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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle (L) with Bald Eagle (R), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle (top) with Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
Yet again another example of the right place at the right time today. I was on my way to an appointment and had a few extra minutes so I made a brief stop at Winsor Dam arriving not long after a cold front moved through. The crew at Quabbin had a few boats out and looked to be practicing with deploying containment booms so I knew the likelihood of any waterfowl would be very low. I scanned briefly from my car and noticed a handful of gull way out and then noticed a raptor flying over the gap that looked 'interesting' so I quick got the scope out and checked it out. The bird turned out to be a juvenile Golden Eagle! I watched the bird for several minutes as it slowly drifted off to the southeast and gained altitude. At one point a Bald Eagle came by and interacted with the Golden Eagle. I just kept snapping distant photos and hoping some came out. I rapidly ran out of time as I only had about ten minutes to spare. The bird was still in view when I left and it was hard to tear myself away. The Golden Eagle becomes species
#233 for Hampshire County this year. A species I have been trying to find for a few weeks now as their migration peaks. Even with lots of looking it can be missed for the year so I was quite happy to find it.
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| Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Hanks Meadow looking north, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
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| Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013 |
Early this morning I had some time before an appointment to make it over to Quabbin Park. The day started out in the upper 50's to the low 60's with a decent wind out of the south so it was fairly pleasant being outside. I was once again on the hunt for waterfowl and perhaps some rarity. I found the following waterfowl as I hit Hanks Meadow, Goodnough Dike, Winsor Dam and the Route 9 marsh:11 Black Ducks, a single Mallard, 28 Common Mergansers in a single flyby flock, three Hooded Mergansers, seven Common Loons and seven Horned Grebes.
A brief stop at Beaver Lake in Ware produced 11 Common Mergansers and a handful of Mallards but little else.
Great find Larry. Your persistence is certainly paying off. I know how gloomy it was this afternoon so you did well to get those record shots. Nice work.
ReplyDeleteJames
Thanks James. I was lucky to get those shots...all digiscoped with an iPhone...tried some with the SLR but the bird was just too far away...very happy to run across that golden.
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