MA - Pec Sand and Common Nighthawk - 09/01

September at last, and thank goodness for increasingly cool nights and foggy, autumnal dawns.

Two nice local sightings today, as if to welcome one of the most exciting birding months on the calender. This morning I saw heard, then saw a Pectoral Sandpiper flying around Upinngil Farm with a small flock of Feral Doves and Starlings! It spent a good seven minutes circling the fields and paddocks in the area before heading off North.

And this evening, between the thundery showers, a Common Nighthawk over Rt 2 in Gill near the intersection with Main Road and the Turner's Falls bridge.

Of note, the calls of Red-eyed Vireos and Eastern Wood Pewees have been common sounds through out Gill over the last two days.

Alas, a brief check of Barton Cove in mid-morning did not produce any sign of yesterday's Re-necked Phalarope though I did see a Great Black-backed Gull, 7 Ring-billed Gulls and 4 or 5 immature Bald Eagles.

JPS