Quabbin Park and Palmer



Eastern Phoebe, Quabbin Park, July 2, 2012

Eastern Phoebe, Quabbin Park, July 2, 2012

Great Blue Heron flying past Winsor Dam,  Quabbin Park, July 2, 2012

American Redstart carrying food, Quabbin Park, July 2, 2012

American Goldfinch, Quabbin Park, July 2, 2012

I almost made the trip up to the north part of Quabbin to follow up on a report of a Boat-tailed Grackle near gate 22 but decided the chnaces of it still being there was not worth the trip and the long walk down to the water with scope, camera and binoculars.  Instead I made the loop around Quabbin Park before heading south into Palmer.  The day started off with clear blue skies and temerpatures around 60.  By the late morning the clouds moved in a bit but the temperature still rose into the 80's.  Lots of fledged young of various species around with some allowing some great views.  Again nothing too out of the ordinary for the area considering the time of year.  There were also a few pairs of Common Loons around with some calling occuring.

A sad footnote to the morning here was finding a Brown Thrasher decapitated by an appearant run in with a car along the road into Winsor Dam.  I had seen Brown Thrashers in this area all spring and they likely nested here again.  The bird appeared to be an adult.

Green Heron, Palmer, MA, July 2, 2012

After quabbin I headed down to Palmer to check a few areas and see if the Grasshopper Sparrow was still at the old capped landfill.  The fields south of the landfill area were still quite active despite some roadside mowing going on.  Oddly no Bobolinks but otherwise all the species expected here were around.  At the old landfill the Grasshopper Sparrow was calling as soon as I arrived.  At times it sounded fairly close but then would sound more distant.  Never did get a look at it today but it is nice to know it is still there.  Across from the fenced in landfill is a large marsh/pond.  There were at least five Green Herons fishing in the area.