Quabbin CBC

American Goldfinch, Quabbin, January 1, 2011

I took part in my third and final Christmas Bird Count for the season today. The Quabbin CBC covers the area around the Quabbin Reservoir and we covered the area of the restricted Prescott Peninsula. The snow on the roads made it impossible to get to the actually reservoir so we had to be content to look for land birds only today. Despite this we managed a very good number of 26 species in this large forested tract. The weather made it a pleasure to be outside with morning sun, calm conditions and temperatures that eventually reached 48 degree F! Amazing for New Years Day! The highlights were many including the best view I have ever had of an adult Northern Goshawk as it flew within 20 feet of us, a group of flyover Red Crossbills, fourteen Common Redpolls, a Barred Owl, eight Pileated Woodpeckers and the list goes on. With the sighting of the Goshawk we managed a three accipter day which is truly memorable on any day. We had lots of Moose tracks but no Moose today. The best mammal of the day was a Beaver. All and all a great way to start out a new year of birding.