MA - noteworthy passerines

Aside from the Olive-sided Flycatcher at Hell's Kitchen, Northfield on the 11th mentioned in a previous post, other flycatchers of interest included a Great Crested on North Cross Road, Gill on the 6th, two Yellow-bellied at Hell's Kitchen on the 7th, and a Least on Riverview Drive, Gill on the 8th. And there was also 'getting late' singing Yellow-throated Vireo at Hell's Kitchen on the 12th.

Northern Parula - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Yet more overnight rain on the 13th brought an obvious arrival of passerines to the area including our yard in Northfield at dawn with a calling Swainson's Thrush as well as a Wood Thrush. But it was a large flock of migrant warblers at Turner's Falls Rod and Gun club in mid-morning that really caught me off-guard. As I arrived, I heard several titmice and chickadees calling overhead and looked up to see numbers of warblers filtering through the oaks in a non-stop wave that lasted five minutes or so. The light was awkward and I had difficulty in getting my bins onto many of the birds passing through but I estimated that 70+ warblers were involved. Of those that I managed to identify Northern Parula (12+), Tennessee (7+), and Bay-breasted (4) were the most common with other notable species including Magnolia, Blackburnian, Cape May and my first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the fall. And for the rest, who knows?!

Magnolia Warbler - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Tennessee Warbler - Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Also of note on the 13th, quite a few raptors with 8+ American Kestrels scattered around the sod fields in Northfield, a migrant Osprey in Northfield, a Northern Harrier heading south through Gill and several juvenile Broad-winged Hawks seemingly waiting for the gloom to clear to start the southward migration. 

American Kestrel - Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 13th, 2018.

Heavy rain throughout most of the 12th created a number of fresh rain pools in the Northfield sod fields attracting five Killdeer and a Least Sandpiper, all of which had moved on by the next day.

Killdeer - River Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 12th, 2018.

Least Sandpiper - River Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 12th, 2018.