MA - early September

 

Nashville Warbler. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

The first ten days of September saw a welcome drop in the heat and humidity of August but, certainly from a Franklin County perspective, it's been pretty quiet for migration. Even the passage of Hurricane Ida on the 2nd did little to stir things up though did bring a small number of shorebirds to Northfield and an increase in shorebird diversity. The Baird's Sandpiper that had showed so well at Caldwell Road in late August lingered until September 3rd though became increasingly difficult to see spending most of its time with Killdeers on the plowed section of the fields rather than feeding out in the open grass. Two Semipalmated Plovers, two Least Sandpipers and my first Wilson's Snipe of the fall were also at Caldwell Road on the 2nd. On the 9th, heavy overnight rain brought a further 21 Least Sandpipers and 4 Lesser Yellowlegs to the Caldwell Road sod fields though the yellowlegs stayed only briefly and flew off purposefully to the south after just a few minutes never to return. 

Killdeer. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

Least Sandpipers. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

Part of a single flock of 21 birds.

Aside from an excellent showing of Common Yellowthroats along the Connecticut River, warbler migration and diversity has been slow so far, or at least in the places that I've been able to check. A few Cape May Warblers, a couple of Northern Parulas and a Nashville Warbler (on the 9th) is all I have to show for my efforts so far! On the plus side, checking for warblers has revealed an excellent passage of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feeding in wild habitat while taking advantage of the flowering Jewelweed along the banks of the Connecticut River, and there was an early Lincoln's Sparrow in the same habitat on the 3rd, I'm pretty sure my earliest fall record for Franklin County.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021. 

Lincoln's Sparrow. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2021.

Common Yellowthroat. Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 9th, 2021.

Abundant along the field edges flanking the Connecticut River.

 

MA - quiet summer.....or was it?

 

Baird's Sandpiper (juvenile) - Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. August 30th, 2021. 

On the eve of September, I was just reflecting on the months of July and August in Franklin County, the northern most county in the Pioneer Valley. For the most part it's been hot, humid and wet, difficult conditions for me personally, and as a result I ended up doing very little field birding. But as always, a few avian events stood out including a smattering of interesting shorebirds at the Caldwell Road sod fields in Northfield where single juvenile Baird's Sandpipers showed up on August 19th and 30th/31st, both birds lingering with local Killdeers. Baird's Sandpipers are scarce fall migrants in Franklin County, and late August/early September is the perfect time to find them.  Earlier in the season, on July 18th, the Caldwell Road sod fields also held 25 Least Sandpipers and 5 Semipalmated Plovers but they only lingered for the one morning. 

Baird's Sandpiper (juvenile) - Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. August 19th, 2021. 

Semipalmated Plovers - Caldwell Road, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. July 18th, 2021. 

Late summer also produced a widespread influx of Great Egrets plus a couple of juvenile Little Blue Herons that initially showed up on private farmland in Sunderland and then went onto roam around the Connecticut River Valley near Hatfield, or at least one of them appeared to do so. I had the good fortune to run into a juvenile Little Blue Heron flying past the Golanka Farmstand in Whately and subsequently located it on a small marsh at the Black Birch Vineyard in Hatfield. August is probably the single best month of the year to find Little Blue Heron in the Pioneer Valley and this bird fell neatly into the sequence of August records, apparently having been present in the Hatfield area since the beginning of the month. 

Little Blue Heron (juvenile) - Black Birch Vineyard, Hatfield, Hampshire Co., MA. August 14th, 2021.

Gadwall (eclipse male at rear) - Barton Cove, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. August 10th, 2021.

Other species that caught my attention included the returning drake Gadwall at Barton Cove/Unity Park, a bird that seems to enjoy loafing, virtually unnoticed, with the local Mallards and back for its seventh straight summer! And...the first 'real' feeding flock of the autumn that passed through our yard on August 7th included a Prairie Warbler, an unexpected yard 'first' watched and videoed through the kitchen window!

Prairie Warbler - Northfield yard, Franklin Co., MA. August 7th, 2021.

iphone shot taken through kitchen window.

MA - opening up September with a Baird's Sandpiper!

 

Baird's Sandpiper - Hell's Kitchen, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 1st, 2020.

