Quabbin Park waterfowl

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Black Ducks, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Green winged Teal, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Hanks Meadow looking toward Gate 52, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Went out at first light this morning to check for waterfowl at Quabbin Park before the hordes of 'leafers' arrived and turned the place into a mob scene. Lots of good stuff around with a little looking. Nothing extreme but a little variety nonetheless. I started and ended at Winsor Dam and also hit a variety of areas in the park itself. I spent just over an hour in Quabbin Park and over an hour and a half at Winsor Dam. My totals for waterfowl in Quabbin Park included the following: 23 Wood Ducks, 26 Black Ducks, a Green Winged Teal, a Common Mergansers, six Common Loons together and two Red necked Grebes plus 37 Canada Geese and half a dozen Mallards. Other birds in the park included a Great Blue Heron, a phoebe, a thrush that flew in front of the car that I didn't get an ID on and other expected birds plus a family of three River Otters.

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Red breasted Mergansers (yes really), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Canada Geese migrating, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Horned Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

At Winsor Dam I had the following waterfowl: 11 Black Ducks, two White winged Scoters, a Common Merganser, two Red breasted Mergansers, two Common Loons, two Horned Grebes, four Mallards, 154 Canada Geese heading south and four dark ducks in flight too distant to ID plus a Double crested Cormorant. Also had some raptor migration that included all three species of falcon, a few Red tailed Hawks, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's Hawks and Bald Eagles. In addition I had a couple flyover American Pipits and ten Wild Turkeys among other species. Overall some nice diversity which should continue to pick up as the days go by and waterfowl migration peaks. Warbler variety continues to drop as the vast majority have cleared out the area as they head for the tropics for the winter.

Canada Geese and Black Duck, Quabbin Park, Oct 11, 2013

Yesterday I stopped at a few spots before heading to work including Quabbin Park (Winsor Dam, Hanks Meadow and the Route 9 marsh) plus a stop along the Connecticut River in Hadley.  The breeze out of the northeast kept the water a bit choppy so birds far out on the reservoir were probably missed.  Waterfowl at Quabbin Park included 31 Canada Geese, 33 Wood Ducks, 18 Black Ducks, 12 Mallards and a Common Loon.  All the geese and Wood Ducks were at the marsh with most Black Ducks and a few Mallards at Hanks Meadow with the loon the only waterfowl species at Winsor Dam.  Other notable birds included a hooting Great Horned Owl  and numbers of juncos, White throated Sparrows and Yellow rumped Warblers.  The only waterfowl along the Connecticut River was a group of 30+ Mallards.