MA - Northfield shorebirds, kestrels and Cape May Warblers

Greater Yellowlegs, Solitary and Pectoral Sandpipers - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

September 26th, 2018.

Another volatile weather system brought heavy rain for the whole of the 25th followed by warm, muggy, south-westerlies the next day. Storm related birds appeared to be very few on the 25th but I did find a 'pocket' of shorebirds at Caldwell Road fields in Northfield late in the day. A modest haul of 2 Pectoral, 2 Semi-palmated and 2 Least Sandpipers plus Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer wasn't bad compared to most other sites that I checked which seemed to be bereft of birds. American Pipits though, appeared in numbers for the first time this fall with 11 visible on the sod fields.

American Pipits - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 26th, 2018.

The following day, the 26th, was a very different story. A return to the Caldwell Road fields had me captivated for three hours! The place was hopping and it was clear that a major songbird fall-out had taken place. The very first warbler that I saw and identified was a first-winter Cape May setting the theme for the morning as Cape May Warblers (12 in total) lifted out of the corn fields to filter through the trees and bushes along the roadside. Again, I was struck by the relative abundance of this species in northern Franklin County compared to previous years. Other warbler species included Yellow-rumped (10), Tennessee (5), Magnolia (2), American Redstart (3), Common Yellowthroat (9), Northern Parula (5) and plenty of unidentified birds that were just too quick or high for me to be sure of. Red-eyed (5) and Blue-headed Vireos were both included in the mix and I'm pretty sure I had a Philadelphia Vireo leaf gleaning but just couldn't clinch it.

Cape May Warbler (first-winter) - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

September 26th, 2018.

American Redstart (first-winter) - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 26th, 2018.

Red-eyed Vireo - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 26th, 2018.

Down on the sod fields, some shorebirds remained and had even increased from the previous evening, surprising given the clearing weather conditions - 5 Least, 2 Pectoral, and 3 Solitary Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs and Killdeer, and an increase to 35 American Pipits.

Solitary and Pectoral Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

September 26th, 2018.

In terms of spectacles, well 14 American Kestrels on wires along a stretch of dirt road no more than 300 meters would take some beating and certainly the closest I've come to a fall-out of that species in our area.

American Kestrel (5 of the 14 birds in view here) - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

September 26th, 2018.

Northern Harrier (juvenile) - Caldwell Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

September 26th, 2018.

Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs - Pine Meadow Road fields, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. 

September 27th, 2018.