KING EIDER AT QUABBIN! Amazing first Hampshire County record found this morning...

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

 

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

King Eider, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

All I can really say about today is WOW! Any day where you can add a first county record to the Hampshire County list is memorable given the long ornithological history of the area and all the spectacular birders that have called Hampshire County home. Finding a female King Eider at Winsor Dam at Quabbin was not really what I expected but it is indeed what I found. The day started off well for me when I had a couple Bonaparte's Gulls and a Red breasted Merganser among the other more typical stuff at Winsor Dam at first light. I then headed through Quabbin Park and found a couple Horned Grebes and seven Common Loons plus a couple Black Ducks and a Wood Duck. I then headed back to Winsor Dam to do a little stationary watching to see what I might find. I arrived around 7:20 and found a Common Loon and a Long tailed Duck out on the water but no sign of the merganser or the unusual gulls from earlier. As I watched the Long tailed Duck it flushed and the culprit turned out to be a White tailed Deer! I have to say I have never had a Long tailed Duck get flushed by a swimming deer before! After hearing a few Snow Buntings I decided to walk across the dam in hopes of finding them but no luck. A distant goose flock had me head back to the car to scope them out.  After viewing the goose flock (all Canada Geese sadly) I noticed two birds moving northwest somewhat close to each other but fairly far out.  One bird was a Mallard that continued on but the second bird turned southwest toward the dam and then headed toward me in front of the administration building.  My first thought was the bird looked wrong for a Black Duck and my mind went to other possibilities including eider.  As the bird continued toward me I grabbed the camera and took a few in flight photos before it settled on the water just a few hundred feet away.  I then got the scope on the bird and expected to find a Common Eider (very rare inland) but instead the bird looked wrong for that species.  I had a few thoughts on the bird but all would be exceedingly rare.  I snapped a few photos in case the bird took off (which I fully expected it to do).  I looked at the bird for a minute or so and then quick sent a text and photo off to Ian and then checked my field guide and my thoughts were confirmed that it was something very rare inland...a King Eider.  I then called Ian and he confirmed my thoughts on the bird being a female King Eider!  The look of the bird was quite unique with the bill shape and facial patterns giving it the appearance of grinning (which I was doing quite a lot of at the time too!)  Given the rarity of the bird inland I decided to get the word out to those who might want to try to see it.  I threw out a quick post to the local facebook page and then started making phone calls as I continued to take photos of the bird.  I knew Tom was out of town in Texas so I called Scott who turned out to be on the cape!  I then called Steve and he called Bob Z.  I then called Bob B. and Devin but just got their voicemail.  I continued watching the bird for about 25 minutes before it took flight and headed west.  I thought it was gone for good but it settled back on the water.  A birder (forgot his name) that moved here last year from Australia walked over and asked me what I was looking at so I was able to show him the eider (and later showed him a Long tailed Duck giving him two 'ticks for the day).  A little while later Steve and Bob Z showed up as well as Michelle.  Dave S. arrived a bit later with a few others including Greg Miller of "The Big Year" fame who was in the area to give a talk about the book and movie by the same name to the Athol Bird and Nature Club.  Everyone got great looks at the bird as it floated back and forth in front of the admin building and occasionally moved in closer to the far end of the dam.  I stayed with Steve and Bob Z until just after 11 when we left and the bird was still present.  This King Eider not only became species #234 for my Hampshire County year list but it was a life bird for me (#782).  This bird became the second first Hampshire county record I have found with the first being a White tailed Tropicbird during Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene a couple years ago...also found at Winsor Dam!  Another very memorable sighting and a truly spectacular bird at Quabbin.  The King Eider was one of the species I mentioned in an earlier post to be on the lookout for...now to just find the others!

http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2013/10/waterfowl-and-others-to-be-on-lookout.html

 

Later in the afternoon I made a return trip over to Winsor Dam and found Scott and Bob B there and the eider was indeed still present although quite distant at first.  It flew around again before settling on the water a bit closer.  A number of other birders also arrived and got looks at the bird.  When I left about 3:45 the bird was still present as was the Long tailed Duck and a group of four Bufflehead.

Additional King Eider photos can be found here...if you are not sick of seeing it yet!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/sets/72157637564632853/

Other photos from this morning can be found below:

Red tailed Hawk, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

Turkey Vulture, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

Wild Turkeys, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

Red breasted Merganser (R) with gulls, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

White tailed Deer buck swimming across reservoir with Common Loon in foreground, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 11, 2013

A cold front moving in late today will shift the winds around to the northwest and cool the temperatures down to below average with highs only in the 30's the next couple days and give us snow showers overnight into the morning.  Certainly some chances for more waterfowl to move in or perhaps find another Golden Eagle.  It will be interesting to see if the King Eider moves out tonight and heads to the coast or if it sticks overnight and waits until tomorrow morning to move on.  I will be there checking at first light unless it is snowing and impossible to see.

Cooper's Hawk, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2013

Horned Grebe with fish, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2013

Red breasted Merganser, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2013

River Otters, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2013

I spent the first part of yesterday morning hitting various spots along the Connecticut River in a fruitless search for unusual geese.  I started at Hadley Cove at sunrise and had 74 Mallards and five Canada Geese plus a hooting Great Horned Owl.  I next stopped at a few spots along the Connecticut River and found nothing noteworthy so I moved on to Lake Warner.  Lake Warner produced 62 Canada Geese, three Mute Swans and a couple Mallards plus a Great Blue Heron.  A ride through the various farm fields of North Hadley and Amherst didn't produce any geese at all.  A brief stop at the UMASS campus pond found 29 Canada Geese, a Black Duck and 82 Mallards plus a Peregrine Falcon atop the library.  Without having much luck along the Connecticut River I headed back east to Quabbin Park.  Waterfowl at Quabbin Park included a Red breasted Merganser, three Hooded Mergansers, four Black Ducks, a single Mallard, eight Common Loons and 11 Horned Grebes.  Other birds around the park included four Bald Eagles (with an adult pair at the nest near Winsor Dam), two kingfishers, a couple Winter Wrens, a Snow Bunting and a Yellow rumped Warbler.  Overall a quiet morning but given the lack of any real precipitation and southerly winds it is not surprising I didn't come up with anything too unusual.