Hadley Area

This morning Valerie and I birded a section along the Connecticut River in Hadley across the the North Hadley Sugar Shack. It started out pretty foggy, but eventually cleared up and became quite nice. We had a nice movement of birds throughout the morning and ended up with 42 species. Blue Jays and Black-capped Chickadees were the most numerous, small flocks moving along the tree line along the river. Northern Flickers (17) also were well represented.

One of the highlights was my fourth Philadelphia Vireo of the fall, Lincoln's Sparrow, 8 species of warblers and a very cooperative Scarlet Tanager. Later in the morning a few Broad-winged Hawks were seen going over the Honey Pot in Hadley, along with three American Kestrels and eight Barn Swallows. Another awesome event this weekend was the Broad-winged Hawk migration this weekend.  Now I have a unique ability of missing this event. Most of the time it happens during the weekdays, but not this year.  Tom Gagnon  had 5100 at Goat's Peak (Mt. Tom) on Saturday (9-18) and the majority passed over the tower in a forty-five minute span in the latter have of the afternoon. On Sunday- another good push at Blueberry Hill and at Mt.  Watatic,  Mt. Watatic was the big winner with over 1,800.

  Below are photos from today and over the last couple of weeks.....

Scott

Ruby-throated Hummingbird- Home feeder.

Great Blue Heron- Umass Marsh.

Great Egret- small marsh off of Stockwell Street-Hadley.

Scarlet Tanager- Hadley

White-throated Sparrow- can winter be far away?

Yellow-rumped Warbler- Hadley. Just the beginning.....Thousands on the way.

Eastern Phoebe- Looking better in the fall than in the spring.

American Golden-Plover-East Meadows in Northampton. (2 of 4 birds) Only ones this fall...so far!

Philadelphia Vireo- Hadley.

Pileated Woodpecker- Hadley.

Red-eyed Vireo- Hadley. One of twenty five that day.

Northern Harrier- East Meadows

House Wren-

Philadelphia Vireo- Hanging onto Cornstalks, East Meadows.

Northern Harriers- East Meadows

Location: Route 47, Hadley -- Across from Stockwell Rd

Observation date: 9/19/10
Number of species: 42

Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Killdeer 3
Mourning Dove X
Eastern Screech-Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 16
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay 60
American Crow X
Black-capped Chickadee 55
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
Carolina Wren 2
House Wren 3
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 30
Gray Catbird 16
Cedar Waxwing 12C
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Blackpoll Warbler 4
American Redstart 4
Common Yellowthroat 17
Song Sparrow 9
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 9
Scarlet Tanager 4
Northern Cardinal 10
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 2
American Goldfinch 8

Quabbin HQ

Headed out to Quabbin Headquarters this morning to find a few migrants. First stop was Windsor Dam, not a lot there...(1) Double-crested Cormorant and a fly-by American Kestrel. My next stop was the Marsh along Rte. 9 - Green Herons, a Greater Yellowlegs and three Kingfishers putting on a nice display.

Finally made my way to the Frank Windsor Memorial where I encountered the ever elusive Yellow-billed Cuckoo. This is a bird that I rarely encounter in Western Mass, especially in the fall. This area around the Memorial and the road up to the tower proved to be the most productive locations of the morning.

Photos below.

Belted Kingfisher-

Belted Kingfishers - Not quite sure what was going on here? But they didn't seem to be getting along that well.

Eastern Wood-Pewee's- Seems late August into September is the best time of year to "SEE" and hear this birds.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - This turned out to be the bird of the morning. For me, Cuckoo's are generally hard to come back here in Western Mass, especially the Yellow-billed. So finding one and getting a photo is a real bonus.

 

Bald Eagle-Imm.  This bird appeared over the Memorial area for just a few seconds before soaring out of sight.

Prairie Warbler - One of two birds found along the road to the tower. I located a total of ten species of warblers, all providing good looks.

Chestnut-sided Warbler - I love this fall plumage.

