Quabbin Park

Black Scoters with one Surf Scoter (2nd from left), Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2011

Black Scoters with one Surf Scoter (2nd from left), Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2011

Black Scoters with one Surf Scoter (2nd from left), Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2011

I took a trip to Quabbin Park on this frosty morning.  I first stopped at Winsor Dam around dawn but the fog was thick over the water so I decided to instead make a trip around the administration road to see what I could find.  I came across a few Hermit Thrush along the road at first light as well as a nice influx of Dark-eyed Junco's.  Overall the park was fairly quiet with the most active section being some of my tried and true areas.  After about and hour and a half in the park I decided to try my luck back at Winsor Dam to see if the fog had burned off enough to view the water.  When I arrived at 8:15 Scott Surner was already there and the fog was indeed starting to slowly lift.  We spent the next hour plus watching the various birds come by.  As the fog lifted I noticed a group of birds on the water that we got onto right away before they flew out.  It was a group of five scoters with four Black Scoters (three males) and a Surf Scoter (female).  The scoters lifted off and flew around for quite some time well out toward the fishing area.  They eventually flew in somewhat close and then settled on the water fairly far out.  A distant loon rounded out the waterfowl on the water.  Raptors added some excitement as we had a Merlin buzz right over our heads, a Red shouldered hawk that acted a lot like an accipter, an American Kestrel, a distant Cooper's Hawk and an adult Bald Eagle.  There was also a large group of sparrows feeding along the edge of the field and the crab apple trees in front of the HQ building including numbers of juncos and Song Sparrows as well as a few Chipping, White-throated and Swamp Sparrows.  A few flyby Purple Finch's and American Pipits among others added to the list.  A total of 32 species without moving in just over an hour was fairly respectable as far as we were concerned.

I arrived back home and picked up Wilson and we went for a walk along the Jabish Canal.  The highlight here was a Rusty Blackbird.  The amount of winterberry here was impressive and added much to the scene with all those bright red berries.