August 2005 Central Mass Bird Sightings
Sightings are listed in reverse chronological order. The email address of birders submitting reports, as well as other Central Massachusetts birding info can be found via the Central Mass Bird Update homepage.
TIME: 5:00-7:30 P.M. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS: 73 DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT: South BEHAVIOR: The birds viewed actively fed and migrated. LOCAL WEATHER: Intermittent showers followed steady rain. Conditions then extremely overcast and cool, with air temperature 62 degrees. Winds emanated primarily from the south and southeast. OBSERVERS: Chris Ellison Bruce De Graaf Dan & Deb BerardArriving at the observation site shortly before 5:00 P.M. in a drenching downpour did little to inspire confidence in viewing any avifauna at all, let alone noteworthy numbers of Common Nighthawks. A bedraggled Gray Catbird announced itself upon my arrival. A meager band of raucous Blue Jays winged their way west over the roof of my car as I struggled to view the generous expanse of horizon through a steady rain. Mourning Doves thrust themselves aloft as I briefly hiked southwards along the soft sand and gravel shoulder of Route 56.
The arrival of Bruce De Graaf heralded a significant improvement in conditions, and we were soon savoring the spectacle of approximately 50 Common Nighthawks streaming out of the northeast, feeding actively and pushing steadily southwards. These birds provided first-rate viewing, ample mouths agape as they engaged in effortless acrobatics. Dan and Deb Berard appeared soon afterwards. Dan deftly spotted a compact flock of Red-winged Blackbirds sprinting westwards directly overhead. Deb observed several deer feeding in the open field immediately adjacent to the chain link fence on the south side of the runway. A paltry number of Chimney Swifts darted erratically above them. An additional flock of twenty-three Common Nighthawks appeared over the microwave tower situated to the southeast of Route 56, and looped west. These birds proved quite challenging to count, dodging erratically in and out of the dense fog and 1,000-foot cloud cover. A lone Great Blue Heron on the southern horizon provided welcome relief to eyes thirsty for a readily discernable avian shape. A pudgy buteo perched upon the chain link fence closest to the airport runway and running parallel to it was cause for a considerable degree of squinting through a spotting scope. Prolonged study revealed a Red-tailed Hawk. Meandering Wild Turkeys occasioned the presence of a lone airport official in a white SUV at the end of the runway. A lone American Kestrel situated itself atop the barbed wire fence closest to the deer. An extremely vocal flock of Bobolinks materialized out of the mist, headed northeast. Significant numbers of Cedar Waxwings mounted spirited flycatching efforts. American Robins appeared in steadily increasing numbers towards sunset, headed northeast into the dense woods overlooking the airport hangar. Many thanks to the congenial Bruce De Graff and Dan and Deb Berard for their patience and sharp eyes!
OTHER SPECIES OF INTEREST:
American Kestrel 1;
American Robin 63;
Bobolink 52;
Cedar Waxwing 38;
Chimney Swift 8;
Common Grackle 20;
Double-crested Cormorant 3;
Red-tailed Hawk 1;
Red-winged Blackbird 11;
Tree Swallow 8;
Wild Turkey 11;
MAMMALS:
White-tailed Deer 6
ODONATES:
Common Green Darner 26
LEPIDOPTERA:
Monarch Butterfly 1
(report from Chris Ellison).
DATE: 8/28/05
LOCATION: West Hill Dam, Uxbridge
TIME: 7:00-7:30PM
OBSERVERS: Paul and Beth Milke
WEATHER: Overcast with some low clouds and a few breaks, following two
brief showers
75 degrees, calm
NIGHTHAWKS: 4, in two groups of two, flying south; no circling to feed
OTHER BIRDS: 5 chimney swifts, 6 European starlings
(report from Paul and Beth Milke).
DATE: 8/28/05 TIME: 5:50PM-7:40PM OBSERVERS: John Liller, Kim Kastler, Colin Bacchiocchi WEATHER: Cloudy, occasional sprinkles + 2 showers, 70s, light winds from south When we first arrived, there were over 100 Chimney Swifts feeding in a small area over Lake Ripple, with 11 nighthawks feeding amongst them. We thought it was going to be a good night, but it ended up being an OK night. The nighthawks (as well as swifts and swallows); seem to feed/move along two different ridge lines on either side of the high school. The first is west of the Quinsigamond River and the second is east along Rt. 140, including over Grafton Center. There seems to be little connection between the groups that travel along these ridges, at least in sight of the high school. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (67, with much feeding along the ridges, and post-feeding movement to the south and south-southwest); CHIMNEY SWIFT (162); TREE SWALLOW (6); BARN SWALLOW (75 - much movement to the south-southeast);(report from John Liller)
TIME: 5:15-7PM.
OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch, Sheila Carroll
WEATHER: mostly solid overcast; rain had just past. Humid (80 degrees);
almost no wind from the SW.
ABOUT THE SITE: Durfee Hill WMA is well-known to RI birders as a place to
look for nesting species like Black-throated Green Warbler and Blue-headed
Vireo. It has been one of the best places in RI to look for Pileated
Woodpecker. It is very close to the Connecticut border. Though it is
definitely part of the Blackstone National CORRIDOR NATIONAL PARK it is not
technically part of the Blackstone WATERSHED. Though we had birded there
many times, this is our first nighthawk watch there. We birded from the
upper parking lot on Rt.94, atop a small hill, which has only a middlin'
view of the sky to the south, west and north. A bonus was that the small
woodland pond, visible from the small lot, had been drained and there were
some shorebirds. We also tried a few areas en route going and coming with no
luck including Bowditch Reservoir, Jackson Schoolhouse Road et);
COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (6 : we had our first at 6:14 and the rest followed within
ten minutes. All birds were low ("naked eye birds"); and all headed directly
SW. It's tough to judge this spot as a nighthawk watch spot as the night
itself was not a stellar night for migrants with the rain and weak front
passing west to east. We also had another (1); Common Nighthawk flying
southwest low at 7:40 in Douglas Center. It's interesting, but so far, I
have read no triple digit counts for south Worcester County or RI this year);
OTHER BIRDS:
Canada Goose (9 overhead and another 31 at the nearby Elementary School);
Cooper's Hawk (1ad hunting the forest right in front of us);
Killdeer (1);
Lesser Yellowlegs (1);
Solitary Sandpiper (3);
Least Sandpiper (13);
Great Black-backed Gull (1);
Chimney Swift (25 migrating south and west);
Barn Swallow (3 migrating SW);
House Wren (1);
Gray Catbird (2);
Cedar Waxwing (10: some flycatching quite high.);
Baltimore Oriole (1);
PLUS: Katydids and Gray Tree Frogs calling; (1); dead Cicada.
(report from Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll).
The night hawks appear to be coming both from the north west and north east and following the lakes (Quaboag, Quaqumquasit and Cedar); into the center of Sturbridge. Then they seem to follow the Quinebaug river in both directions south. Some heading South East through Southbridge and others South West through the 5 bridge area and down along the chain of lakes through Holland and into Stafford CT. 70 Common night hawks (Migrating);Also, 110 Tree swallows (feeding); 36 Barn swallows (feeding); 1 great Horned Owl; 2 shore birds did a low fly by at dusk looked like either wood cock or snipe 11 wax cedar wings (feeding); 86 Grackles (Migrating); 2 red wing bb; 2 great blue in the river; 2 beavers; 1 water snake; 1 muskrat. (report from Nancy and Bill Cormier).
Tried Thompson Ct (NE corner) 5pm temp 79 wind 5 mph out of the SW clear 5:40 1 to the south of us moving W maybe from RI 6:20 moved to Town Hall across from the French River 13 flying W but north of our location moved again to Southbridge near the jct of rte 131 and 169 7:00 20 feeding to the W heading sw 7:15 4 heading sw 7:25 (19) 6 headng sw 4 feeding and 9 heading s 7:30 2 heading w 7:45 1 feeding heading s temp at this time 74 wind 2mph out of the SW clearOn Friday night (8/26) in West Millbury we had only 8 heading sw @ 7:15 , in clear sky (report from Deb and Dan Gannet).
