Long-tailed Duck at Quabbin

Quabbin in the morning, a screen grab from the quabbin cam about 30 minutes after I left but before the winds kicked up, Mar 26, 2012

I stopped briefly this morning at Winsor Dam to see if there was any waterfowl on the reservoir and I was rewarded with a adult male Long-tailed Duck.  This species is a bit unusual inland in spring and is a little earlier than normal.  I attempted a few digiscoped shots with my phone but the distance was just too much to get much out of the photos...the light fog and the low megapixels of the camera didn't help either.  I saw a report of a handful of other Long-tailed Ducks on a lake in Worcester so there certainly were a few of this species migrating through.  The day started calm but quickly turned windy and cooler with temperatures around 50 with 30+ MPH winds.  The above image taken from the quabbin reservoir cam shows the early morning glass like conditions before the winds kicked up...photo from about 30 minutes after I was there and the fog had lifted a bit.  I include one of my 'photos' below of the duck...as you can see the image is just too far to make any ID...it could just as easily be a loon or a rock or a log or the Loch Ness Monster but it was indeed a Long-tailed Duck.  Hopefully the next ones will be a little closer and I'll have my good camera with me!

This is actually a Long-tailed Duck, believe it or not!