2023 Fall Migration Has Been Fabulous-Part 2!

Hi everyone! I hope you read Part 1 of this blog. I shared my sightings of shorebirds and wading birds, songbirds and more! Check out my Blog page to see and hear those birds if you missed it! Today, I am sharing the local raptors, waterfowl, rare birds, and the cool birds I saw when I visited Bestie in Pennsylvania and migrated south myself for a bit! If you follow my social media pages, you have been following my adventures and seeing and hearing a lot of these birds in action! (See the Contact Me page for info!) Now, on to the birds!

The raptors migrated through Western MA on schedule. I saw Northern Harriers and American Kestrels soaring over the fields in Fannie Stebbins and both the Honey Pot and Meadows hotspots in Northampton. I saw American Kestrels in Hadley and a Merlin battling a crow in Fannie. I saw a few Coopers and Sharp-shinned Hawks, and tons of Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks. Many Broad-winged Hawks and a spectacular pair of Golden Eagles circled over my house in Wilbraham. Bald Eagles were plentiful. I shared a pair from Quabbin on my sites and Fannie’s mated pair still soar over the ponds, the flats, and the sandbar!

I love seeing the waterfowl move through our local area too! The males still have their colorful plumage, and the babies are too cute! The Green-winged Teals breed in Fannie all season and will leave soon. I also saw some Blue-winged Teals, American Coots, cute Pied-billed Grebes, and Northern Pintails. One handsome male posed for me with his stunning blue beak! Tons of Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers tooled around in Whiting Street Reservoir and some Common Loons sounded off in both the Quabbin and the Ludlow Reservoir. I saw my first Horned Grebe at the Quabbin too.

I saw some cool RARE birds this fall too! Sandhill Cranes, Little Blue Herons and Bonaparte’s Gulls are NOT rare in my Florida neighborhood. (You can see many photos of them in My Trips blogs.) But it WAS rare to see a Little Blue Heron visiting the sandbar near Fannie, a Sandhill Crane FAMILY in the field near Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Northampton, and a Bonaparte’s Gull in the Quabbin Reservoir! I saw a rare Buff-breasted Sandpiper and a Red Phalarope in the Fannie flats. I think my favorite local sighting was the pair of Bobolinks I saw there too. I have heard them before, but they usually stay hidden in tall grassy fields, so I was amazed when they practically posed for me! Three Pink-footed Geese caused quite the stir in a UMASS pond. Of COURSE, I rushed there and braved the parking situation to get some photos! A Tufted Duck is STILL drawing birders to Whiting Street Reservoir!

During my travels, I saw a Black-necked Stilt and TONS of Bald Eagles and Great Egrets in my happy place near Bestie-Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in Pennsylvania. It was also a neat experience to travel south alongside some migrating birds. My favorite fall sighting had to be the pair of Yellow-billed Cuckoos I saw in the Georgia National Wildlife Refuge on my journey south. It was my first fall in Florida, so I was excited to see some of the migrants arriving there that had just left Western Mass recently. My trees were FULL of Palm Warblers, and I loved seeing the Roseate Spoonbills and juvenile Sandhill Cranes!

Well, I hope you enjoyed both blogs about my Autumn birds. Winter is approaching so birding isn’t quite as much fun for me as I DETEST being cold LOL! But I will muddle through until January when I truly will migrate south for the winter! There is a slideshow on my welcome page you can view to see the birds that are common in our local area during the winter months. Be sure to follow me to share in my adventures. Thank you to my followers and as always, I appreciate ALL your feedback! Please share this blog with friends and family. You can find my links to my social media pages on the Contact Me page. Happy Holidays! Robin 😊