Sunday, September 2, 2012

Birding locally...Lake Wallace and Quabbin Park

 
Belted Kingfisher, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Belted Kingfisher, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Blue winged Teal (middle right), Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Pied billed Grebe (distant, middle top), Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Sept 2, 2012
 
I decided to stay close to home this morning and started out right before dawn at Lake Wallace. When I first arrived I was surprised there were few ducks visible and almost immediately after I had that thought the ducks started arriving in groups one after the other coming in from the west. I was surprised the vast majority of ducks do not spend the night here but rather come into feed starting at daybreak. The numbers were quite impressive once again and there was certainly a little variety with at least eight Blue winged Teal, two Hooded Mergansers, a Black Duck, a Pied billed Grebe as well as Wood Ducks (58), Mallards (142) and Canada Geese (28). This really does seem to be a great spot for Blue winged Teal as well as other waterfowl. It will be interesting to see what shows up this fall. Besides the waterfowl there were several Green Herons, a few flyby Bobolinks and just before I left a flyby Red Crossbill (heard only so no telling exactly how many actually flew by).

Northern Harrier, Quabbin Park, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Northern Harrier, Quabbin Park, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Spotted Sandpiper preening, Quabbin Park, MA, Sept 2, 2012

House Wren, Quabbin Park, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Turkey Vulture, Quabbin Park, MA, Sept 2, 2012

Turkey Vulture, Quabbin Park, MA, Sept 2, 2012

I next headed over to Quabbin Park to take a quick look around before the place filled up with the weekend crowd. Overall the area was fairly quiet with only a smattering of mixed species flocks and some areas seemingly devoid of birds. Highlights included a few Yellow throated Vireos still calling, a pair of Common Loons calling as they flew by, a Northern Harrier flying low past Winsor Dam. Also had the highest number of Carolina Wrens here with a total of four.


At home there were finally some warblers moving through. Nothing unusual but nice to see some new species in the yard this season. Still at least four hummingbirds around, a couple flyby Sharpshinned Hawks as well as several Red breasted Nuthatch's.  A few hours of nighthawk watching produced no birds. 

2 comments:

  1. Local is always cool. Great observations and photo's. 58 Wood ducks!

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  2. Indeed local can be great. The Wood Ducks have actually dropped in numbers...I have had in the 90's as recently as a couple weeks ago!

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