Longmeadow and Agawam

Our gathering place was at the Pynchon Point parking lot in Agawam. Here 9 members walked down to the point to begin a morning of birding with temps in the 50s and a mix of sun and clouds.  Both the Connecticut and the Westfield Rivers were very high, with water into the trees.  Sharp eyes found two Peregrine Falcons from the parking lot to start our day with smiles.

The second stop was at Longmeadow Flats–Pondside Road, where we started at the north end of Pondside and birded to the pavilion.  For highlights, we counted over 80 Ring-necked Ducks and a Gadwall.  We saw two Osprey, one at the nest site and another flying in with nesting ma-terial.  Bald Eagles were also spotted. We had scopes set up at the West Road parking lot and watched as one of the adult Bald Eagles came down, landed in the field, and picked up prey and brought it back to the nest, where the other adult sat with an eaglet. The light-colored, fuzzy eaglet had not been in view before this, but it popped up when the food was brought.

From the West Road lot, we walked along the West Road extension trail to the gas pipeline equipment and explored the Natti Trail on the way back.  Highlights here included an immature Bald Eagle, a Green-winged Teal, Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, a Fox Sparrow, Palm and Pine Warblers, a Pied-billed Grebe and a Red-shouldered Hawk.  Click below to view complete lists below.