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| Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Hanks Meadow, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Black Ducks and Canada Geese, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Black Ducks Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Canada Geese, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Canada Geese, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Canada Geese, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
I was going to spend the morning chasing Black Friday sales and
fighting with people over the latest 'got to have' item but instead decided to
head out birding..it was a tough decision to make bit I think I made the right
one. Certainly a nicer morning today compared to yesterday as the winds were no
longer an issue. I spent most the morning at Quabbin Park with the vast
majority of the time at Winsor Dam. Some good stuff around and I managed to add
another species to my Hampshire County list for the year which certainly made my
morning. This morning was also the first one in weeks I didn't wake up with a
headache following another concussion so it was a doubly good day. The main focus
this late in the year is certainly on waterfowl and any irruptive species. I
had a good show of waterfowl which included the following: 532 Canada Geese
(several flocks of varying sizes...a couple stopped briefly on the water before
continuing southwest...checked each flock for something unusual but found nothing), 38 Black Ducks, 30 Mallards, nine Hooded Mergansers, 90
Common Mergansers (vast majority flying by), seven Common Loons, six Horned
Grebes, a Red necked Grebe (looking a lot like a possible western grebe when seen
at a distance when the throat gleamed white and bill showed bright yellow in the
morning sun...I had to watch the bird for awhile before I could make out other
details) and, best of all, a female Northern Shoveler which became species
#235
for me this year in Hampshire County. I was really not expecting this species
this morning but you never know what will show up. It was quite distant but the
scope revealed the large bill. I attempted some digiscoped shots but the
distance was just too great to get any decent enough shots. Northern Shoveler
is not easy to get in the county and I have had just a handful with a few at
Winsor Dam. Besides the waterfowl I had four Bald Eagles, a kingfisher, five
Snow Buntings and 29 Cedar Waxwings (no Bohemian Waxwings in among them) plus
hundreds of gulls with almost all Ring billed Gulls. I'm sure something odd was
mixed in among them but the distance was too far to ID many of them.
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
I have also included a few photos from today of the Red necked Grebe when seen from a distance in bright sun. With a view like this you could mistake the bird for a Western/Clarks Grebe. Only after studying the bird at high power through the scope (and allowing it to drift a little closer) could I see the details of a Red necked Grebe. Compare these with the photos taken a little later (earlier in post).
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| Northern Shoveler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Northern Shoveler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
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| Northern Shoveler, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 29, 2013 |
The best shots I could get of the Northern Shoveler...not much to look at but the best I got.
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