Quabbin Park and Covey WMA...lots of jays

Despite the forecast for rain for the day I managed to get some birding in and only got dripped on a few times. Given the north winds and then pre dawn rain I was hopeful to find some grounded birds at Quabbin. I stopped several times at Winsor Dam throughout the morning and finally was rewarded with a group of White winged Scoters. There were a total of 14, all males. The only additional waterfowl sighting here was a Common Merganser and some flyby Canada Geese. The Route 9 marsh held some nice birds with a total of 34 Wood Ducks and the expected Mallards and Canada Geese. I also walked at the Covey WMA and had some nice birds including a couple of late Broad winged Hawks together (adult and juvenile) plus a couple Osprey. The north winds certainly seemed to be moving the Blue Jays along on their migration today. I counted a total of 366 in just over an hour. They were moving by in large and small groups. It will be interesting to see what totals some of the hawk watches come up with for jays.