Waterfowl at Quabbin park before the storm

Common Loon in flight, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 29, 2011

Brant, bird was flying with Common Loon, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 29, 2011

Brant, bird was flying with Common Loon, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 29, 2011

Brant, bird was flying with Common Loon, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 29, 2011

Black Scoter (cropped photo), Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 29, 2011

I started off the morning at dawn at Quabbin Park to see what waterfowl and other birds I could find here before the predicted snow storm hits later today.  The sun shone through the few cloud free parts of the sky at dawn but these open spots quickly filled in and the sky became overcast.  Some fog lingered at Winsor Dam at first light so I decided to make a trip through Quabbin Park and then come back to the dam later in the morning.  The marsh on route 9 held a few Canada Geese, seventeen vocal Wood Ducks and a handful of Hooded Mergansers.  I then made various stops around the park to view the water and had a few birds of note including a group of six Common Loons in a tight group, five Horned Grebes and a female type Black Scoter.  Landbirds were few and far between with a few Hermit Thrushes and a fair number of junco's being the highlights.  The wind also began to pick up which made finding some birds quite difficult.  I decided to try back at Winsor Dam before the waves kicked up too much.  The initial scans of the water were empty but there were a few Bald Eagle around.  I eventually picked up a bird coming in that ended up being a Red-necked Grebe.  The bird landed on the water and immediately started fishing.  I then noticed two birds coming in well above the water and the first bird was a Common Loon and the other was a Brant!  A very strange combo of birds to be sure!  The loon called a few times and both birds stayed together as they came in from the north, flew overhead and then went back north.  In addition to that loon I had three more here as well as a flyby group of scaup that I was unable to ID to being Greater or Lesser Scaup.  I managed a few photos from the day but with the poor light the quality was not great but they are identifiable.

The skies continued to darken and look more and more like it could snow anytime.  I wanted to make sure I got a walk in with Wilson and clean up around the yard before that happened so I headed home.  Wilson and I then took a walk along the Jabish Canal.  I managed to find a Winter Wren, Cooper's Hawk and four Yellow-rumped Warblers here plus other typical sparrows and junco's.  When I arrived at home there was a large feeding group of junco's and White Throated Sparrows moving through with about 40 junco's and 20+ white throats plus a few Song Sparrows and Golden crowned Kinglets.  I will keep my fingers crossed that we don't lose power with all the heavy, wet snow falling on trees still filled with leaves and I will try to post some photos of the snow tomorrow.