Second week of September

Red eyed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, Sep 14, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Sep 14, 2025

Northern Parula, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2025

Common Yellowthroat, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2025

Northern Waterthrush, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2025

American Golden Plover, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2025

White tailed Deer, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 13, 2025

Black and White Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 12, 2025

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 12, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 12, 2025

Yellow throated Vireo, Quabbin Gate 11, Pelham, MA, Sep 12, 2025

Wilson out on the trail, Jabish Canal, Belchertown, MA, Sep 12, 2025

Wood Duck, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sep 11, 2025

Blackpoll Warbler, Ware, MA, Sep 11, 2025

Rose breasted Grosbeak, Rail Trail, Ware, MA, Sep 11, 2025

Wilson's Warbler, Rail Trail, Ware, MA, Sep 11, 2025

The second week of September is now in the books and with it a continued influx of birds thanks to overall good migration conditions.  It has been quite nice to be out every morning with cool morning starts in the 50's that warm into the 70's under mainly sunny skies with low humidity and almost no bugs.  I have added two new species for the year in the last few days including Connecticut Warbler and American Golden Plover plus several new species for the month.  Warblers have figured in prominently for the majority of my outings and I have had some nice mixed species flocks as warbler diversity peaks for the fall.  I continue to maintain an above typical species count for the year in the county with 234 species so far (second best YTD and just four species behind my best ever year in 2021).  It will take a lot of rarities and some irruptives to have any chance of beating my old record.  A tropical storm could certainly put me in contention but no storms are on the horizon despite it being the peak of hurricane season.  

More arrivals the last few days

Gray Squirrel juvenile, Belchertown, MA, Sep 10, 2025

Common Yellowthroat, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 10, 2025

Northern Parula, Belchertown, MA, Sep 9, 2025

Tennessee Warblers, Belchertown, MA, Sep 9, 2025

Yellow throated Vireo, Belchertown, MA, Sep 9, 2025

Scarlet Tanager, Belchertown, MA, Sep 9, 2025

Red breasted Nuthatch, Belchertown, MA, Sep 9, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Ware, MA, Sep 8, 2025

Black throated Green Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 8, 2025

Bay breasted Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 8, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 8, 2025

The last few days have featured mainly good conditions for migration and I have found more and more migrants including my first American Pipits, White Throated Sparrow and Ruby crowned Kinglet of the fall (all today in various spots).  I have concentrated mainly on warblers and although I have not found any new species for the month in the last few days I have run across multiple mixed flocks which featured a variety of species (including continued good numbers of Cape May Warblers, Bay breasted Warbler and Tennessee Warblers).  The number of Red breasted Nuthatches continue to climb and we are certainly seeing an incursion of them.  Beyond birds I ran across a fresh out of the nest juvenile Gray Squirrel today.  It was totally unfazed by me and I do hope it is able to survive...they become a menace at times when adults but as young they are damn cute.  

Buff breasted Sandpiper and Black Tern to finish out a rainy end to the first week of September

Buff breasted Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2025

Buff breasted Sandpiper, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2025

Buff breasted Sandpiper, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2025

Buff breasted Sandpiper, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, Sep 7, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 7, 2025

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 6, 2025

To end out the first week of September we got a nasty line of thunderstorms yesterday afternoon followed by some continuous light to moderate rain overnight into today. I was not going to head out following the line of storms last night but when Ted reported a Buff breasted Sandpiper in Hadley I thought perhaps other stuff might have been put down by the storms. I didn’t have the time or energy to make the ride over to Hadley so decided to head to Winsor Dam and I was glad I did. I was rewarded with a distant Black Tern moving over the water and occasionally picking something off the surface as it worked back and forth out toward the boat launch area. If it was earlier in the day I would have tried heading up to Gate 8 but it was just too late and the road down would be closed long before I got there. Although distant the views through the scope were good enough to cinch the ID but just too far away to get any useful photos or videos. I was up before dawn today and headed out in the rain to go see if the Buff breasted Sandpiper stayed and given the poor migration conditions I was hopeful. I arrived and ran into Ted and we started scanning the fields and picked up on the very active individual fairly quickly. It was a fair distant away initially and made getting any useable photos tough. Eventually it moved in slightly closer and I got some passable photos and videos. Two new species for the year in as many days…not too shabby at all.  I now stand at 232 species for the year in Hampshire County which puts me just too behind my best ever YTD total at this point (which was 2021 when I ended with my highest year total ever in the county with 249).  I doubt I will beat my old record but it will end up being a very good year overall with only adding a handful of remaining expected species.  Now if we get a tropical system to impact the area I could add multiple species but the chances of that for any given year are fairly low and there is no activity in the Atlantic right now.

Good start to September

Black and White Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 1, 2025

Chestnut sided Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 1, 2025

Yellow bellied Flycatcher, Belchertown, MA, Sep 1, 2025

Cape May Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 1, 2025

Red breasted Nuthatch, Belchertown, MA, Sep 1, 2025

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sep 1, 2025

Ring billed Gull with leg bands, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Sep 2, 2025

Ring billed Gull with leg bands, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Sep 2, 2025

American Redstart, Hickory Ridge Conservation Area, Amherst, MA, Sep 2, 2025

Wood Ducks, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Sep 2, 2025

Northern Waterthrush, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Sep 2, 2025

Red necked Phalarope (really!), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Sep 2, 2025

Wilson sleeping, Home, Belchertown, MA, Sep 2, 2025

Magnolia Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 3, 2025

Red eyed Vireo, Belchertown, MA, Sep 3, 2025

Wilson's Warbler, Belchertown, MA, Sep 3, 2025

Cedar Waxwing nest with nestlings, Rail Trail, Ware, MA, Sep 3, 2025

Chestnut sided Warbler, Rail Trail, Ware, MA, Sep 3, 2025

Great Egret, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sep 3, 2025

I have been able to get out quite a bit during the first few days of September and have tracked down quite a few birds, including some continued rarities as well as newly arriving migrants.  On the first I stayed around the south Quabbin and Belchertown area and among the highlights were a few Virginia Rails, Red Crossbill and a distant Red necked Phalarope at Winsor Dam.   Also had three Yellow bellied Flycatchers (a migrant that can be tough to find sometimes) plus 17 species of warblers with the most unusual being multiple Cape May Warblers.  

On the second I started off at the Holyoke Dam and had one of the two Sanderlings that have been there for several days plus a color banded Ring billed Gull.  I sent the info out to the banding lab and they got back to me right away with the details of the bird.  It was banded in June 2013 as an adult (so born in 2010 or earlier) in Varennes, Quebec just upriver from Montreal.  I then worked north with stops off at Arcadia, Silvio Conte NWR and Hickory Ridge with the highlight of these stops being a slightly late Willow Flycatcher calling and seen at Arcadia.  I added several other new species for the month but overall it was quite quiet as far as migrants were concerned.  I also made a stop at Winsor Dam and was quite happy to see a Red necked Phalarope in a bit closer than the previous day (although still quite distant).  Certainly an incursion of both Red Phalarope and Red necked Phalaropes into the area for the past few days...very cool given there were no storms forcing them down.

Today I stayed again in the Ware and Belchertown area and concentrated again on warblers with 19 species seen for the day including multiple new species for the month.  I added a few non warblers for the month as well but nothing too unusual.  So far for the month in Hampshire County I stand at 121 species which puts me well above average for the first three days of the month.