October ends and November begins with some waterfowl

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 1, 2015

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 1, 2015

Double crested Cormorant, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 1, 2015

Possible Cackling Goose with Canada Geese, Hadley, MA, Nov 1, 2015

Today I hit a wide selection of areas primarily in search of waterfowl and I ended the morning with eleven species of waterfowl (and possibly a twelfth) and 57 species overall.  I stopped at the following areas over the course of the morning: Beaver Lake, Quabbin Park, Winsor Dam, Lake Metacomet, Forge Pond in Granby, the Holyoke Dam area, Arcadia, the Connecticut River in Hadley/Northampton and then back to Winsor Dam.  Overall it was fairly quiet given the date but the southerly winds (and somewhat warm temps) probably kept big numbers of waterfowl from showing up.  The entire next week is suppose to feature southerly winds which may bring some southern species our way but should keep most waterfowl up to our north.

Bonaparte's Gulls and Ring billed Gull (rear) and Greater Scaup, Long tailed Ducks and Bufflhead (front), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2015

Long tailed Ducks and Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2015

Bonaparte's Gulls (L) with Ring billed Gull and Greater Scaup (R), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2015

Bonaparte's Gulls (L) with Ring billed Gull and Greater Scaup (R), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2015

I had just over an hour on Saturday morning to poke around Quabbin before I had to head up to Greenfield for the day.  I made a few stops including Gate 52 and the Route 9 marsh in Quabbin Park, Beaver Lake and Winsor Dam.  Quabbin Park produced 21 Black Ducks, 8 Hooded Mergansers, four Common Loons, a Horned Grebe and a single flyby Snow Bunting at Gate 52.  Yet again Beaver Lake was devoid of waterfowl but fog made viewing the entire area difficult.  Winsor Dam featured a Greater Scaup, two Long tailed Ducks, 7 Bufflehead and a flyby Common Loon plus a group of seven Bonaparte's Gulls and a couple flyby Snow Buntings.  I wish I could have stayed longer at Winsor Dam but I had to head out by eight.  I passed one field in Amherst with over four hundred Canada Geese but a quick scan through the flock didn't produce anything unusual.

Greater Scaup and Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2015

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2015

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 31, 2015

In the late afternoon I made a stop back by Winsor Dam and found the Greater Scaup, five Bufflehead and a single group of 38 Long tailed Ducks (a high count for an inland location) and four Common Loons.