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| Clay-colored Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
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| Clay-colored Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
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| Red tailed Hawk, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
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| Osprey, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
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| Common Loons, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
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| Common Loon with Bald Eagle flying by, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
Today was the annual Hampshire Bird Club trip onto Prescott
Peninsula at the Quabbin Reservoir led by Tom Gagnon and myself. A total of twelve club members braved the less than ideal forecast and made the trip. We started at Gate 22 which can be very
productive at times and gives a great view of the reservoir once you get to the
end of the road. The weather started out
cloudy and somewhat cool with occasional drizzle but the heavy rain held off
until the very end of the day and we actually had a short period of bright blue
sky which corresponded nicely with our arrival at an overlook of the reservoir. Although the overcast conditions kept our
warbler and other passerine numbers somewhat lower than they would have been on
a sunny day, we still managed some great birds.
At Gate 22 we proceeded right to the water and had a variety
of waterfowl and raptors about plus some birds moving overhead. I have included the list from here at the
link below. Highlights included Merlin,
54 Common Mergansers, Northern Harrier, five ‘peep’ sandpipers, Horned Grebe
and Common Loons…a total of 33 species at this location.
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| Morning gloom on Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
After our trip down gate 22 road we then headed into
Prescott itself where we spent the remainder of the day from our arrival around
9am and our departure around 5pm. The
highlights here included Clay colored Sparrow, 11 Red Crossbills (groups of 6 and 5), four Ruffed Grouse, seven Common Loons, two flyby American Golden Plovers, seven Pine Siskins, various raptors, eleven warbler species, and many others. A total of 64 species were seen on the peninsula and a total of 70 species of birds for the day. The eBird list from Prescott can be found here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11689607
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| Porcupine, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012 |
The mammal highlights for the day included a Black Bear in the road and Porcupine that gave great views.
I ended the day by swinging by the visitors center at Winsor Dam to try to return our key and the reward was this rainbow over the dam.
Is access to the Peninsula now allowed? How far did you go down? Love the wildlife!
ReplyDeleteNo...permit access only...made it down a little over 1/2 down the peninsula.
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