TIME: 5PM-7:40PM OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch; Sheila Carroll, Chris Ellison; Bart Kamp; Olyssa Starry w/a person whose name I forgot (sorry!!); WEATHER: Mostly clear; temps low80s-low60s; winds: SSW 10mph.+ COMMON NIGHTHAWKS: 482: Another interesting night with small groups moving throughout the watch. Several groups behaved much like kettling Broad-winged Hawks, forming kettles that rose up and then birds peeled off. Flight was direct or direct with some feeding. Overll most birds went to the south or north of the hill, most heading west or southwest. A nice flock flew relatively low right overhead (c.7:10PM); heading directly SW.OTHER BIRDS: Double-crested Cormorant (1); Great Blue Heron (2); Turkey Vulture (2); Mallard (2); Sharp-shinned Hawk (3); Cooper's Hawk (1); Red-tailed Hawk (2); A Kestrel (3); Wild Turkey (5); Killdeer (3); Chimney Swift (20); Tree Swallow (11); Barn Swallow (31); Blue Jay (1); A Crow (12); A Robin (60+); Cedar Waxwing (23); Bobolink (21); C Grackle (31); PLUS: a few migrating Monarchs. (report from Mark Lynch).
Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester Time:5:30-7:30. Weather:Clear; Wind: SSW; 10-15 MPH; Temp. 70-65. Observers: Fran McMenemy, Joan Zumpfe, Rick, Barbara, and Mike Walker. Nighthawks: 31 mostly moving South, Mourning Dove 12, Chimney Swift 36, American Crow 8, European Starling 150, Common Grackle 30.(report from Fran McMenemy).
DATE: Sat 8/27/05
LOCATION: West Hill Dam, Uxbridge, MA
TIME PERIOD: 5:15-7:30PM
OBSERVERS: Russ Holden, Nicole Wenger, Paul and Beth Milke, Jordan Musante
WEATHER: Clear, light wind from the SW
TIME 1st CONI: 6:50PM
TOTAL #CONI: 12 -- in groups of 3 or 4
DIRECTION: NW to E, circling, gradually moving off to SE; last three
flew over us and moved directly S
BEHAVIOR: First two groups circled for 10-15 mins., eating among
large numbers of chimney swifts
(report forwarded by Mark Lynch).
DATE: 8/27/05 TIME: 5:00PM-7:45PM OBSERVERS: John Liller, Kim Kastler, Colin Bacchiocchi WEATHER: Fair; 80s+70s, winds from southwest (10+mph); COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (59 - It looked like a bust until after we were starting to pack up. Then we nearly doubled our numbers. Many of the birds were moving north until just before 7:00, and there was little feeding behavior. After 7:30, we had 23 moving south to southwest along the ridge to the west of the Quinsigamond River.)Also: CHIMNEY SWIFT (36); TREE SWALLOW (13); BARN SWALLOW (17); Double-crested Cormorant (1); Cooper's Hawk (1); Sharp-shinned Hawk (1); Red-tailed Hawk (2); Killdeer (8); Eastern Kingbird (1); Cedar Waxwing (7); Red-winged Blackbird (302); Common Grackle (56); (report from John Liller).
Auburn, Ma. 5:55PM.....230 ... feeding along rte 290 Chicopee, Ma 6:40PM.............100....feeding near the Mass turnpike maintaince garage. Conn. River..................1 .... couldn't stop to look for others Westfield, Ma. 7:05PM...................... 24.... feeding near the Pike Blanford, Ma..............................11 headed SW over the Pike Lee, Ma. 7:45PM .................... 300...100 were feeding low over town and I was able to pick up a "string" of at least 200 "highflyers" headed south.(report from Tom Pirro).
