Quabbin Park produces again

Red breasted Merganser with Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Red breasted Merganser with Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Red breasted Merganser with Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Common Mergansers and a Red breasted Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Horned Grebes (use a little imagination and they become clear!), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Hanks Meadow, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Hanks Meadow, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

With the continued cold air I figured I would try my luck at Quabbin trying to find waterfowl that have been frozen out of their previous locations.  Although not quite as cold as yesterday it was still cold with a temperature around 10 that didn't change much through the morning.  I started and ended at Winsor Dam and also took a ride through Quabbin Park hitting Hanks Meadow and Goodnough Dike.  Winsor Dam was almost completely ice free, Hanks Meadow was almost totally frozen and Goodnough was about half frozen.  At first light at Winsor Dam I had large numbers of gulls including at least one Iceland Gull in among the hundreds of Ring billed and Herring Gulls leaving the roost and heading both east and west (mostly west).  Also had a number of Mallards, Black Ducks and Hooded Mergansers flying south.

I next hit Quabbin Park and found a few species in among the small areas of open water including eight Black Ducks, half a dozen Mallards, five Hooded Mergansers, four Common Mergansers and a Belted Kingfisher, a flyby Snow Bunting as well as my first of year (FOY!) Pileated Woodpecker.

I then headed back to Winsor Dam where I spent the next hour and had some very good stuff for January 5th.  The best bird by far was a male Red breasted Merganser in among the 157 Common Mergansers.  In addition I had four Hooded Mergansers thus getting all mergansers in one stop...not too bad for January at Quabbin!  Other waterfowl included three Black Ducks and half a dozen Horned Grebes.  The Bald Eagles continue to sit in and around their nest site.  The only other notable bird was a single flyby Horned Lark.

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

Red tailed Hawk, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

White tailed Deer standing in water, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Jan 5, 2013

After finishing up some stuff around the house I looked on the quabbin camera and saw how calm the waters were over at Winsor Dam so I decided to make another quick trip over.  The quick trip turned into about an hour of watching but it was well worth it.  The best birds were two Bufflehead that appeared toward the end of my time there plus a distant Red necked Grebe.  Both species are quite unusual inland in January.  I also had half a dozen Black Ducks, 15 Mallards, 17 Hooded Mergansers, 27 Common Mergansers, a few duck species way out and a very cooperative Red tailed Hawk.  The non birding sighting was a White tailed Deer standing in several inches of water along the edge of the reservoir for the entire time I was there.  It did not move from its position so I assume it was either injured or forced to the location by a predator.  I looked to try to find a Coyote lurking nearby but no luck. 

So far this year I have managed to find 66 species in Hampshire County in just the first five days.  Really amazing considering there is not an incursion of northern birds this year.  Although I was not going to do a big county year again this year I may have to reconsider if I keep having good luck.