebirds today

Sanderlings, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Sanderling, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Sanderling, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Killdeer, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Least Sandpipers, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Semipalmated Sandpiper, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

I headed out before dawn this morning to head over to the East Meadows in the hopes that some of the shorebirds seen yesterday were still around (more rarities showed up throughout the day after I left but I didn't have the energy to go back again yesterday).  I arrived in the area when it was still dark but I could already hear Killdeer.  As the light slowly increased I started picking out the birds near the remaining large puddle (amazing how fast the water soaked up...shows just how dry it has been).  I picked up several Least Sandpipers and a single Sanderling before a Peregrine Falcon zipped in and flushed up everything.  As the light steadily increased more birders arrived but the large variety of yesterday appeared to have largely moved on (this is what typically occurs with shorebirds downed by heavy rain...as soon as the rain stops most move on).  I tried a few other spots in the meadows with a few other birders but did not turn up too much else.  I then headed over to Arcadia to try to turn up some passerines but activity was very low there so I retuned once again to the East Meadows.  On this stop I had great looks at the continued Sanderlings and got some decent digiscoped photos.  With some decent shorebird habitat continuing I would not be surprised if a few more shorebirds make an appearance over the next few days.

Bobolinks, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sep 7, 2022

Besides the shorebirds there were lots of Bobolinks and Red winged Blackbirds around but no other rarities (at least that I could find).  The next couple nights look to feature good migration conditions and I suspect the next few mornings could be really good for seeing birds.