Trip Highlights

Today we held the annual joint hawk watch and picnic of the Allen Bird Club (Springfield) and Hoffmann Bird Club (Berkshires). Also on hand were several members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society (Arcadia Sanctuary) led by Patti Steinman and Dan Russell. Many seasoned observers were among the 30 or so persons present, and everyone helped with spotting birds in a difficult sky.

The sky was cloudless but hazy until noon EDT; cumuli developed in the afternoon, increasing from 10% to 35% of the sky. Wind persisted all day from the NE, but very light, never exceeding 6 mph. Temperature 66-78 F.

All enjoyed a varied and interesting, but far from massive, flight. The largest kettle of Broadwings was only 17 hawks; many flew extremely high and at the limit of observation. Seven Harriers is a high turnout for Blueberry Hill; one was a gray ghost. Eight unidentified raptors is a high number for one day at the site — an indication of the difficulty of making out distant birds through the veil of haze. Not counted as migrants: 2 Turkey Vultures, 2 Bald Eagles (adult and juvenile), Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 Red-tails (adult and immature).

Non-raptors identified were Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeons (ca. 25), Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker (dazzling flyby), Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jays (2), Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadees (2), Tree Swallow, Cedar Waxwings (ca. 20), Eastern Bluebirds (10), American Goldfinch, Eastern Towhee, American Redstart, Prairie Warbler, Scar-let Tanager (f), Northern Cardinal.

Most of the participants also got their first view of the granite memorial bench placed at the hawkwatch site by the Allen Bird Club to honor the contributions of Seth Kellogg to the club and to remember his dedication to recording hawk migration here for many decades.

The Owl Prowl brought 15 members out to listen for the calls of owls. Two Barred Owls vocalized for the group in two different locations.

After meeting at the usual spot for our September morning walks, we immediately drove to the parking area for the Longmeadow Sandbar.  Two unusual species had been re-ported to be there.  With the aid of scopes, everyone was able to see the Red Phalarope and the Red-necked Phalarope as they walked along the far side of the sandbar.  Our timing was good, as by late morning, the Red Phalarope had continued on its migratory journey.  There was also a Great Egret, several Ring-billed Gulls and three very distant peeps too far away for identification.

With the phalaropes on the morning's list, we moved on to walk the field edges off West Road, finding several Song Sparrows and two Swamp sparrows.  Warblers stayed high and silent, and mostly unidentifiable among the leaves, but we did manage to see Northern Parulas and several Common Yellowthroats.  There were also three species of woodpeckers - Downy, Red-bellied, and Pileated.

Checking out the mudflats further south on the river, we had Semipalmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers running around close to us.  As we moved on to see what was around on Pondside we added the expected species of Great Blue Herons, Mallards, Wood Ducks, and one migrant - DC Cormorant.  The 9 participants ended the morning walk with 27 species.

Ten people met up at Bark Haul Road for a 3-hour walk on a cool Saturday morning. We started on the left trail headed towards the boardwalk. It was a slow start until the sun started to warm things up. Along the way we sighted many Song Sparrows and a few Red-eyed Vireos and Eastern Phoebes. As we made our way to the Boardwalk the 20 or so Wood Ducks could be heard and seen making their way to the other side of the marsh. We had an Ovenbird seen along the boardwalk. A Kingfisher was also more than willing to pose for pictures.

As we made our way into ‘Warbler Corner’ we were greeted with Warbling Vireo, Northern Parula, Redstarts, (F) Oriole, Solitary Sandpiper, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. After returning to the parking lot, a few of us decided to go over to the sandbar off West Road. A Merlin was observed Pondside preening in a tree in the middle of the marsh. We were rewarded at the sandbar with scope views of a Black-bellied Plover that had been reported for the past few days. A nice ending to the Saturday morning walk.

Nine birding enthusiasts participated in a 3-hour walk on a cool (49º F) bluebird sky morning.

On our walk, the eager group experienced the beginnings of the fall migratory cycle which provides a variety of birds that may not be typical during the Spring/Summer nesting and rearing phase of the local bird cycle. We were privileged to identify 35 different species which consisted of both local and migrating bird species.

As we walked the trail that led us across the rail lines to "warbler corner" we started to see and hear many birds high in the trees beginning to feast on the insects that were coming active due to the brilliant sunlight that rapidly was warming the day.

Among the species espied by the observant team the commonly seen male Wood Ducks in their final stages of their eclipse transition to their nuptial feathering phase were easily observed. There was one instance of the Solitary Sandpiper heard as well as a brief sighing of a Green Heron. Among the passerines seen there were the Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, American Redstart and the Black-and-white Warblers. A male Scarlet Tanager sporting its yellow body and black wing fall plumage presented itself for a view.

All appeared to enjoy the outing looking forward to more avians friends to grace them on future adventures.