TIME: 5:00PM-7:45PM WEATHER: a few clouds; calm; winds from SSE; cooling to low 60s by end. OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch; Sheila Carroll; Bart Kamp; Bruce DeGraaf; Val Miller. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS: 800 minimum> Movement tonite was exceeding complex and tough to keep track of. When we first arrived, two HUGE spectacular balls of nighthawks of several hundred each could be observed: (1) to the NE and the other (2) to the SE. Both flocks consisted of whirling, ever-changing masses of feeding birds. These flocks would often lower below the horizon line and mostly go out of sight, only to rise again. The flock to the SE (perhaps many birds that were being oberved over Notre Dame), moved throughout the first half of the evening to our SSE and S, then drifted back to their original area and then back to our South and so on several times. As the evening progressed, these birds sank lower beneath our field of view. Only a very few birds were visible for the last 45 minutes including some apparently new flocks.OTHER BIRDS: Double-crested Cormorant (1); Turkey Vulture (1); Mallard (3); Sharp-shinned Hawk (1); Red-tailed Hawk (1); A Kestrel (2); Merlin (1: we watched as this Merlin caught something and landed in the middle of the runway. THEN: we watched an American Crow "sneak" up on the bird and definitely pounce on it: right atop the Merlin. The Crow even mantled the Merlin. The Merlin eventually broke free anf then went on a spree, chasing the crows relentlessly.); Wild Turkey (9: none on runway); Greater Yellowlegs (4: fly-bys off runway); Chimney Swift (7); Barn Swallow (35); A Crow (32); Cedar Waxwing (81: many aerially feeding very high in the sky); Bobolink (72); E Meadowlark (3); C Grackle (93); Baltimore Oriole (2); PLUS: (4); White-tailed Deer and a large migrating bat that appeared to likely be a RED BAT. (report from Mark Lynch).
DATE: 8/26/05 TIME: 5:45PM-7:15PM OBSERVERS: John Liller. WEATHER: Fair; 70s, winds from southwest (2mph) COMMON NIGHTHAWKS: 164+ From 5:50 to 6:30, I had 4 flying north and 5 others feeding over Lake Ripple. At 6:33, I had 120+ flying north along the ridge west of the Qunsigamond River. These birds stayed to the west of my location, feeding along the river, for about 30 minutes, after which most of them headed back south. Meanwhile, at 6:38, 14 birds moved in from the northeast and began feeding over the high school fields and parking lot, and then joined another group of 35 birds feeding amongst the trees east toward Grafton Center. A few of these birds ultimately broke off, some heading north, some south. The rest were still feeding at 7:15 when I left.Photo of C Nighthawk
Also: CHIMNEY SWIFT (65, including two large flocks of 28 and 24 heading south between 6:40 and 6:45); BARN SWALLOW (18); Green Heron (3); Ring-billed Gull (4 - they were feeding amongst the nighthawks over the high school fields); Killdeer (3); "Peeps" (I had a flock of 6 flying quickly south; I could not I.D. them); Eastern Kingbird (2); Cedar Waxwing (1); Red-winged Blackbird (171 - all heading north); Common Grackle (23); (report from John Liller).
at 6:40 had 3 feeding heading N at 6:45 had 2 feeding heading SW at 7:00 had 62 heading NW at 7:10 had 1 heading NW at 7:15 had 6 feeding heading NE at 7:20 had 1 feeding heading S at 7:25 had 5 feeding heading S Temp 78, no wind, clear skyAlong with the nighthawks there were 60 blackbirds, 5 chimney swifts, and 10 barn swallows all heading SW (report from Dan Berard).
Common Nighthawk 127 general movement was north west and few birds moving with a southerly direction. Activity here has generally been slow, watch dates, hours of coverage and counts listed below: 8/15 2hrs 5 8/16 1.5hrs 11 8/17 2hrs 4 8/18 1.75hrs 35 8/19 1.25hrs 2 8/21 1.75 7 8/22 2hrs 16 8/23 2hrs 23 8/24 1 hr 2 8/25 1.75hrs 127(report from Tom Pirro).
TIME: 6:10PM-7:45PM. OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch, Sheila Carroll, Fran McMenemy WEATHER: very partly cloudy, mostly clear overhead (BTW: like hawkwatching, it's amazing how useful a cloudy sky is for spotting birds!); temps dipped into the low 60s/high 50s at the end. Low humidity; almost still. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (222 : our first triple digit count of the season this year. Bird movement was complex per usual with this species. When we first arrived, a close group of 30 could be seen over the airport moving south then west almost till they were over Rt.56, then they backed up, moved back over the airport and ended up crossing Rt, heading west, to our north. We observed several evry high flocks migrating in almost directly from the east. In the end, most birds moved WEST or WEST SOUTHWEST. By the time we left, we had small numbers of birds feeding low over the trees and apparently not moving. One bird that flew low right over us was seen to have it's mouth wide open even though it was migrating fairly fast and direct; apparently feeding as it moved along rapidly. This weekend should see the highest counts for the year.)From John Shea's report at Notre Dame (see above), again it looks like there is NO overlap between the two sites. .
