Very hot start to July with a multi day heat wave

American Redstart, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 1, 2026

Red eyed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 1, 2026

Scarlet Tanager, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 1, 2026

Yellow throated Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 1, 2026

Peregrine Falcons, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Jul 2, 2026

Common Yellowthroat during banding process, Silvio Conte NWR- Fort River, Hadley, MA, Jul 2, 2026

Blackburnian Warbler fledgling, Mount Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jul 3, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Mount Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jul 3, 2026

Prairie Warbler, Mount Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jul 3, 2026

Turkey Vultures, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Jul 3, 2026

Downy Woodpecker, Rail Trail, Amherst, MA, Jul 3, 2026

Sun through the trees on a very humid morning, Mount Holyoke Range SP, Granby, MA, Jul 3, 2026

White spotted Skipper, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 3, 2026

Eastern Bluebird nest construction underway, Home, Belchertown, MA, Jul 3, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler fledgling, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 4, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 4, 2026

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 4, 2026

Wood Duck with ducklings, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Jul 4, 2026

White tailed Deer, Quabbin Park, MA, Jul 4, 2026

A heat wave that started on the last day of June continued into the first four days of July with highs that reached the upper 90's with high humidity on multiple days.  I started the month by tracking down all the regularly occurring warblers in Hampshire County and getting lots of other species along the way.  After a number of thunderstorms overnight into the 2nd I headed out before dawn to track down more species for the month hitting multiple spots along the Connecticut River from the Holyoke Dam north to Hadley.  On July 3rd I started in Belchertown and then over to Amherst before ending my morning in Granby.  It was incredibly humid and the low temp to start the day was 72!  Really felt like being in the tropics.  Saturday was the last day of the heat wave and for that day I went after a few nocturnal species at Quabbin Park and nearby Ware before a longer walk along the rail trail in Ware.  I then spent a few hours in Quabbin Park plus a brief stop at Lake Wallace before heading home early to get Wilson a walk.  Lots of evidence of breeding around as expected for early July.  Despite the heat the first four days of the month have been productive in the county with 123 species so far.

Another trip onto the Prescott Peninsula for surveys

Moose, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

Yellow throated Vireo, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

Chestnut sided Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

Cedar Waxwing, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, Jun 8, 2026

I made another morning trip up to the Prescott Peninsula to conduct more field bird surveys.  Today I was joined by four students from Smith College to conduct the surveys and show them the protocols for the surveys.  I was running a bit ahead of their arrival so I went it to get a couple quick surveys completed before we met up.  As I was headed back to the gate to meet them I ran across a pair of Moose lazily eating from maple leaves.  Always fun to see any Moose and two together is even better.  Once we all met up we spent about three hours on the peninsula.  Although we didn't see any more Moose we did see a Black Bear to add to the large mammal tally for the day.  We had some evidence of breeding at multiple stops it was overall slow in adding positive data on breeding.  Nonetheless it was a beautiful morning and we had some interesting sightings including at least one flyover Red Crossbill and a family of Ruffed Grouse right along the side of the road.  

Red Crossbill(s) and the return of the Lesser Scaup today and Prescott field surveys yesterday

Great Blue Herons at nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 27, 2016

Great Blue Herons at nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 27, 2016

Red tailed Hawks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 27, 2016

Wood Ducks, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 27, 2016

I headed out a bit after dawn over to Lake Wallace and had a great bird not long after I arrived when a Red Crossbill (or maybe several) flew by calling heading west to east....species #208 for the county this year.  I immediately recognized the kip, kip, kip call and tried to get some audio so I could send it off to Matt Young at Cornell to find out the specific type Red Crossbill I had. Unfortunately I think the bird(s) were too far away by the time I started recording but I sent along the clip anyway to see if Matt can somehow tease out the crossbills from all the background noise. I will update if I get any info back on the crossbills. It appears there may be a bit of an invasion of Red Crossbills into New York and mid New England starting to occur...hopefully there will be more to come.  Lots of other good stuff at Lake Wallace including many young ducks and mergansers, at least 17 Great Blue Herons (lots of young birds in nests), a Virginia Rail and a family of Red tailed Hawks plus a half dozen Common Ravens flying past.  Video of the Great Blue Herons being fed can be found below:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/27328554724/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/27328692184/in/dateposted-public/
UPDATE on crossbills:  I got an e-mail back from Matt saying the bird(s) were either Type 1 or Type 2 Red Crossbills but the recording was not good enough to figure out which one of the two.  I have had both of these types in the area before in previous years.

