Halloween birding around Quabbin

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Common Raven, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2014

Had a good morning at Quabbin Park despite some areas being closed off again due to a deer hunt and other areas near the spillway closed for repairs.  I started off the morning in the area near Goodnough Dike where I was unable to find the nearly tame Ruffed Grouse I have had there the last few weeks.  Unfortunately I think the bird may have been a victim of a hit by a car.  I did have a couple Great Horned Owls hooting back and forth plus some waterfowl out on the reservoir including five Long tailed Ducks, half a dozen Common Loons and a few Common Mergansers.  I also had 55 Black Ducks and a couple dozen Mallards flying past.  Other notable birds around included a couple Winter Wrens, a non tame Ruffed Grouse that exploded out of the underbrush as I walked by.  The Route 9 marsh produced more waterfowl including Hooded Mergansers, Wood Ducks, Canada Geese and a few more Black Ducks and Mallards.  After my brief stop at Quabbin Park I headed over to Winsor Dam for a stationary count where I ran into Evan and a couple friends who were already there.  We managed to find some stuff on the water and in the air (I have included my full list below).  A good morning for Long tailed Duck, Bufflehead and migrant crows.

Winsor Dam (7:49-9:31)

Long-tailed Duck 38 Group of 18 stayed in area occasionally flying around plus group of 20 flying south
Bufflehead 37 largest groups of 17 and 16
Common Loon 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1
Ring-billed Gull 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 519       Moving southwest
Common Raven 14     Group of 13 together
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 26
European Starling 8
American Pipit 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 5
Northern Cardinal 1
Purple Finch 1
Pine Siskin 33
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 4

Bufflehead, Beaver Lake, Ware, MA, Oct 31, 2014

I also made a brief stop at Beaver Lake in Ware where I found five more Bufflehead and a few Common Mergansers.  A stop back at Winsor Dam in the afternoon found 17 Bufflehead still sitting on the water.

As October comes to an end it is time once again to look at where I stand this year on my attempt to break my previous Hampshire County record.  I sit at 233 so far this year which is still one ahead of last year at the same time and puts me three away from reaching my total from last year.  I found five new species for the county this past month among the 118 total species seen.  We shall see if the next couple months can deliver four new species and break my record.