Cerulean Warbler at nest plus the continued Lesser Scaup and other sightings this past week

Cerulean Warbler feeding nestlings, Skinner SP,  Hadley, MA, June 10, 2016

Cerulean Warbler feeding nestlings, Skinner SP,  Hadley, MA, June 10, 2016

Cerulean Warbler feeding nestlings, Skinner SP,  Hadley, MA, June 10, 2016

Cerulean Warbler at nest, Skinner SP,  Hadley, MA, June 10, 2016

Cerulean Warbler, Skinner SP,  Hadley, MA, June 10, 2016

Bobolink, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, June 10, 2016

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 10, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 10, 2016

Today on my day off I ranged widely between Quabbin and the Connecticut River and caught up with a decent selection of birds.  I started and ended at Quabbin with additional stops in Hadley including the river, honey pot, Skinner SP plus a few other spots.  One of the best birds of the morning was a late Northern Parula near the summit at Skinner SP.  I managed a total of twenty species of warblers (about as high a count as you can get in June around here) over the course of the morning with all the expected species including a Cerulean Warbler feeding recently hatched nestlings at Skinner.  It was neat to watch the activity at the nest through the scope.  There were also at least two males singing nearby so at least seven Cerulean Warblers were in the area.  Beyond the birds another notable sighting included a large numbers of caterpillars that have nearly denuded some trees at Quabbin right along the water near Goodnough Dike.  It was odd to see almost no leaves left on some large trees and a near constant rain of leaf pieces and caterpillars.

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 6, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 6, 2016

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 6, 2016

Black Vulture, Hadley, MA, June 6, 2016

Black Vultures, Hadley, MA, June 6, 2016

Vesper Sparrow, Honey Pot, Hadley, MA, June 6, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 7, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 8, 2016

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 8, 2016

Black Vulture, Hadley, MA, June 8, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 9, 2016

Lesser Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, June 9, 2016

Earlier this week I made a variety of stops on my to and from work this week and caught up with the continued male Lesser Sacup at Winsor Dam as well as two Black Vultures at their roost in Hadley and up to five Vesper Sparrows at the Honey Pot.

Gray Catbird on nest, home, Belchertown, MA, June 7, 2016

House Wren with bands, home, Belchertown, MA, June 7, 2016

American Robin with bands, home, Belchertown, MA, June 7, 2016

At home I continue to see a few of the birds that got banded recently plus the Gray Catbird still sitting on its nest (this individual may be fitted with a geo tracker but still waiting to here back about this).