Big fallout of loons at Winsor Dam and other sightings for the first of May

Common Loons and a Red throated Loon (middle left), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

Common Loons and a Red throated Loon (middle left), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

Bonaparte's Gull, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

Bonaparte's Gulls (left) and Ring billed Gull (right), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

Palm Warbler 'yellow', Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Quabbin Park, MA, May 1, 2020

With the weather conditions that occurred last night into this morning I had a feeling that there was a good chance of birds being forced down and that is exactly what happened. There were southerly winds overnight after a day of rain and drizzle and then heavy rain moved in well after dark and continued through the early morning hours afternoon dawn today. It was still raining when I got out of work and I checked a few spots in Hadley on my way home without much success but I really wanted to get over to Quabbin before the rain completely stopped. I arrived at Winsor Dam around 8:30 and the rain and fog made viewing a bit difficult but I still turned up some good birds including two Long tailed Ducks and half a dozen Bufflehead plus 30+ Common Mergansers. I decided to head into Quabbin Park for a bit before a return to Winsor Dam after the rain stopped and the fog lifted. Quabbin Park featured a few pockets of birds with the most notable being large flocks of Yellow rumped Warblers feeding on abundant insects. I had over 180 Yellow rumped Warblers plus decent numbers of Palm Warblers as well as a noticeable increase in Black and White Warblers. I’m sure I could have added many more Yellow rumped Warblers if I checked more areas but with the rain stopping I wanted to be back at Winsor Dam. I got a message from Greg that he was stopping by the dam and I figured I would join him to see if we could find the birds that were present earlier and hopefully add some more. As soon as I set up the scope I found the half a dozen Bufflehead but no sign of the Long tailed Ducks. I then started scanning around the water and began to come across one group of Common Loons after another. Every time I scanned through it seemed more birds were present. My highest count total for Common Loons came to an astounding 91 individuals! This count easily surpassed my previous high count I have ever had for Hampshire County of 36 on May 10, 2012 (also at Winsor Dam during a rain storm). As I scanned through flocks of Common Loons I found a single Red throated Loon in among them as well as half a dozen White winged Scoters, a lucky thirteen Bufflehead, a dozen Common Mergansers and five Bonaparte’s Gulls (a life bird for Greg). Besides the birds on the water I also had hundreds of swallows feeding low over the water as well as at least 85 Yellow rumped Warblers moving through. Scott arrived near the end of my time at the dam and he got to see most of the species mentioned above but unfortunately the Red throated Loon could not be relocated. As the weather continued to improve the loons began to start lifting off and continuing of their journey. It was an amazing spectacle to see for sure.

Black throated Green Warbler, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 1, 2020

Cooper's Hawk, Home, Belchertown, MA, May 1, 2020

I spent the afternoon at home resting and occasionally seeing birds moving past before some rain showers arrived late in the day.