Rain brings in some birds

White winged Scoters (at dusk), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 1, 2014

White winged Scoters (with two Black Scoters), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 1, 2014

White winged Scoters (with two Black Scoters), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 1, 2014

White winged Scoters (with two Black Scoters), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 1, 2014

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 1, 2014

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 1, 2014

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 1, 2014

Today started out with rain so I headed over to Winsor Dam at daybreak to try to catch up with some early waterfowl migrants and found a single group of seven White winged Scoters fairly far out.  The drizzle and low clouds made viewing tough and there may have been more species present.  With more reports during the day of various species of waterfowl forced down by the rain I decided to take a few hours of time off and went in search of further species and stopped at Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park and Beaver Lake in Ware.  My initial stop at Winsor Dam produced just a few Mallards and a Common Loon so I headed over to Beaver Lake which was even slower with just a few Canada Geese.  My next stop was over to Quabbin Park itself where I found just a couple Common Loons and no other waterfowl.  It was looking like I wouldn't find anything too noteworthy but that changed when I returned to Winsor Dam.  The rain had let up a little at that point and viewing was improved.  With the better conditions I was able to pick out a raft of birds way out that turned out to be 67 White winged Scoters (all but two males) and two male Black Scoters.  A nice group for so early in the season.  The Black Scoters became species #229 for Hampshire County this year and one of the last almost guaranteed species I would expect to find every year.  Other waterfowl found at the dam included 63 Canada Geese (59 on the water and four flybys), three Mallards, a Common Loon and a Double crested Cormorant.  Other birds of note included a Red shouldered Hawk and a couple of Peregrine Falcons moving south together.  I stopped back by Winsor Dam at dusk and the White winged Scoters were still present but I could not find the Black Scoters any longer.  A decent show of waterfowl for early in the season...similiar conditions a few weeks from now would be amazing.