Quabbin Park....and then some Bohemian Waxwings at dusk in New Salem

Snow Buntings, Quabbin Park, Mar 4, 2012

I decided to try again at Quabbin Park this morning after having little luck there yesterday morning during the foggy and rainy weather we had.  This morning was cool in the mid 20's, calm with a mix of sun and clouds.  I started at Winsor Dam and had a total of ten Hooded Mergansers, a pair of Mallards, three Common Mergansers and the Bald Eagle sitting on the nest.  A few groups of Red-winged Blackbirds moved by heading southwest.  I then headed over past route 9 marsh which is frozen again and had no waterfowl.  The number of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles here had grown the last few days and there was a lot of calling and staking out of territory.  I then made the loop through Quabbin Park with a few stops around the area.  There was little in the way of waterfowl besides a single Common Loon, a lone Mallard and a group of four Common Mergansers.  I did run into a group of Snow Buntings in the tower parking lot.  The birds were very skittish for Snow Buntings so I was not able to get any good photos.  As I was heading out of the park I noticed a Common Raven vocalizing in the trees above their typical nest site in the spillway.  I didn't notice any activity on the nest but I would expect them to nest here again.  After my trip through Quabbin Park I stopped back at Winsor Dam.  There were still seven Hooded Mergansers around plus I added a couple Horned Grebes that came in after being at the dam for several minutes.

Snow Bunting, Quabbin Park, Mar 4, 2012

Hooded Mergansers, Quabbin Park, Mar 4, 2012

Winsor dam at dawn, Mar 4, 2012

I returned briefly late morning to Winsor Dam and had just a pair of Hooded Mergansers plus another four Snow Buntings.

I got a message from Ian Davies around 4 that there was a group of 16 Bohemian Waxwings being seen at Hamilton Orchard in New Salem.  I decided to try my luck and made the drive up there.  When I arrived at 4:40 there were a group of 13 Bohemian Waxwings in a large maple tree over the road.  I looked at them for a few minutes and then grabbed out my camera setup.  When I looked back up the birds were gone and were not found again.  There were 40+ robins plus a group of 16 Cedar Waxwings but the Bohemian's were not to be seen again.  I assume they went to roost for the night so they may indeed be likely to show up there first thing tomorrow morning.  No photos of the birds for me but I was happy to at least see them.