Shorebirds in the valley...finally!

Killdeer, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sept 5, 2012

Killdeer, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sept 5, 2012

Least Sandpiper (if you can find it..slightly left of center), East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Sept 5, 2012

Morning in the East Meadows, Sept 5, 2012

Morning in the East Meadows, Sept 5, 2012

Morning in the East Meadows, Sept 5, 2012

With the remnants of tropical storm Isaac bringing in some heavy rain overnight I decided to try my luck with shorebirds at a few spots in both Northampton and Hatfield at first light this morning.  The morning certainly had a tropical feel to it with frequent downpours and occasional lightning with temperatures before dawn at 73 degrees.  I stopped first at the old Pilgrim Airport on the Hatfield/Whately line and had a handful of Killdeer calling but I was unable to find any other shorebirds.  I next stopped down at the series of fields near Cow Path Road which have been productive in the past but despite some scanning around I found nothing here.  The rain picked up again and after waiting in vain for it to let up I decided to try my luck to the south in the east meadows of Northampton.  I arrived a bit before 7am and almost immediately found the first flooded field containing 31 Killdeer.  Oddly there were no other birds in this pool initially so I cautiously headed further into the meadows ever mindful of the potential of getting stuck in the mud here after a rain.  I went as far as the four corners past the red barns and stopped there.  I set up the scope and heard some peeps coming in.  I started scanning and came across Semipalmated and Least sandpipers as well as a couple Pectoral Sandpipers.  I scanned further and found a Buff-breasted Sandpiper.  The birds just started popping into view as I scanned around.  I then had two Black bellied Plovers as well as a single American Golden Plover.  I knew that Ian Davies and Evan Dalton were heading out this morning to check for shorebirds too so I gave them a call.  After I talked to them a Peregrine Falcon came in and put all the shorebirds up.  A few peeps settled back down but the others flew off to other parts of the meadows.  As I was scanning back and forth through the fields I had a Northern Waterthrush start chipping and then pop out of a row of corn not more than 10 feet away.  I was rapidly running out of time before work so I headed out with a stop at the original pool that contained Killdeer on the way in.  This time there were still a few Killdeer around plus a White-rumped Sandpiper as well as several more Least Sandpipers.  It was a great morning of searching for shorebirds and I added five more species to my county list for the year including Pectoral Sandpiper (#195), Buff breasted Sandpiper (#196), Black-bellied Plover (#197), American Golden Plover (#198) and White-rumped Sandpiper (#199).  It was nice to finally find some shorebirds after many trips of fruitless searching.

A brief stop yesterday on my way to work at Lake Wallace produced another nice selection and number of waterfowl with almost all arriving just before daybreak.  The vast majority were Mallards with a few dozen Wood Ducks as well as three Blue winged Teal and a couple Black Ducks.  

Shorebirds in Deerfield

Peregrine Falcon with Cooper's Hawk in pursuit, Deerfield, MA, Sep 5, 2011

Peregrine Falcon, Deerfield, MA, Sep 5, 2011

Peregrine Falcon, Deerfield, MA, Sep 5, 2011

After hearing word of some odd shorebirds in a flooded soccer field near Old Deerfield I decided to cut my morning trip to central Quabbin a little short and make the trip up there.  The morning at Quabbin had been somewhat quiet but still produced a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Barred Owl and eleven species of warbler. 

When I arrived in Deerfield around 9:40 the shorebirds were all still present with the exception of a Buff-breasted that was there earlier.  The area where all the shorebirds had gathered had been a soccer field but no looked completely different.  The floods caused by hurricane/tropical storm Irene had caused some incredible damage here and deposited a huge amount of mud and debris on the fields.  A large puddle within this landscape was attracting the large gathering of shorebirds.  Most every bird was just a bit to far away to get any good photos and with the deep mud present you did not dare go off the road.  The species that were present while I was there included Baird's, White-rumped, Pectoral, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover and Ruddy Turnstones.  Beyond the shorebirds another interesting sighting was a group of 36 Common Ravens moving north together.  The second largest group of ravens I have ever seen in a single group.  After watching the shorebirds for about 40 minutes a Peregrine Falcon came sweeping in scattering the birds in every direction.  A Cooper's Hawk immediately joined the ruckus by going after the Peregrine.  The falcon came very close to grabbing a Semipalmated Sandpiper but just missed.  The falcon looped around a couple times and then disappeared leaving an empty field behind.