The first week of August has now come to an end and with it an amazing total for so early in the month (especially considering I worked for almost half the week!). I ended the first week of August with 137 species including a new species for me in Hampshire County (#305) with a Long billed Dowitcher on August 6th. I added four more new species for the month today bringing me to 141 for the month and easily giving me the best start to an August I have ever had here (usually I would be around the 110 on average when looking at the last ten years and in the mid 120's if looking at the last few years). My best August ever here in the county was back in 2021 when I ended up with 152 species by the end of the month. We shall see where the total for the month finally shakes out.
I covered the first two days of the month already in an earlier post when I already reached 113 species. The weather was perfect with fall like conditions.
On the third I headed over to the East Meadows looking for shorebirds taking advantage of the continued habitat created by the flooding rains in July. I had ten species of shorebirds in a very short time before a Peregrine Falcon swooped in and took out a peep and scattered most the rest of the shorebirds present. A thick fog rolled in shortly after and I decided to head elsewhere to look for birds. I decided to head over to Silvio Conte NWR in Hadley where I had an ample helping of mosquitoes as well as two very early returning warblers with Tennessee Warblers and a Northern Parula. I also had some decent species moving through the yard when I returned home.
On my last day of freedom before I returned to work the forecast called for some possible morning showers followed by storms in the afternoon. The rain looked to be mainly to the north when I got up and headed over to Lake Wallace in the hopes of finding an unusual wader. No luck with anything unusual there and then I had to make some choices on where to go next and I decided to try the Holyoke Dam. The dam featured a good number of Double crested Cormorants and Chimney Swifts but nothing too unusual. I then decided to travel north along the river with a brief stop to check on shorebirds at Arcadia (only Killdeer present) and then onto the East Meadows where I spent an hour plus. The meadows were much more productive for shorebirds with eight species present plus a gathering of eight Great Egrets (others a bit later had 20+ individuals there). My last stop before I headed home to pick up Wilson for a walk was Silvio Conte NWR -Fort River. The breeze made finding stuff a bit of a challenge and I did not have anything too noteworthy with no luck relocating the early warblers I had the day before. I ran into Brian as I was walking in and he showed me photos of a very early Swainson's Thrush that was captured in a mist net as part of an ongoing banding program there. I had no luck relocating the Swainson's Thrush but did find a banded Wood Thrush carrying food to unseen young.
On my way to work on Saturday I once again stopped in the East Meadows and unfortunately the fog was too thick to see much of anything. Once at work I got word later in the day that a Long billed Dowitcher was being seen in the East Meadows and it was tough to stay at work knowing a new species for me in the county was so close by. Once I got out of work I headed right over to the East Meadows and after a bit of looking I added species #305 to my county list with the Long billed Dowitcher. I added a few new species for the year that morning in addition to the dowitcher.
I stopped in the East Meadows again on my way to work on Monday and the Long billed Dowitcher continued to be seen as well as a collection of other shorebirds and some waders. There was some rain yesterday into the early morning today but not nearly as much as forecast. Nonetheless I figured I would check the East Meadows as soon as I got out of work and once again turned up the Long billed Dowitcher (as well as seven other shorebird species) and multiple waders. I then went across the river to the Honey Pot and had at least four Blue Grosbeaks. As a note to any of those birding in either the East Meadows or Honey Pot you must only bird from the road and park in a way that doesn't impact the ability of farmers to work their land. These areas are active farmlands as well as great birding areas and we must not trespass in these areas or act in anyway that negatively effect the ability of the farmers to do their jobs. I made one final stop for the morning before going home to pick up Wilson for a walk and that stop was to Lake Wallace. The Green Herons have really started showing up here in numbers with at least 21 present when I scanned around the lake. Not my highest count ever there (which was 37 back in mid August of 2018) but my highest total yet this year and a good sign for the upcoming week or two when numbers usually peak.
I also added a new camera at the water feature after my old game cameras have become increasingly unreliable. Nothing unusual but at least I have a more reliable camera set up and have started capturing birds again.
