Quabbin Park

Barred Owl, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013

Barred Owl, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013

Barred Owl, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013

Common Goldeneye, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013 (a little imagination is likely needed!)

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013

Barred Owl, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013

I decided to stick close to home today as I was unsure when the snow would actually begin and I wanted to stay somewhat close to home plus I wanted to hit areas without crowds.  I started off at dawn at Covey WMA where I had a Winter Wren singing at 6:20...a sure sign of spring!  I then headed over to Quabbin Park where I hit the areas of Goodnough Dike, Hanks Meadow and Winsor Dam.  At Goodnough Dike I had a very interesting looking Common Loon.  It seemed a little smaller than most Common Loons and the neck markings seemed a little off but I could not make it into anything more unusual.  I then headed over to Hanks Meadow where I had a handful of Common Mergansers and a Common Goldeneye in the open water there as well as a flyby Bald Eagle.  One of the best sightings occurred as I walked back to my car and I looked up to see a Barred Owl perched right above me.  I got the scope on him and managed a few full frame shots at 20x magnification.  I couldn't zoom in any further without cutting off part of the body.  The owl eventually flew to a few other nearby perches seemingly oblivious to my presence or the vocal anger coming from a variety of nearby birds.  My final stop was Winsor Dam where I had three Common Loons with one close to shore and two other together way out toward the fishing area.  The Bald Eagle nest continued to be occupied and there were two other eagle elsewhere in the area bringing the total in the park to four.

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Feb 23, 2013 (tough viewing in drizzle/fog)

Despite the ongoing drizzle and low clouds/fog I decided to return to Quabbin Park in the afternoon to get another look at the odd loon at Goodnough.  The bird was still there but the viewing conditions were less than ideal.  A brief stop at Winsor Dam turned up the continued Common Loon near the dam as well as a few Common Mergansers.  The visibility made it impossible to see if the other loons present earlier far out on the water were still around.  The rest of the afternoon continued to be cool, damp and drizzle filled until the light snow started after 4pm....and then ended a few minutes later.  Hard to believe that the foot plus predictions made over a week ago didn't play out.