Recent bird sightings as reported to Mass Audubon:
Connecticut warblers and clay-colored sparrows seemed to be moving in better than average numbers this season based upon the scattering of reports statewide, broad-winged hawks enjoyed a couple of decent flight days mid-month, and yellow-bellied flycatchers seemed to be more numerous this year than in some seasons. Otherwise, the overall numbers of bird migrants have not been particularly spectacular.
Berkshire County: Forty-seven barn swallows at Baldwin Hill in Egremont and another 16 at the Great Barrington Airport, a whimbrel at the Sheffield Sod Farm, a yellow-bellied flycatcher, a Connecticut warbler, and a gray-cheeked thrush at the Jug End State Reservation in Egremont, three least flycatchers at Springside Park in Pittsfield, and an orange-crowned warbler at Taft Farms in Great Barrington.
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Bristol County: A least bittern and a clay-colored sparrow at the Egypt Lane ponds in Fairhaven, three parasitic jaegers, a black tern, and a Baird’s sandpiper at Gooseberry Neck in Westport, a glossy ibis at Demarest Lloyd State Park in Dartmouth, two black terns at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in South Dartmouth, and an olive-sided flycatcher at the Caratunk Wildlife Refuge in Seekonk.
Cape Cod: Sabine’s gull, a little gull, and three Caspian terns at Race Point in Provincetown, a common murre in Wellfleet Harbor, two black skimmers at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, a little blue heron at Hyannis Harbor, single great crested flycatchers at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and the Harwich Community Gardens, single orange-crowned warblers at Hemenway Landing in Eastham and the Herring River area in Wellfleet, six red-necked grebes at Depot Pond in Eastham, single lark sparrows at the Marconi Wireless Station Site in Wellfleet and North Truro, a common gallinule, a gray-cheeked thrush, and a hooded warbler near Monomoy Point Lighthouse at South Monomoy Island, and another hooded warbler at Woods Cove Trail in Orleans.
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Essex County: A yellow-crowned night-heron and a hooded warbler at Plum Island, and single blue grosbeaks at the Nahant stump dump and the Martin Burns Wildlife Management Area in Newbury.
Franklin County: A white-rumped sandpiper in Northfield, two ovenbirds at High Ledges Wildlife Sanctuary in Shelburne Falls, and a tardy yellow warbler at Greenfield Community College campus.
Hampden County: A blue-gray gnatcatcher, a Northern rough-winged swallow, a cliff swallow, a yellow warbler, a Connecticut warbler, a dickcissel, and a clay-colored sparrow at Longmeadow Flats in Longmeadow.
Hampshire County: Four continuing sandhill cranes in the vicinity of Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton, a blue-gray gnatcatcher at the Smith College campus in Northampton, a least flycatcher, three American golden-plovers, and two yellow warblers at the Honey Pot in Hadley, five American golden-plovers in the fields along Shattuck Road in Hadley, and five more golden-plovers, two white-rumped sandpipers, a yellow warbler, and a dickcissel in the East Meadows in Northampton.
Martha’s Vineyard: Thirteen lingering piping plovers at Little Beach, a bald eagle and a common raven in West Tisbury, a white-eyed vireo at Aquinnah, and a marbled godwit at Eel Pond in Edgartown.
Middlesex County: A yellow-throated warbler at Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, a gray-cheeked thrush and a veery in the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Medford, a Connecticut warbler and a blue grosbeak at Fresh Pond in Cambridge, five common nighthawks migrating in Natick, a clay-colored sparrow at the Woburn Community Gardens, a Connecticut warbler at Sunny Meadow Farm in Chelmsford, a blue-winged warbler at Dunback Meadow in Lexington, and an early common goldeneye at Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield.
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Nantucket: Two marbled godwits at Esther’s Island and possibly a different individual at Smith Point, four fish crows at the Head of the Plains Wildlife Management Area, two common ravens at Low Beach and another at Tuckernuck Island, and a mourning warbler at Codfish Park.
Norfolk County: A red-headed woodpecker, a Connecticut warbler, and a clay-colored sparrow at Squantum Point Park in Squantum, a Baird’s sandpiper at Passanageset Park at Broad Meadows Marsh in Quincy, and a hooded warbler at Great Hill Park in Weymouth.
Plymouth County: Three piping plovers and a Hudsonian godwit at Brown’s Bank off Plymouth, two marbled godwits and two black skimmers at Plymouth Beach, two Caspian terns in flight over Plymouth, a red-headed woodpecker at World’s End in Hingham, a little blue heron and eight sandhill cranes at Burrage Pond Wildlife Management Area in Hanson, a black vulture over Little Quittacas Pond in Lakeville, and a golden-winged warbler and a Lawrence’s warbler on Scotland Street in West Bridgewater.
Suffolk County: A yellow-crowned night-heron at Lewis Lake in Winthrop, a lark sparrow at the Winthrop Greenway, and two American golden-plovers at Winthrop Beach; a clay-colored sparrow at Millennium Park in West Roxbury, a lark sparrow the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, a Philadelphia vireo at McLaughlin Woods near Mission Hill, seven roseate terns at Rainsford Island in Boston Harbor, and remarkable flock of American golden-plovers over Burr Street in Boston.
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Worcester County: A red-headed woodpecker at the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge in Harvard, a Connecticut warbler, a Canada warbler, a dickcissel, and a blue grosbeak at the Westboro Wildlife Management Area in Westborough, two black vultures and a Northern goshawk at Wachusett Mountain State Reservation, four continuing sandhill cranes in Hardwick.
For more information about bird sightings go to www.massaudubon.org.