Arcadia meadows and Goats Peak

Northern Harrier, Goats Peak, Mt Tom State Reservation
Northern Harrier, Goats Peak, Mt Tom State Reservation

Black throated Green Warbler, from Goats Peak tower at Mt Tom State Reservation

Osprey, Goats Peak
Common Yellowthroat, Arcadia Meadows, Northampton, MA

Bobolinks, Arcadia Meadows, Northampton, MA

Bobolink, Arcadia Meadows, Northampton, MA

Coopers Hawk in fog, Arcadia Meadows, Northampton, MA

I decided at the last minute to head over to Northampton this morning and check out Arcadia Meadows (AKA West Meadows) and then head up to Goats Peak at Mount Tom for some hawk watching. As I got into Hadley the fog got very thick and I thought I may have made a mistake on the choice of locations this morning but it turned out to be a great morning. Despite the fog the Arcadia area near the Ibis Pool and other hedgerows was great. Lots of good stuff and some incredible looks. After a great beginning to the morning I headed up to Goats Peak tower. I had some nice movement of warblers on the way up with one group containing a Bay Breasted and several Blackpolls plus others. On the tower I had a few more groups move through during the morning. It is always interesting to be looking down on the warblers. Despite good weather conditions the 'big' movement of Broad wings didn't materialize this morning. However despite the lack of quantity the time up there made up for it in quality. A nice mix of species and some great looks. I will include the lists for today from Arcadia and Mt Tom.

Mount Tom

Canada Goose 12
Turkey Vulture 7
Osprey 5
Bald Eagle 3 adults, locals
Northern Harrier 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12 most low and fast
Cooper's Hawk 3
Broad-winged Hawk 7
Red-tailed Hawk 4
American Kestrel 3
Ring-billed Gull 1
Chimney Swift 28 largest group of 20 plus other small groups
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 stopped at tower and hover for several seconds before moving on
Eastern Phoebe 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 2
Common Raven 2
Tree Swallow 21
Black-capped Chickadee 28
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Wood Thrush 1
Northern Parula 11
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 12
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 7
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 2
American Goldfinch 4

Arcadia Meadows

Mallard 1
Cooper's Hawk 1 juvenile
American Kestrel 1
Mourning Dove 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 7
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's) 2
Least Flycatcher 2
Empidonax sp. 1
Red-eyed Vireo 7
Blue Jay 11
American Crow 7
Black-capped Chickadee 18
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 9
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 16
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 7
Cedar Waxwing 8
Tennessee Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 2
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 4 one adult, three 1st years..two together and the others singles in widely scattered areas
Magnolia Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 39 minimum number...at times had half a dozen in view at once.
Savannah Sparrow 14
Song Sparrow 54 again a minimum number
Lincoln's Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Bobolink 34
Red-winged Blackbird 275
American Goldfinch 9

Quabbin Gates 22, 16 and 11 and Quabbin Park and a sad milestone

Northern Parula, Gate 22

I started another trip to Quabbin at Gate 22 this morning and ran into some migrants just down the hill from the gate. The birds here included my first of season Lincoln Sparrow, Nashville Warbler, half a dozen Northern Parula's, and eight other species of warblers. A bit further down the road I had a Cooper's Hawk being harassed by Blue Jays, a few very vocal Red breasted Nuthatch's and a Ruffed Grouse that rocketed out of the underbrush deeper into the forest. I wanted to try my luck at Gate 16 before the predicted rain arrived. Despite alot of looking I only managed to turn up a handful of warblers here and none in any groups. I then tried my luck at Gate 11 and after a half mile with little activity I decided I would make the run down to Quabbin Park to check to see if activity there was any better. Although the sky looked threatening it never did more than drizzle a few times. After a few stops turned up little beyond a still singing Prairie Warbler I ran into a nice active group of species near the blueberry patch road. This group included a couple Scarlet Tanagers, a Baltimore Oriole, eight species of warbler including Nashville, Blackpoll and Ovenbird, Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, five Eastern Wood Pewee's, a half dozen Eastern Phoebe's, a few House Wrens and other usual. I also managed to turn up Wood Thrush, Swainson's Thrush and Hermit Thrush in various locations. Overall a fairly productive morning considering the low clouds, cool temps and slight breeze.

Today is also a sad day. It has now been six months since I lost my good dog, best buddy and frequent birding companion Kody. He is missed.

Cape Cod

Semipalmated Plover, Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, MA
Humpback Whale, off Race Point

Common Eider, Provincetown, MA

Sanderling, Coast Guard Beach, Eastham, MA

I made a trip down to Cape Cod starting on Friday and ending on Sunday. Although not a birding trip I managed to get some birding in at various locations around the area centered on Eastham. I made trips to Coast Guard Beach, Fort Hill, Head of the Meadow Beach, Pilgram Heights, Wellfleet Bay Audubon Center, and a whale watch out of Provincetown. I have not totalled up species yet but I will update later. I did manage a new state species, Yellow crowned Night Heron leaving a roost near Fort Hill. The whale watch produced several whales but very few pelagic birds with no shearwaters at all. The only pelagic birds were a handful of Northern Gannets and a single Red necked Phalarope. I was quite surprised to find no other birds out there on the southern end of Stellwagen. There were a few other birds of note but I will have to update the post at a later time and add a more few photos.