The opening ten days of September brought a flurry of good birds to northern Franklin County including a locally rare Baird's Sandpiper at Hell's Kitchen, Northfield on the 1st. It was a fine, crisp juvenile and courteous enough to stick around until the 3rd furnishing only my second county Baird's Sandpiper within the last ten years. My first Baird's was also a juvenile, found by Eric Huston on the Connecticut River on September 1st, 2017 and viewed from Barton Cove campground. Good shorebird conditions are not easy to find in Franklin County and we often have to be content with brief or distant views as was the case with 4 Semi-palmated Plovers at Caldwell Road sod fields, Northfield on the 2nd. The latter site also saw a Pectoral Sandpiper on August 29th with another, or perhaps the same bird at Hell's Kitchen on the 30th. Least Sandpipers have featured constantly at Hell's Kitchen (up to 23) and less frequently at Caldwell Road sod fields (up to 17) and Turner's Falls Airfield (2 - 5). An early Wilson's Snipe was noted on at Hell's Kitchen on three dates between the 3rd and 9th and on Sep 10th a calling American Golden Plover flew down the Connecticut River at Turner's Falls, the latter being a scarce, perhaps less than annual migrant in northern Franklin County.

Noteworthy waterfowl in the first ten days of the month included a lingering drake Gadwall at Turner's Falls with 2 -3 Green-winged Teal at Barton Cove and Hell's Kitchen, and a super group of six Blue-winged Teal at Hell's Kitchen on the 9th and 10th. Throughout the period 4 - 6 Pied-billed Grebes could be found lurking around a weed-choked Barton Cove. 

Red Crossbill - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. September 4th, 2020.

Red Crossbills and Red-breasted Nuthatches continue to feature in numbers with Hell's Kitchen, Northfield and the Montague Sand Plains being among the easier places to find them. Most of the crossbills have been identified as Type 10, but Tim Spahr managed to winkle out Types 2, 3, 10 and possibly 1 from single concentration of 21 birds in the Montague Plains on Sep 4th! The presence of streaked juveniles in the flocks also raises the possibility of local breeding. Still at the Montague Sand Plains, impressive numbers of Pine Warblers (35+) have been present with the flocks containing up to five Prairie Warblers during Sep 6th - 8th. Other passerines of interest included a Palm Warbler at River Road Cemetery, Northfield on Sep 10th and a decent showing of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers after the first at Hell's Kitchen on August 30th with several more there and along North Cross Road, Gill through to Sept 9th. 

Prairie Warblers - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. September 5th, 2020.

Pine Warbler (juv/first-winter) - Montague Plains, Franklin Co., MA. September 8th, 2020.

Finally, August 29th brought a fantastic migration of Common Nighthawks and I was lucky enough to be around Turner's Falls that evening to experience it. Between Turner's Falls Airfield and Unity Park I estimated around 620 Common Nighthawks appearing in tight, dense swarms over the town, Barton Cove and the Airfield - very impressive to say the least! 

MA - Gill shorebirds including Baird's Sandpiper

September opened with a welcome temperature drop and brisk north-westerlies. The Caspian Terns at Barton Cove on August 31st certainly piqued my interest and I was back on September 1st finding a group of distant teal that I felt reasonably sure were Blue-winged. Fortunately this hunch was more or less confirmed in late afternoon with a male Blue-winged Teal seen in flight from Barton Cove campground. Elsewhere, I tried a hilltop west of Greenfield for raptors and had 3 Black Vultures dispersing northwards from roost with a about 15 Turkey Vultures. A handful of Broad-winged Hawks and single Red-shouldered Hawk were also seen but, generally, it felt early for raptor migration.

Blue-winged Teal - eclipse male, Barton Cove (campground side), Gill, Franklin Co., MA. September 1st, 2017. 

The Baird's Sandpiper and other shorebirds were using the exposed mud bar at the rear. 

Later in the day the focus shifted to shorebirds when Eric Huston contacted me with a probable Baird's Sandpiper being seen at distance from Barton Cove campground. Given Eric's conservative birding style I instinctively knew that it was a bird that I should try to see and eventually met up with him at the campground. Sure enough, although distant, we watched a beautiful juvenile Baird's Sandpiper foraging on a mud bar with a few Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers. Rare shorebirds are not easy to catch up with in Franklin County and this was a county first for both of us - 'chapeau' to Eric for his excellent find.

The following morning (Sep 2nd) was shrouded in fog but Brian Kane tried his chances for the Baird's and located it just as the fog cleared. Just as I joined him, not only did we see the Baird's but Brian rather expertly found a White-rumped Sandpiper sharing the mud bar with several Killdeer, 5 Semi-palmated Plovers, up to a dozen smaller peeps mostly Least Sandpipers, and at least one Lesser Yellowlegs, plus 2 or 3 Greater Yellowlegs - not a bad haul for Gill in early September!