Snowy Egret this morning plus several other waders

Snowy Egret, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Snowy Egret, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Snowy Egret and Great Blue Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron and Great Egret, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Great Egret and Great Blue Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Green Heron, Lower Mill Pond, Easthampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Belted Kingfisher, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 9, 2025

White tailed Deer fawn, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 9, 2025

Black throated Green Warbler, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 8, 2025

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 8, 2025

Golden crowned Kinglet, Quabbin Gate 8, Pelham, MA, Aug 8, 2025

Great Egret, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 8, 2025

It has been a good few days for various wader species in the area with the highlight by far being a Snowy Egret that Theresa found yesterday and I was able to relocate early this morning.  I was up early and out the door to make a trip over to Lower Mill Pond in Easthampton.  I was there before sunrise and was rewarded with a flyby Black crowned Night Heron, which I was never able to relocate on the ground (almost certainly the same individual Theresa also found yesterday).  As I waited for the sun to rise a Great Egret flew in to join the Great Blue Herons and Green Herons already present.  The Great Egret was immediately followed by the Snowy Egret (five waders in perhaps 15 minutes...not bad at all in the valley!).  I got a number of digiscoped shots in the morning light.  I also checked Arcadia and the Holyoke Dam before heading back toward home with a stop off at Lake Wallace.  Yesterday I had my first Great Egret since spring time and also had my highest count so far this year of Green Herons at Lake Wallace with an impressive 31 individuals.   

I also spent some time yesterday exploring at Gate 8 at Quabbin in the quest to track down Red Crossbills and Golden crowned Kinglets for the month and I happily was quite successful with both species present as well as other species. 

In the last few weeks I have a total of eight species of waders with the most unusual among them being White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Least Bittern and the Snowy Egret.  I also had American Bittern in the spring and missed on a Little Blue Heron that showed up when I was unable to chase it...so a very good year for waders so far.

Hermit Thrush, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2025

Red winged Blackbird, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2025

Baltimore Oriole and American Robin, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 7, 2025

Black and White Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Black capped Chickadee, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2025

 

Northern Flicker, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 6, 2025

The camera at the water feature has captured quite a few species in the last.....days with a few new ones of the year. I have attached just a small sample of the many photos captured.

Record setting July in Hampshire County comes to an end with 147 species

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 26, 2024

Prairie Warbler, Rail trail, Ware, MA, Jul 26, 2024

Common Goldeneye, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 27, 2024

Great Egrets, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jul 27, 2024

Bobolink, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jul 27, 2024

Sedge Wren, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jul 27, 2024

Blue Grosbeak, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Jul 28, 2024

Wilson amongst the raspberries plants, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 28, 2024

Spotted Sandpiper, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 29, 2024

Eastern Kingbirds, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 29, 2024

Semipalmated Plover, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 30, 2024

Snowy Egret, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Jul 31, 2024

Snowy Egret and Great Egret, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Jul 31, 2024

The very hot month of July has now come an end and with it a total of 147 species in Hampshire County, which beats my previous highest total ever (which was 144 that I reached in 2022).  I managed to do this despite not being around at the beginning of the month and working multiple overtime shifts.  Having several continued rarities in the area helped reach the impressive total and I caught up with most of them during the end of the month.  The rarities this month included Northern Pintail, the long staying Common Goldeneye, Sanderling, Bonaparte's Gull, Least Bittern, Snowy Egret, Purple Martins, Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren, a very early Swainson's Thrush, Red Crossbills and Blue Grosbeaks.  July also featured lots of breeding activity and there are more and more fledglings around each day.