Quabbin western gates...again

Great Blue Heron flyby, Gate 22, Sept 6, 2010

Sharp shinned Hawks sparring, Gate 16, Sept 6, 2010

I decided to stick with some of the same areas I had covered the last couple mornings plus a few additions. Its always neat to see the difference in species and numbers from day to day. The lack of a strong wind today certainly helped. The morning started off even cooler than the previous morning with a low of 43. The sun quickly warmed things up by mid morning. I started at Gate 22 and covered the upper areas only. Once the sun started hitting the trees the activity started to pick up but there were no big groups of migrants. A Winter Wren, a Scarlet Tanager and a few Rose Breasted Grosbeaks were noted among the other species around.

I next stopped at Gate 16 and walked to the water where I came across a Sharp shinned Hawk pair that flew over and then sparred a bit just above the trees. the acrobatic show was impressive to watch. I managed a few photos and you can see the odd angles these birds got into as they went at each other. There were a few spots with activity here with the highlight being a male Wilson's Warbler.

I stopped next at Gate 11 and decided to make the long walk down to the water. The first bird I heard was a Broad winged Hawk. A few minutes later I scared up a Ruffed Grouse and the Broad winged Hawk was right behind it in pursuit. Not sure how that turned out for either of them but interesting to see. There were many quiet areas along the few miles to the water but did find a couple good pockets of birds. One group had four Northern Parula's together, a Canada Warbler, and an Ovenbird at the very top of a large oak. The final stop of the morning at Gate 10 produced one little flock with good numbers of Black throated Blue Warblers among the others.

Gates 22, 16 and 11

Philadelphia Vireo, Gate 11, September 5, 2010

I made yet another early morning trip up the west side of Quabbin. I began this morning at dawn at Gate 22. My first sighting of the morning was a large bull Moose that crossed my path a couple times before heading off into the woods. The light was not good enough for photos. I walked down the road to the water and was greeted there by a few shorebirds foraging along the shoreline. A pair of Semipalmated Plovers fed quite close to me as they worked the shoreline going south. In addition I had a flyby Greater Yellowlegs and a couple Spotted Sandpipers. I managed a total of five Common Loons with one calling a few times. Just before I started my walk back up the hill from the water I spotted a mother deer with fawn swimming across the reservoir. The woods along the way held a few mixed species flocks with the highlights being a Yellow throated Vireo, my first Northern Parula of the season and two Tennessee Warblers together. I also had a fairly high total of five Veery's on this stop. A pair of juvenile Yellow bellied Sapsuckers rounded out the highlights

Semipalmated Plover, Gate 22, September 5, 2010

Semipalmated Plovers, Gate 22, September 5, 2010

My next stop was at Gate 16 which held a few nice birds including a total of nine warbler species including another Northern Parula, plus another Yellow throated Vireo. The breeze continued to pick up so I decided to move down to Gate 11 to try and get there before the wind got any worse. However by the time I started down Gate 11 road the breeze had turned into a wind with gusts over 30 mph. I almost gave up on finding anything in these conditions but thought I would give it a try anyway. I'm glad I tried as I came across a nice mixed species flock feeding both high and low and moving down the road. I found a bright Philadelphia Vireo, four Northern Parula's including one still calling plus good numbers of other warblers. I finished the day with a fly over Common Raven fighting the continued windy weather.

Black and White Warbler, Gate 11, September 5,2010

Northern Parula, Gate 11, September 5, 2010

Quabbin Park and Gates 10, 9 and 5

Pine Warbler, Quabbin Gate 9

I got an early start today checking various areas at Quabbin. With the remnants of Hurricane Earl offshore the wind was quite strong at times which probably kept total numbers down a bit. I began at dawn at Winsor Dam at Quabbin Park where I had a raft of 180+ Mallards resting on the water plus a group of almost 70 Canada Geese. The ducks flew out as the sun rose to destinations unknown. There was also a pair of Common Loons well out from the dam. I then made a series of stops at various points around Quabbin Park with highlights of Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, several still calling Eastern Wood Pewee's, Baltimore Oriole, a couple Scarlet Tanagers and a White Throated Sparrow.

My next stop was Gate 10 which produced a large juvenile Cooper's Hawk being harassed by some crows and a large group of Black throated Blue Warblers (at least half a dozen in view at once with one still calling). I then made a stop at Gate 9 which produced my first Blackpoll Warbler of the season plus a few Pine Warblers still calling.

Red breasted Nuthatch

My next stop was a walk down to the water at Gate 5. The wind had really picked up at this point and I was only able to find one mixed species flock in the swaying trees. I did have a close encounter with a Red breasted Nuthatch that seemed very interested in me and gave great looks. It seems to be a good year so far for Red breasted Nuthatch's around here as I have had a least a few around the house for a weeks now and run into them most every place I go. I also still have a few Ruby throated Hummingbirds around at the house.

Rail Trail Amherst again

I made another early morning stop along the rail trail in Amherst. No Red Crossbill today but it was still quite productive. A Merlin provided excitement both for me and for all the other birds it chased around. I also had a variety of flycatchers including Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Wood Pewee's, Eastern Phoebe's and a Great Crested Flycatcher. I had one little mixed species flock which contained a Tennessee, Prairie, Blue Winged, Pine and Black and White Warbler plus an American Redstart, Common Yellowthroats, Rose breasted Grosbeaks and a Blue Gray Gnatcather. I wish I had more time to try and find some others but that will have to wait for the weekend.