October birds continue to arrive

Red shouldered Hawk, Jabish canal -Belchertown, October 9, 2010
Red shouldered Hawk, Jabish canal -Belchertown, October 9, 2010

Sharp shinned Hawk, Jabish canal -Belchertown, October 9, 2010


Another beautiful day in October with some great birds as I visited Quabbin Park, Gate 4 and a trail along Jabish Canal. The morning started with a calling Great Horned Owl at Quabbin Park which I then added a calling Barred Owl and Eastern Screech Owl to also. The waterfowl variety continues to increase with my first of the season Black Scoters, Surf Scoters and Horned Grebes at Quabbin. Oddly I had four of each of the above mentioned species with all the scoters being males. In addition a half dozen Common Loons in various plumage types added more variety to the waterfowl. The bird variety continues to change with each passing day with less and less birds of summer left. I did manage five species of warblers with a beautiful Black throated Blue male being the highlight. Yet again the number of sparrows continues with the highlight being an oddly colored White throated Sparrow male which had the normal yellow coloration near its eye replaced with orange (I'll post a more detailed description and photos in another post). The raptors also made for some great viewing with the highlight being two Red shouldered Hawks soaring overhead over a swamp along the Jabish Canal. Another great day to be outside enjoying the fall weather.