MA - Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Franklin County!

 

Buff-breasted Sandpiper (juvenile) - Whately, Franklin Co., MA. September 11th, 2020. 

Sensational find by Ted Gilliland in the late afternoon downpours of September 10th and, surprisingly, still present during the morning hours of September 11th. 

On Friday morning (Sep 11th) I'd planned to check some sites around Deerfield hoping for my first Connecticut Warbler of the fall. It was cool, overcast and blustery and quite the contrast to the previous day's warmth that had been coupled with muggy, thundery showers. Indeed the day before, I'd spent quite a bit of time looking for grounded shorebirds, in particular I had Buff-breasted Sandpiper in mind which I'd found under similar conditions at Turner's Falls back in September 2017. My prize for all that work was a single, calling, flyover American Golden-Plover at Turner's Falls and, despite checking all my local Killdeer flocks, there wasn't a hint of anything with them, least of all a Buff-breasted Sandpiper!

Just before heading out to Deerfield, I quickly checked ebird noticing that Ted Gilliland had come across a Buff-breasted Sandpiper the previous evening. It was a spot that I knew well having had several encounters with Buff-breasts along the same road only a little further south on the Hatfield/Whately town line. Those observations included one of seven together during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005! Since I was heading south I really didn't have too much to lose by quickly checking the fields where Ted had his sighting the evening before. It was tough, distant and the conditions blustery but after 15 minutes of scanning through Killdeers I eventually found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, ultimately moving around to a more sheltered spot for better views. Close-up, it looked to be a nice crisply marked juvenile. Though September is most certainly 'the' month to look for this species in Franklin County it's rare enough to justify a local chase and I'm pretty sure this bird was only my second away from the former favored spot on the Hampshire/Franklin county line, and well worth the effort!

 

MA - Buff-breasted Sandpiper in Turner's Falls!

Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.

Steady to heavy rain for much of the day produced an excellent fall-out of shorebirds this afternoon. First stop was Four Star Farm in Northfield where an adult American Golden Plover joined the local Killdeers on the sod fields and closer inspection winkled out 3-5 Semi-palmated Plovers and at least 5 Least Sandpipers. With the deluge still pouring I moved onto Turner's Falls airfield and rolled up to find shorebirds all over the runway! Most were Killdeer (20+) but good numbers of Semi-palmated Plovers (8+) were also present along with 4 Least and 2 Semi-palmated Sandpipers - a rare gathering indeed for Turner's airfield. Despite the heavy rain I lingered for a while sensing that there was more to come. Within a few minutes I locked onto a beautiful Buff-breasted Sandpiper, a species I'd been wanting to find locally for some years. Conditions were awful for photography but I was pleased to come away with a handful of record shots.

 Buff-breasted Sandpiper (top left) with Killdeer - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.

Semi-palmated Plovers (left) with Buff-breasted Sandpiper - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.

Semi-palmated Sandpipers (left) with Killdeer - Turner's Falls airfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.

American Golden Plover with Killdeer - Four Star Farms, Northfield, Franklin Co., MA. September 3rd, 2017.

Hatfield Buff-breast - Sept 30th

A return visit to Hatfield this morning to check for any changes in the shorebird situation from the previous day. The American Golden Plovers and Lesser Yellowlegs had gone, and for a while I thought Killdeer was going to be the only species present in the fields. On my fourth telescope scan of the same potato field I found a handsome but distant Buff-breasted Sandpiper, in fact too distant to attempt any digiscope shots. Having watched it for about 5 minutes with 8 Killdeer, 2 Horned Larks and a couple of American Pipits, the whole field of birds was spooked by a Sharp-shinned Hawk. The Killdeer took the Buff-breasted with them and despite circling the field a couple of times, never returned landing well to the south.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper (center) in flight between two Killdeers - arguably one of the best shots ever taken of the species.


Common Yellowthroat - male


Bobolink - one of two birds together today, at Hatfield.


House Wren - one of two birds together at Hatfield.


A frustrating morning in many respects. Not only did I miss out on images of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, but I also had one, possibly two Cackling Geese moving north towards Sunderland along the CT River which would have been my earliest in the valley if confirmed. Even so, the Hatfield area was still extremely busy with plenty to see, mostly Savannah, Song and White-throated Sparrows, increasing numbers of Swamp and Lincoln's Sparrows and a couple of Bobolinks together. One small thicket held 2 Blue-headed Vireos, 5 Palm Warblers, 1 Tennessee Warbler. 3 Purple Finch and a couple of House Wrens. Blue Jays filtered across the fields all morning.


Still a joy to be out!


James.