The last few days including some waterfowl, Bonaparte's Gulls and Bobcat and Red Fox around the house

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Hooded Merganser, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

 Rusty Blackbird, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Spotted Salamander, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 23, 2019

Wilson checking out the Spotted Salamander, Belchertown Land Trust Trail, Belchertown, MA, Oct 23, 2019

After some heavy rain overnight into this morning and predicted strong west and northwest winds I headed over to Winsor Dam at daybreak expecting to see loads of waterfowl.  I arrived to find almost due north winds which should have brought in loads of waterfowl but the only flyby duck was a Mallard and the only other waterfowl around were a few Common Loons and a handful of Canada Geese...very surprising and disappointing.  The highlight for the morning were three Bonaparte's Gulls flying out toward the boat launch area.  I was joined by Ted for awhile and then a whole group from the Hampshire Bird Club.  The winds then slackened off quite a bit and became calm at times, dashing any hopes of a big influx of waterfowl.  I then tried my luck within Quabbin Park and turned up some Horned Grebes at Hank's Meadow and a few species of waterfowl and shorebirds at the Route 9 marsh.  A walk with Wilson a bit later in the morning turned up a Spotted Salamander crossing the path in front of us.

Bobcat in background with Gray Squirrel next to camera, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 22, 2019

High drama in the yard yesterday...I checked the cameras today and found this among a series from yesterday morning...if you look close you can see the tail of a Gray Squirrel on the right and in the background a Bobcat....the Bobcat was not there in the first three shots that just had the squirrel and then it appeared in the next three...neither were in the next three...there ended up being a lucky squirrel or a full Bobcat!

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2019

American Pipits, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2019

Hermit Thrush, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Oct 22, 2019

I spent the morning yesterday exploring Arcadia but didn't find anything too unusual among the nearly fifty species.  

Surf Scoters, White winged Scoter and Black Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Black Scoter, White winged Scoter and Surf Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 19, 2019

After work on a frosty Saturday morning I made a morning visit Winsor Dam and found a variety of waterfowl that had arrived overnight including a rather rare gathering of all three scoter species in a small flock plus a couple Horned Grebes and several Common Loons.  I missed seeing the three Brant that came in and made a brief landing on the water before heading off to the south after I left.  

Red Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2019

Red Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 19, 2019

The water feature camera captured a Red Fox making a couple stops on Saturday morning.