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 27, 2016

Chimney Swift, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 27, 2016

Chimney Swift, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 27, 2016

Chimney Swifts, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 27, 2016

Raccoon, Quabbin Park, MA, June 27, 2016

I then decided to head to Quabbin Park in the hopes of catching up with more crossbills in areas I have had them there in the past (no luck with them despite much effort). Before hitting the park itself I stopped at Winsor Dam where I rediscovered the male Lesser Scaup back again after a nearly two week absence. I had last seen the bird at the dam on June 14 but it had not been present during several visits over the last several days. I figured it had moved on or been eaten but neither outcome seems to be the case. If will be interesting to see how long it stays...it is pushing toward two months now. The Chimney Swifts at the admin building have grown in number to a dozen and put on quite a show as they flew around catching insects and occasionally dropping into he chimney. My trip to a few spots within the park didn't turn up anything unexpected. I also ran across a Raccoon that looked really ratty and seemed a bit unsteady....perhaps a rabid individual or sick with some other disease.

Barred Owl, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Ruffed Grouse, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Black billed Cuckoo, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Yellow Warbler, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Black Bear, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Purple Finch, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Red eyed Vireo, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Yellow throated Vireo, Prescott Peninsula, New Salem, MA, June 26, 2016

Yesterday I made the trip up to Prescott Peninsula to complete another series of field surveys and had a banner day of birding. I was also on the lookout for other unusual species up that way that I have seen in the past there including Red Crossbill, Evening Grosbeak and Cerulean Warbler (missed on all three of those once again). Highlights included a couple of vocal Barred Owls at one of my stops, at least seven Ruffed Grouse (a single adult plus another adult with young), a flyby Common Raven, Species of warblers and a couple of House Finches (quite unusual on the peninsula). Ended the morning with a total of 68 species of birds. Notable among the mammals I saw was a Black Bear that was walking through the woods. Full list from the morning attached below:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S30400605

American Crows, home, Belchertown, MA, June 25, 2016

American Crows, home, Belchertown, MA, June 25, 2016

Another species showed up at the water feature on the 25th...American Crows...lots of photos of them as they checked out the water and moved some stones around.

All morning birding from Quabbin to the Connecticut River

Yellow rumped Warbler, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Brown Creeper, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Palm Warbler, home, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Black and White Warbler, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Yellow throated Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2016

American Kestrel, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Vesper Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Greater Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Great Blue Heron at nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Apr 25, 2016

Despite the forecast for occasional rain the day turned out fine with the sun even making an appearance from time to time. I covered a lot of area this morning starting and ending at Quabbin and covering various locations along the river in between. A total of 90 species was quite good given the slow trickle of migrants compared to the last few years on the same date. I managed to find eight new species of the the county list for the year including Sora (#134), Solitary Sandpiper (#135), Bank Swallow (#136), American Pipit (#137), Greater Scaup (#138), Black throated Green Warbler (#139), Yellow theater Vireo (#140) and Chimney Swift (#141).


Highlights included the following.

Winsor Dam: Greater Scaup and two Eastern Whip Poor Wills

Lake Wallace: Four Great Blue Herons (with one on nest), a Virginia Rail and a Sora

CT River in Hadley: six Green winged Teal and a Solitary Sandpiper

Honey Pot: Northern Harrier and five Vesper Sparrows

Arcadia: two Wilson's Snipe, five Bank Swallows, two Vesper Sparrows and a Rusty Blackbird

East Meadows: two American Pipits and a flock of 145+ Horned Larks

Beaver Lake: 8 Bufflehead

Quabbin Park: Chimney Swift, a somewhat early Yellow throated Vireo and a Black throated Green Warbler.


Tomorrow looks to feature some cold, damp weather with a cold rain and temperatures that won't make it out of the low 40's...it will be tough for insectivores.  It will be interesting to see if the weather produces anything unusual that gets put down by the rain...perhaps waterfowl and gulls?