OTHER SPECIES AT RT. 56 LEICESTER: Double-crested Cormorant (3); Great Blue Heron (1: heading high and west); N. Harrier (2imm); A Kestrel (1); Wild Turkey (6); Chimney Swift (3); Tree Swallow (2); Barn Swallow (6 Nota bene: swallow numbers have dropped dramatically since Tuesday); A. Robin (110); Cedar Waxwing (16); Bobolink (52); C Grackle (173); (report from Mark Lynch).
TIME: 6:05 (we pulled in as Fran McMenemy was leaving)-7:40 OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch, Sheila Carroll WEATHER: partly cloudy; clear; great visibility. Winds light from the west. COMMON NIGHTHAWK (75): half were far out and high, initially traveling south, then we watched them cut SW and West past the edge of our viewpoint to the north. Then there was a long lull, and then c.7:20 till we stopped, birds came up and over the hill from the east and eventually headed SW. All flight was direct; no cutting back, no apparent feeding. The Notre Dame report [see above] indicates that there is virtually NO overlap of sightings between the two locations. My feeling is that the N Dame birds are so low, we are not observing them atop Airport Hill.OTHER BIRDS: Double-crested Cormorant (1: heading down to roost at Coes); Mallard (2); Cooper's hawk (1ad); Red-tailed Hawk (1); A. Kestrel (1); WILD TURKEY (2ad with 13 young on the runway. This was new); Killdeer (1 fly-over); Ring-billed Gull (1ad); Belted Kingfisher (1); Eastern Kingbird (1); Tree Swallow (5); Barn Swallow (10); A Crow (24); American Robin (187 going to roost); Gray Catbird (2); Cedar Waxwing (65); C. Yellowthroat (2); Savannah Sparrow (1); Bobolink (197: big flight of flocks of birds); Common Grackle (111); A Goldfinch (6); (report from Mark Lynch).
DATE: 8/22/05 TIME: 5:00PM-7:00PM OBSERVERS: John Liller. WEATHER: Fair; 70s+80s winds from west (10mph);; low humidity. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (13 - 6:20: 4 flying south, 6:34: 9 flying south); CHIMNEY SWIFT (22+);OTHER BIRDS: Double-crested Cormorant (3); Ring-billed Gull (3); Killdeer (6); Mourning Dove (5); Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1); Downy Woodpecker (1); EAstern Kingbird (2); Barn Swallow (16); European Starling (83); Cedar Waxwing (5); Red-winged Blackbird (324 - all headed north); Common Grackle (16); House Finch (1); American Goldfinch (2); House Sparrow (7); (report from John Liller).
TIME: 6PM-7:30PM OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch, Sheila Carroll, Bart Kamp. WEATHER: breezy, cool. Winds from the West (10mph);; partly cloudy; low humidity. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (17: another poor showing. Most birds were VERY high and most eventually headed SW-S. Flight was direct, no feeding. Interestingly, John Shea tonite reported 18 Common Nighthawks from Notre Dame between 7 and 7:30. We had none during that time. This seems to indicate (1); there is little overlap between the two sites and (2); the birds seen later have to have been flying, much, much lower and therefore not visible to us atop this large hill.);OTHER BIRDS: Double-crested Cormorant (1: flying down to roost on Coes); Canada Goose (flock of 5 fly-overs); "accipiter sp." (1 far out over runway); A Kestrel (1); Wild Turkey (11: again, a scene of man vs. turkey as the airport police played hide and seek with the turkeys); Chimney Swift (12); Tree Swallow (42); Barn Swallow (37); American Robin (91: it has been interesting to watch these birds. As dusk approaches, large numbers in many small flocks, converge to roost in the woodlots around the airport. Many fly in from great distances and heights.); Cedar Waxwing (17: many flycatching high in the air); A Goldfinch (6); Bobolink (51: migrants); E Meadowlark (1); Common Grackle (79); Baltimore Oriole (3); Nota bene: on evenings like this, visibility from this site is amazing. You can clearly see the microwave tower in the town of BLACKSTONE where the ravens breed. This means you are essentially looking diagonally across most of the entire Blackstone National Corridor in Massachusetts. (report from Mark Lynch).
