More waterfowl at Quabbin Park

 

Ruddy Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Ruddy Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Gadwall, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Gadwall, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Gadwall, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Surf Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Surf Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Surf Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Route 9 Marsh, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Despite a cold that has really started to make me feel under the weather I felt well enough to head over to Quabbin Park for awhile and got rewarded with some decent waterfowl although the park itself produced less than yesterday with most of the best stuff showing up at Winsor Dam.  The predicted rain of last night did not amount to much so no big groups of birds being forced down.   Within Quabbin Park I had the following waterfowl: 8 Wood Ducks, 4 Black Ducks (big drop off but I did get to the typical roost area a bit late), a single Long tailed Duck (flew in from the north near Goodnough Dike and circled around before heading back north), 8 Common Loons, 3 Horned Grebes, a Double crested Cormorant and 4 Mallards and a dozen Canada Geese. Other birds within Quabbin Park included a couple Rusty Blackbirds, good numbers of Yellow rumped Warblers and other typical migrants for mid October. 

Although I was starting to fade I decided to make a stop at Winsor Dam to quick check to see what might be hanging around. Almost as soon as I arrived Bob Z. walked over and said he was just leaving when he saw me so he headed back over. He said he and Scott had not had much on the water. I quickly scanned the water and almost immediately turned up a male Surf Scoter. The bird must have come in after those guys had scanned the water. I then turned up a couple Common Loons, a group of three dark birds way out that defied identification and a group of 7-8 that also remained unknown. We then turned up a couple birds flying in that turned out to be a pair Gadwall (unusual here) that disappeared into the cove out of our view. Several minutes later seven Gadwall flew out of the cove and landed out in front of our view point. As we continued to scan we turned up another bird that flew in from the north that turned out to be a Ruddy Duck (another unusual species of waterfowl here). A bit later a Red necked Grebe flew in and hung around for a time fishing before heading back north. I started feeling worse so decided to call it a morning. A very productive stop that I almost didn't make but was glad I did. It is always amazing what the view point from Winsor Dam will produce with a little luck and a little bit of time put in watching.

Near sunset I made another quick stop at Winsor Dam and turned up a couple Common Loons, seven Black Ducks and a Ring necked Duck.  Also robins heading north to roost...I counted about 45 in just a few minutes so a dedicated count would probably find hundreds or more.