Waterfowl today including Brant, Red throated Loon and scoters and other stuff from the past week

Brant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

Brant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

Black Ducks, White winged Scoter and Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

Common Raven, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

Red throated Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

Red throated Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 18, 2015

Wilson with snowflakes on him (too damn early for this!), Belchertown, MA, Oct 18, 2015

A very cold morning (20's) didn't warm up much as the day went on but the northwest winds brought in a nice selection of waterfowl (16 species) with the highlights including 72 Brant, all three species of scoters (including my first Black Scoters of the year) and a Red throated Loon.  I spent about two and a half hours at Winsor Dam before making a quick swing through Quabbin Park and then back briefly to Winsor Dam.  It was cold but sunny early on and felt more like the end of November.  By late morning while we were out walking Wilson it actually snowed a little...a very winter like day in mid October!  I managed to add two new species to my Hampshire County total today...Black Scoter (#233) and Red throated Loon (#234)...a tough feat so late in the year.  The loon had me wondering for awhile on the exact species as it looked a bit different then other Red throated Loons I have seen with a darker face but in the end it was a Red throated Loon.

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 17, 2015

I had just an hour or so on Saturday morning to check on arriving waterfowl before I had to go to class for the rest of the day.  I stopped first at Winsor Dam before dawn where I had three Double crested Cormorants but nothing else.  I then made a quick swing through Quabbin Park with stops at Hank's Meadow, Goodnough Dike and the Route 9 marsh.  My totals included 45 Canada Geese (all at the marsh), 48 Wood Ducks (marsh), 32 Black Ducks (most at marsh), 8 Mallards (marsh), ten Common Loons and half a dozen each of Horned Grebe and Double crested Cormorants.  I then went back over to Winsor Dam for about a half hour where I had just a few Canada Geese on the water but did have some waterfowl moving south including nearly a hundred more Canada Geese, a couple Common Mergansers ad two more Common Loons.  Also some raptors moving past as well as a few pipits and Yellow rumped Warblers flying by.  I was surprised there was not more activity but perhaps a longer stay would have turned up more.

Cackling Goose, Barton's Cove, Gill, MA, Oct 13, 2015

Greater White fronted Goose, Barton's Cove, Gill, MA, Oct 13, 2015

American Coots and Greater White fronted Goose, Barton's Cove, Gill, MA, Oct 13, 2015

Green winged Teal, Barton's Cove, Gill, MA, Oct 15, 2015

Early morning rainbow, Hank's Meadow, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 16, 2015

I managed to make very brief stops this week with the highlights being a continued Greater White fronted Goose, Cackling Goose (which actually called a few times as it flew out with a group of Canada Geese) and three coots at Barton's Cove and a mix of expected waterfowl at the refilled power canal including both Common and Hooded Mergansers on Tuesday.  Thursday didn't produce any usual geese at Barton's Cove but there were a pair of cooperative Green winged Teal in close.  I made it over to Quabbin on Friday morning before some rain moved in but it was fairly quiet.