Hampshire Bird Club trip to Prescott Peninsula

Clay-colored Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

Clay-colored Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

Red tailed Hawk, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

Osprey, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

Common Loons, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

Common Loon with Bald Eagle flying by, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

Today was the annual Hampshire Bird Club trip onto Prescott Peninsula at the Quabbin Reservoir led by Tom Gagnon and myself.  A total of twelve club members braved the less than ideal forecast and made the trip.  We started at Gate 22 which can be very productive at times and gives a great view of the reservoir once you get to the end of the road.  The weather started out cloudy and somewhat cool with occasional drizzle but the heavy rain held off until the very end of the day and we actually had a short period of bright blue sky which corresponded nicely with our arrival at an overlook of the reservoir.  Although the overcast conditions kept our warbler and other passerine numbers somewhat lower than they would have been on a sunny day, we still managed some great birds.

At Gate 22 we proceeded right to the water and had a variety of waterfowl and raptors about plus some birds moving overhead.  I have included the list from here at the link below.  Highlights included Merlin, 54 Common Mergansers, Northern Harrier, five ‘peep’ sandpipers, Horned Grebe and Common Loons…a total of 33 species at this location.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11686638

Morning gloom on Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

After our trip down gate 22 road we then headed into Prescott itself where we spent the remainder of the day from our arrival around 9am and our departure around 5pm.   The highlights here included Clay colored Sparrow, 11 Red Crossbills (groups of 6 and 5), four Ruffed Grouse, seven Common Loons, two flyby American Golden Plovers, seven Pine Siskins, various raptors, eleven warbler species, and many others.  A total of 64 species were seen on the peninsula and a total of 70 species of birds for the day.  The eBird list from Prescott can be found here:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S11689607

Porcupine, Prescott Peninsula, Sep 30, 2012

 

The mammal highlights for the day included a Black Bear in the road and Porcupine that gave great views.

 

I ended the day by swinging by the visitors center at Winsor Dam to try to return our key and the reward was this rainbow over the dam.

Hampshire Bird Club trip to Quabbin

Black-billed Cuckoo, Quabbin, MA, May 12, 2012

Black-billed Cuckoo, Quabbin, MA, May 12, 2012

Black-billed Cuckoo, Quabbin, MA, May 12, 2012

Today was the Hampshire Bird Club trip tot he east side of Quabbin that I co-led with Tom Gagnon.  We spent the day birding the area starting at Quabbin Park and then heading in behind the gates and finishing on the north end around 3:30.  Prior to meeting the group I visited Covey WMA and had a calling Virginia Rail plus the other usual suspects.  Below is the list from the day with the bird club.


Quabbin -East side

Canada Goose 6
Wood Duck 4
Mallard 2
Hooded Merganser 8 four ducklings
Ruffed Grouse 2
Wild Turkey 14
Common Loon 3
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Turkey Vulture 7
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 3
Broad-winged Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Ring-billed Gull 4
Herring Gull 1
Mourning Dove 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Black-billed Cuckoo 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 7
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Least Flycatcher 13
Eastern Phoebe 4
Eastern Kingbird 1
Yellow-throated Vireo 6
Blue-headed Vireo 5
Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 71
Blue Jay 28
American Crow 6
Common Raven 2
Tree Swallow 39
Barn Swallow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 1
Winter Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Veery 6
Wood Thrush 18
American Robin 21
Gray Catbird 19
Ovenbird 43
Black-and-white Warbler 15
Nashville Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 30
American Redstart 41
Northern Parula 3
Magnolia Warbler 5
Blackburnian Warbler 13
Yellow Warbler 8
Chestnut-sided Warbler 33
Black-throated Blue Warbler 21
Pine Warbler 16
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5
Prairie Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 24
Canada Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 17
Chipping Sparrow 21
Song Sparrow 2
Scarlet Tanager 17
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 6
Bobolink 2
Red-winged Blackbird 13
Common Grackle 6
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Baltimore Oriole 19
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 8

Hampshire Bird Club trip Gate 45-35

A very successful day co leading a Hampshire Bird Club trip up the east side of Quabbin. We met at Winsor Dam and then went into Gate 45 and ended at Gate 35. The numbers of junco's, Red breasted Nuthatch's and Fox Sparrows had dropped off since our monday scouting trip but we made up for it with some good numbers of waterfowl including twenty nine Common Loons, a Long tailed Duck, White Winged Scoter, a Scaup (likely Lesser), Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Wood Ducks, 55+ Ring Necked Ducks, all three Mergansers, etc. We also had a Great Cormorant near the baffle dams and a couple of Black bellied Plovers near Gate 35. We also had quite a show of Bald Eagles at various stops. The overall species count on this nice, sunny day in later November topped 50. There were also quite a few dragonflies out and about in sunny areas with most being Meadowhawks with a least one Darner species. Another fabulous trip into Quabbin with a great group from the Hampshire Bird Club.