Hampshire Bird Club trip to Quabbin in the rain

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, May 11, 2013

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, May 11, 2013

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, May 11, 2013

Although far from a beautiful day with rain on and off  and windy at times there were still some birds to be found.  Today was the day of the annual Hampshire Bird Club trip to Quabbin Park and the east side of Quabbin.  As the club trip didn't start until 7am I had a couple hours to spend trying to find some good stuff perhaps knocked down by the overnight rain.  The best I could turn up was a group of eight Spotted Sandpipers at the ramp in front of the headquarters building at Quabbin.  There were about 90 gulls on the water and in the air but nothing besides Ring billed and Herring Gulls.  I had a few pockets of warblers but nothing unusual.  Once the rest of the members taking part in the club trip arrived we headed off through Quabbin Park.  Once again we ran into a few pockets of birds but nothing unusual.  We had a dozen warbler species, a couple more Spotted Sandpipers, a few species of waterfowl and other migrants.  Once we finished up at Quabbin Park we headed behind the gates at Quabbin starting at Gate 49 and going north.  The rain trailed off a bit but the winds picked up and the light was terrible for getting good views of the birds.  In addition most birds stayed hidden from view and would not come in very often for us to get close looks.  With the continued rain and lack of activity in many spots the decision was made to end the trip a bit after midday.  Overall a fairly slow day with little pockets of activity.  During the club trip we had fourteen warbler species with the best being a Wilson's Warbler that was seen briefly and became species #189 for me in the county this year.  We ended the abbreviated trip with a total of around 75 species, which considering the conditions was not too bad.

Once I got home the yard had some warbler movement during the intermittent rain in the afternoon with my first redstarts and a Magnolia Warbler among several other species.  In addition I finally got a Ruby throated Hummingbird at the house...latest arrival of the first one here I think I have ever had.

I also made a few trips over to Winsor Dam throughout the day to try to catch up with something unusual associated with the rain and south winds (like a tern) but had no luck.  The next few days should see less rain but fairly strong winds out of the west.  Perhaps another push of migrants later in the week?  (Not a true prediction, just a hope)

Hampshire Bird Club trip -east Quabbin yesterday and Quabbin Park today

 

 

White winged Crossbills, Quabbin near shaft 11, Nov 24, 2012



White winged Crossbills, Quabbin near shaft 11, Nov 24, 2012

White winged Crossbills, Quabbin near shaft 11, Nov 24, 2012

Today was the annual Hampshire Bird Club November waterfowl trip to Quabbin. We started at Winsor Dam at 7am and then headed to the east side of Quabbin going in at Gate 45 and out Gate 35. The conditions were less than optimal with strong winds out of the northwest with gusts up near 30 and temperatures topping out around 40. The winds kicked up some good waves on the water and made hearing any flyby species quite difficult to find. We ended up with a total of 41 species of birds and 3 species of mammals.  Despite the less than optimal conditions we still had some great highlights including at least 41 White winged Crossbills in various locations, a Northern Shrike at the east side fishing area, 7 Yellowlegs and a Killdeer at shaft 11, 3 Great Blue Herons, 70+ Black Ducks, 32 Green winged Teal, 102 Ring necked Ducks, a Barred Owl and 7 Snow Buntings.  Another highlight of the day occurred first thing in the morning when all the group got great looks at a half dozen Pine Grosbeaks feeding in the large crabapple tree at Winsor Dam.

The eBird list from the east side:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12145995

The eBird list from Winsor Dam:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12142149

More photos from the trip below:

Mallards and Black Ducks, Quabbin shaft 11, Nov 24, 2012

Horned Grebe, Baffle dam, Quabbin, Nov 24, 2012

Greater Yellowlegs (seven together), Quabbin shaft 11, Nov 24, 2012

Killdeer, Quabbin shaft 11, Nov 24, 2012

Black Ducks, Quabbin shaft 11, Nov 24, 2012

I made a brief visit back to Quabbin Park today but the strong cold wind made viewing difficult.  Highlights from a short trip included three Pine Grosbeaks still at HQ, four White winged Scoters at Winsor Dam in flight, five Bald Eagles and only one each of Horned Grebe and Common Loon. 

Hampshire Bird Club trip Gate 35-45 and Winsor Dam

Common Loons, gate 43, Nov 20, 2011

Common Loons, gate 43, Nov 20, 2011

I spent a pleasant late fall day leading a Hampshire Bird Club trip up the east side of Quabbin starting at Winsor Dam and then travelling to Gate 45 and going up to Gate 35.  Despite the extensive tree damage caused by the storm a few weeks ago the roads were in very good shape.  The number and variety of waterfowl was quite low with some usually productive areas having no birds at all.  There were however some nice birds found throughout the day with a handful of Pine Siskins, a male Northern Harrier migrating through, a late Yellow-rumped Warbler, a Belted Kingfisher, a Barred Owl seen by a few as they arrived at Winsor Dam as well as a large flight of American Robins leaving a roost in the early AM.  I have included the list below to illustrate what we did see today.  We had a total of 46 species of bird.


Quabbin -Winsor Dam and Gate 45-35

Canada Goose 8
American Black Duck 30
Mallard 5
Common Goldeneye 4
Ring-necked Duck 2 pair
Hooded Merganser 38
Common Merganser 14
Ruffed Grouse 1
Wild Turkey 2
Common Loon 11
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Horned Grebe 7 all northern part of reservoir
Bald Eagle 5
Northern Harrier 1 adult male migrating past fishing area
Accipiter sp. 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Ring-billed Gull 11
Herring Gull 4
Barred Owl 1 seen by a few on arrival
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 6
Hairy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 9
American Crow 10
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 46
Tufted Titmouse 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 5
Brown Creeper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 13
Eastern Bluebird 4
American Robin 529 (510 leaving roost heading southeast at winsor dam AM)
European Starling 130
Cedar Waxwing 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1 seen and heard near fishing area
White-throated Sparrow 1
American Tree Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 53
Northern Cardinal 1
Purple Finch 2
Pine Siskin 4
American Goldfinch 11

In addition a Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawk were seen between Winsor Dam and when we went into gate 45.

Beaver-2
River Otter-1
Red Squirrel-12
Gray Squirrel-4
Eastern Chipmunk-3

Clouded Sulpher-1