Monday, June 24, 2013

Quabbin Park and Covey WMA


Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013
Wild Turkey poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013
Wild Turkey poult, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013
Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013
Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013
Wild Turkey with poults, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013
Common Loon, Quabbin Park, June 24, 2013
Marsh at Covey WMA (with 'super moon' just over trees on left), Belchertown, MA, June 24, 2013
Marsh at Covey WMA, Belchertown, MA, June 24, 2013
The weather has made a change to summer as we continue to roast in the middle of our second heat wave of the year.  The morning started off cloudy with temperatures around 70 and then quickly turned hazy with temperatures quickly rising up to the low 90's.  With the relatively cooler weather of the morning I headed out just before dawn and hit Covey WMA and Quabbin Park.  Still lots of bird song and lots of birds carrying food or feeding fledglings.  The mosquitoes (and other biting insects) were out in force and were barely kept at bay by insect repellent.  I managed to get a view of the 'super moon' through the haze as the clouds broke briefly at Covey.  I tried to find either bobwhite or pheasant at Covey WMA this morning but no luck.  At Quabbin I had a loon swimming very close to shore at Goodnough as well as a couple of female Common Mergansers that flew repeatedly down the road below the trees calling over and over...perhaps trying to get some young out of their tree cavity?  I also ran across a female turkey with eleven small poults right along the road and managed to get some photos through my binoculars.  Wish I had brought along the good camera but oh well.  The water level at the reservoir is not quite up to 100% but it is getting close and has risen several feet over the last few weeks with all the rain.

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