A rainy late fall day

Winsor Dam during a brief lull in the rain, Nov 27, 2013

Ring billed Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 27, 2013 (trying to look like a Snowy Owl!)

Ring billed Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 27, 2013 (trying to look like a Snowy Owl!)

I made a brief stop after midday at Winsor Dam as the rain continued to fall (totally a few inches today).  The predicted strong winds for the day had not yet shown up so the water was quite calm but contained no birds.  The group of 13 Wild Turkeys were feeding in and around the crab apple trees.  I scanned the water a few times and then the dam and noticed a white bird perched on the wall of the dam.  I set up the scope on it and unfortunately it was just a Ring billed Gull and not a Snowy Owl!  Damn! 

Ring necked Ducks, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Nov 27, 2013

Ring necked Pheasant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 27, 2013

Ring necked Pheasant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 27, 2013

Ring necked Pheasant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 27, 2013

Although the rain continued through most of the afternoon I still managed to a get in a few birding stops in and turned up some birds. A few more stops at Winsor Dam didn't turn up any waterfowl but I did find my second Ring necked Pheasant I have ever had at Quabbin. A stop at Beaver Lake in Ware turned up some waterfowl including a Ruddy Duck, 57 Ring necked Ducks (mostly males), 27 Hooded Mergansers, 14 Common Mergansers, a couple Mallards and 16 Canada Geese plus a kingfisher. Most of the waterfowl were fairly distant but still viewable.  A really 'ring' type of afternoon with Ring necked Pheasant, Ring necked Duck and Ring billed Gull.

A few snow showers could arrive overnight and tomorrow is forecast to be another windy and cold day with strong winds out of the northwest. I will be out looking to see if I can find anything of interest brought in by these winds.  Hopefully a Snowy Owl will finally turn up as more and more are being found in the northeast.  One bird seen on the Massachusetts coast is a tagged bird that was captured this year out near Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. 

Winsor Dam before the rain, Quabbin Park, Nov 26, 2013

Yesterday I did a quick ride through the East Meadows in search of a Snowy Owl but came up empty, again.  The meadows did hold a very nice show of Horned Larks with a huge flock containing at least 425 individuals as well as 24 Snow Buntings and a Lapland Longspur.