Winsor Dam on a very cold morning

Canada Geese, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 30, 2013

Black Duck (all dark, with dark bill), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 30, 2013

Black Duck (all dark, with dark bill), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 30, 2013

Black Duck (all dark, with dark bill), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 30, 2013

Winsor Dam with continued fog, Nov 30, 2013

Winsor Dam at dawn, Nov 30, 2013

Winsor Dam before dawn, Nov 30, 2013

With only a little time before having to get back home this very cold morning (around 10 degrees) I went over to Winsor Dam. With the very cold air low level fog was a bit of a problem as it obscured the water from time to time. I stayed at the dam for about 45 minutes and was joined by a few members of the Hampshire Bird Club who were meeting there before heading up the east side of Quabbin on the annual trip there. Hopefully they had good luck finding some waterfowl despite the cold weather. I made a quick trip over to Beaver Lake in Ware but the lake was nearly completely frozen over so I headed back to Winsor Dam for a short time before heading home. Nothing too exciting this morning but did have the following waterfowl: 171 Canada Geese, 17 Black Ducks (including a overall dark individual with a dark bill), 19 Mallards, a Common Goldeneye (hanging out with a few Common Mergansers), nine Common Mergansers, nine Hooded Mergansers and a Common Loon. Once again the vast majority of birds were flying by.  Lots of gulls around with hundreds present including at least 222 Ring billed Gulls and half a dozen Herring Gulls and lots more too far out to ID.

Today also marks the end of hurricane season which turned out to be quite lackluster despite predictions early in the year pointing toward an above average season.  A total of 13 named storms with only two becoming hurricanes and neither of this major hurricanes.  The potential was certainly there for an active season but a few other variables just didn't come together for an active season.  We had no direct impact from a tropical system this year which broke our two year streak.  We shall see what next year brings.