Although not a blockbuster morning for diversity of waterfowl at Winsor Dam I did manage to get my largest group ever of Northern Shovelers in Hampshire County when a group of eight flew past heading south plus I also had a group of 13 Northern Pintails also flying south (with a couple of Mallards and an American Black Duck joining them). My previous high count for Northern Shoveler was back in early April 2015, when I had six in Hadley. I almost missed these birds as my original plan was not to spend too much time at the dam again after spending an hour there yesterday (mainly checking up on the continuing group of Pine Warblers). I started my morning at the dam but the selection of waterfowl was quite sparse with the highlight being a dozen Common Loons scattered across the reservoir so I headed to another spot in Quabbin Park. Without too much activity at that stop and wanting to stay local and not drive far I quickly headed back to the dam and figured I would once again concentrate on tracking down the Pine Warblers. I quickly found at least five feeding in the tops of the cone laden Eastern White Pines, along with a number of other species enjoying the great cone crop. I then walked around the area of the dam and admin building with a couple brief stops to scan the waters of the reservoir. I ended up spending two hours there and was quite happy with my choice of staying close to home....although finding a Ancient Murrelet or Dovekie would have really been nice!
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