Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.
Steady to heavy rain for much of the day produced an excellent fall-out of shorebirds this afternoon. First stop was Four Star Farm in Northfield where an adult American Golden Plover joined the local Killdeers on the sod fields and closer inspection winkled out 3-5 Semi-palmated Plovers and at least 5 Least Sandpipers. With the deluge still pouring I moved onto Turner's Falls airfield and rolled up to find shorebirds all over the runway! Most were Killdeer (20+) but good numbers of Semi-palmated Plovers (8+) were also present along with 4 Least and 2 Semi-palmated Sandpipers - a rare gathering indeed for Turner's airfield. Despite the heavy rain I lingered for a while sensing that there was more to come. Within a few minutes I locked onto a beautiful Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a species I'd been wanting to find locally for some years. Conditions were awful for photography but I was pleased to come away with a handful of record shots.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper (top left) with Killdeer - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.
Semi-palmated Plovers (left) with Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.
Semi-palmated Sandpipers (left) with Killdeer - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.
American Golden Plover with Killdeer - Four Star Farms, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.
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