Longmeadow & Agawam

Four Allen Bird Club members checked the CT and Westfield River and various ponds and lagoons in Agawam and Longmeadow for late summer shorebirds, egrets and herons.  High water, resulting in a scarcity of mudflats, kept shorebirds to a lone Spotted Sandpiper and a Killdeer.  A Black-crowned Night-heron was perched out in full view at one of the Big E lagoons in spite of the many huge buses passing by every five minutes, shuttling visitors to the casino in Springfield.  The other lagoon produced Green Heron and a Great Blue.  When we reached the dike area, families of Song Sparrows were popping out of the grass.  The wires held Mourning Doves - not the usual Kestrel so often seen here.  

A quick check at Bondi's gave us two Great Egrets to add to the morning's list.  By the time we reached Pondside Road in the Longmeadow Flats, the morning was heating up.  We found more Great Egrets, Green Herons, and Great Blue Herons here.  Total species for the morning was 43.