American Redstart- Indeed a beauitful male.

Below is the mornings list........

Location: Ware- Rte 9 Marsh –
Observation date: 9/5/10



Wood Duck 4
Green Heron 2
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Belted Kingfisher 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Tree Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 2
Common Yellowthroat 1



Location: Quabbin Reservoir--Park HQ.- 9/5/10

Canada Goose
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Bald Eagle 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 6
Eastern Phoebe 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Red-eyed Vireo 8
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Tree Swallow 5
Black-capped Chickadee 16
Tufted Titmouse 6
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 4
Gray Catbird 3
Northern Parula 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 4
Pine Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 2
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 3
Common Yellowthroat 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 5
Chipping Sparrow X
Scarlet Tanager 3
Northern Cardinal 2
American Goldfinch X


Cheers,

Scott

Deerfield Herons & Cormorant

Spent a few hours this morning with Valerie and Priscilla in the Hatfield, Deerfield area. In Hatfield, some of the fields are starting to get plowed under, but with everything so dry, it's going to take a little while before shorebirds start to find these fields appealing. There's also a little open water at the Bradstreet Marsh, thus a few Herons were visible. (List Below)

In Old Deerfield, at least one Imm. Black-crowned Night-Heron still continues to be seen where the road splits two ponds before heading out into the cornfields. Also present, Great Blue & Green Herons and a bunch of Wood Ducks. (List Below)

Black-crowned Night-Heron. (Imm)

Double-crested Cormorant (Imm) Also took down info on leg bands, hopefully we'll find out where this bird was banded. (9-23...this bird was banded near Kingston, Ontario during this past summer.)

Green Heron- Deerfield.

Location: Hatfield, Hampshire County, MA, US
Wood Duck 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Green Heron 5
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
American Crow 125
Eastern Bluebird 4
Northern Mockingbird 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Savannah Sparrow 4
Common Grackle 925

Location: Deerfield Meadows/Marsh
Wood Duck 22
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Green Heron 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 2

location: Sunderland

Wood Duck 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1

Belchertown- Yard

Solitary sandpiper-1
Co. Nighthawks -30

Kenai National Park/Seward, Alaska

Arctic Tern- One of thousands seen on this trip. This shot was along rte 1 at an area known as Potter's Marsh.

Mew Gull- This is one common bird in Alaska.

Baby Moose-seen right along Rte 1 on our way down to the town of Seward.

The view from the Chinnook Restaurant was simply spectacular!

We arrived in Seward late Saturday afternoon only to learn the none of the ships had left the harbor the last two days because of eighteen foot seas out in Resurrection Bay. Soooo, the forecast was getting better, but it was unclear that we would be able to get out on Sunday? As it turned out, the weather was with us on Sunday, and would continue that way throughout our tour of Alaska.

We went with the Kenai Fjords Tours, They offer different tours depending on the size of the group and what you'd like to see. The boat pictured above is the boat we used to explore the Islands of the Kenai National Park. This smaller boat was one of the more expensive ways to see the park and Glaciers, but it was worth every penny. (Well done James and Birdfinders)

Harlequin Ducks- Heading out of the Harbor.

Marbled Murrelet- Several close encounters coming out of the Harbor and more would be encountered later on near Aialik Glacier. One of the big target birds on this trip was the Kittlitz's Murrelet, which we came across several pairs near the Glacier.

Sea Otter- Fairly approachable in the Harbor.

Dall's Porpoise- 300 lbs of tough to photograph mammal!

Aialik Glacier- Awesome

This Glacier moves 8-10 feet a day.

Ancient Murrelets

Rhinoceros Auklet

A real crowd favorite - Tufted Puffin

Kenai National Park

Horned Puffin

Almost like glass....beats 18 foot seas!

Black-legged Kittiwakes- Thousands....

Pelagic Cormorants

Steller's Sea Lions

Probably my most sought after mammal on this trip...Killer Whale. We lucked out into a pod on our way into port.

Killer Whales-Orcas