TIME: 5PM-7:30PM OBSERVERS: MARK LYNCH, SHEILA CARROLL, BRUCE DeGRAAF, BART KAMP WEATHER: The weather went through quite an extraordinary change through this count evening. When we arrived, a front had just passed. A storm system was to out southeast. To the east and south it was solid dark, threatening clouds with lightening, while overhead it very slowly began to clear and the humidity gradually left. Through the evening, we watched the front proceed east/southeast. Winds. light freshening from the west. Temps dropped to the high 60s. COMMON NIGHTHAWKS: (19: NOT a banner night. Most were far out and heading south. Our first birds at 5:30PM, were three heading close and SW. What is interesting is that JOHN SHEA reported (41); birds tonite from Notre Dame (Worcester);, most between 7 and 7:30, when we were seeing none. His birds were heading south.);OTHER BIRDS: Great Blue Heron (1); Double-crested Cormorant (2: likely heading to the Coes Reservoir roost); Cooper's Hawk (1); Broad-winged Hawk (1ad: now expected); Red-tailed Hawk (1 hunting the runway area); Wild Turkey (8: another show of airport police firing ordinace et); Killdeer (3 on the runway); Ring-billed Gull (1); Mourning Dove (6); Chimney Swift (6); Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1); Eastern Kingbird (1); Tree Swallow (33); Barn Swallow (8); Blue Jay (1); A Crow (8); American Robin (107); Cedar Waxwing (32); N Cardinal (1); Bobolink (34); Common Grackle (73); A Goldfinch (8); (report from Mark Lynch).
On Friday evening 8/19 we had 3 nighthawks, 2 heading ne; 1 heading s; (report from Deb and Dan).
TIME: 5PM-7:30PM WINDS: light from the SSW; overcast; somewhat humid. OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch; Sheila Carroll; Bruce DeGraaf; Nancy Cormier; Bill Cormier COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (57: flight, as is often typical, was complex. Some birds headed directly south, a very few headed SW and some headed north and then west apparently AROUND the north end of the hill, a flight pattern we have noticed here before. About half the birds were fairly far out (these were the birds that headed south);. Early in the evening the flight was direct with no pausing, but as the evening wore on, birds were observed to "feed and move", pausing to go after insects. No definite drift back. There were almost no birds after 7PM.);OTHER BIRDS: Double-crested Cormorant (1: likely putting down on Coes Pond); Broad-winged Hawk (1ad going to roost in the same place we saw one go the previous night); American Kestrel (1f+1imm); Wild Turkey (20 in three flocks); Chimney Swift (4); Tree Swallow (22: heading SW); Barn Swallow (40: most headng SW); Cedar Waxwing (18); Bobolink (54); Common Grackle (62); PLUS; Thanks to Nancy: Hot Dog Annie's special sauce refueled us! It tasted like I remembered it. (report from Mark Lynch).
We only saw 6 nighthawks, they seemed to be just circling around and not moving anywhere. We also had some flocks of blackbirds, mostly grackles, some swamp sparrows, 3 Herons, a snapping turtle, and a couple of Cedar waxwings. Our best sighting of the evening was 2 American Bitterns one behind the other flying across the river right in front of us.(report forwarded by Mark Lynch).
TIME: 5:10PM-7:05PM/almost completely overcast/light winds from the SE OBSERVERS: Mark Lynch/Sheila Carroll/John Shea COMMON NIGHTHAWKS (18: 10 were in a tight low group, flying fast right overhead, going SW, the rest were further out and headed directly south. Almost no feeding was occuring, birds were just moving.)Other birds that flew by: Double-crested Cormorant (1); Broad-winged Hawk (1ad: with an amazingly full crop. Flew slowly by us and went to roost for the night in a woodlot in front of us); A Kestrel (2: 1 imm was continually harassed by a hummer, who kept bombing it even though it was flying rather high); Wild Turkey (8 on runway, playing hide and seek with airport police, who at one point took to firing ordinance off to try to get them to stay off the runways); Chimney Swift (3); Ruby-throated Hummingbird (1); Tree Swallow (2:getting scarce inland by this late in the summer); Barn Swallow (149: heading west/southwest); A Robin (38); Cedar Waxwing (19); Scarlet Tanager (1); Bobolink (57: most landed in the fields in front of us); Common Grackle (142). (report from Mark Lynch).
(report from Tom Pirro).
For previous sightings, see July 2005 Archives or Archive Index