End of August brings a Snowy Egret

Gray Catbird, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Great Crested Flycatcher, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Common Nighthawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, Aug 27, 2022

Sunrise, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Aug 26, 2022

August has now come to an end and it ended on a warm note with the last few days near 90 and humid.  The forecast calls for a bit of a cool down as northerly winds come in.  I suspect there will be an influx of fall migrants with the change in weather conditions by the end of the week.  I ended the month with 147 species with highlights including a Black Tern, Snowy Egret (more on that below), ongoing influxes of Red breasted Nuthatches and Red Crossbills, a number of lingering species and a few early Dickcissel plus a total of 23 species of warblers.  I spent the last day of the month hitting numerous spots along the river (and a few away from the river) mainly looking for shorebirds and perhaps an odd wader...more on waders for today and the month below.

Great Blue Heron, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Snowy Egret (L) and Great Egret (R), Hatfield, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Snowy Egret, Hatfield, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Snowy Egret, Hatfield, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Green Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 31, 2022

Solitary Sandpiper, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Aug 31, 2022

The overall lack of post breeding waders has been very unusual and unexpected.  During the entire month I only managed to find a single Great Egret in Hampshire County, until today when I added two more individuals.  This total is way below the average I typically get in August when it is not unusual to double digit counts at a single location the last several years.  There have been some recent reports of double digit counts in Hampden County so maybe more will show into September.  The number of Green Herons have been around average (perhaps a little above) as have the number of Great Blue Herons.  I also had a single juvenile Black crowned Night Heron early in the month but none after.  There has been an influx of White Ibis to points north of their typical locations this year and I have kept my eyes out for one but have so far had no luck.  There had been no reports of Snowy Egrets or Little Blue Herons in the area for the fall season until this morning when I saw a report of a Little Blue Heron from a couple days ago along the Connecticut River in Hatfield.  I was not going to even bother trying for it but after making multiple stops along the river and finding myself in Northampton and no word from anyone else bothering to try to relocate it I decided to head up to see if I could find it.  I walked down to the waters edge at one of the canoe launches and quickly found two Great Egrets and a smaller white bird with them.  The distance was far and light was crap but I got some looks and distant photos before I relocated a bit further north to getting better looks.  The second vantage point was not much better and I thought initially it was a Little Blue Heron but after letting people know about it again, the bird came in much closer and they got much better views and photos and the bird was indeed a Snowy Egret.  Wish I had stayed longer to have the bird come in closer!  Either species is quite unusual and I was happy to find an odd wader to end the month.  Shorebirds were around at a few spots but nothing too unusual although the low water at Lake Wallace produced more diversity and numbers than typical with five species there today.  

Late August sightings including a lingering Snowy Egret

Black and White Warbler, Ware, MA, Aug 27, 2021

Black and White Warbler, Ware, MA, Aug 27, 2021

Snowy Egret, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 27, 2021

Great Blue Heron, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Aug 27, 2021

Wilson on Dog Appreciation Day, Belchertown Rec Trail, Belchertown, MA, Aug 26, 2021

Northern Harrier, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Aug 25, 2021

I have managed to get out a bit between days at work and although I failed to find any lingering storm blown birds from Henri I have nonetheless still found a few notable birds including a juvenile Snowy Egret that has continued at the Holyoke Dam since the 24th.  I also had a slightly late Virginia Rail as well as a Least Bittern at Lake Wallace this morning.  I also ran across a few mixed species flock at various locations and they gave a taste of what is to come as September arrives and with it the peak of fall migration for passerines.  Fingers crossed for some rarities to show up in the area.  Our fourth heat wave of the year ended today and the next few days will feature some cooler temps and hopefully some more early fall migrants.

The tropics continue to feature some activity with the most impactful storm being Hurricane Ida that is currently approaching Cuba as a Cat 1 hurricane but is forecast to reach Cat 3 status as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in central Louisiana as a major hurricane late on Sunday.  We may end up with the remnants of the storm moving through midweek next week but the chances of storm related birds from that storm in the local area is quite small.  There are a few other potential storms out in the Atlantic but none poise a threat to the area.  Tomorrow marks the tenth anniversary of the arrival of Irene into the area...by far the best day of storm birding around here in many years.