Loon survey and other stuff including Bonaparte's Gulls

Common Loon, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Common Loon, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Common Loon with chick, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Common Loons with chick, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Common Loon with mark on back of head, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Common Loon with leg tags, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Today the wife and I joined a Quabbin biologist at the northern end of Quabbin to assist in conducting a loon survey.  We started out at 8:55 AM and spent the morning out on the water covering a large portion of the upper and middle part of the reservoir.  We saw a total of 29 Common Loons with four of those being young of the season.  Most of the rest of the loons were singles or pairs without young plus one group of seven together in the northern part of the reservoir.  The day was just perfect as far as the weather is concerned.  Sunny skies with some AM fog with a very light breeze.  The day started out in the high 50's and warmed into the 80's with low humidity. 

Bonaparte's Gull, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Bonaparte's Gull, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Bonaparte's Gulls, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

One of the best birds of the day turned up near the end of the morning as we headed back.  I noticed a group of gulls and cormorants on a sand spit and noticed a few that were smaller.  I got a distant look and saw back hoods on them.  We came in for a closer look and found four breeding plumage Bonaparte's Gulls.  A very nice find inland here in late July. 

Osprey, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Ring-billed Gull, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Double-crested Cormorant,  northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Bald Eagle on osprey nest platform, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

Black Ducks and Mallard, northern Quabbin, July 30, 2012

 Northern Quabbin looking toward phragmite island, July 30, 2012

 Northern Quabbin early morning, July 30, 2012

Other birds of note included Greater Yellowlegs, Osprey (unusual inland here in July), several Spotted Sandpipers, 19 Double-crested Cormorants, five American Black Ducks and others.

Lake Wallace at dawn, Belchertown, MA, July 30, 2012

Green Heron, Great Egret and Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 30, 2012

Mallard with recent young, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 30, 2012

Before heading up to Quabbin I made it over to Lake Wallace at dawn to see if anything new was around.  Although I have a feeling something unusual will show up there some time today was not that day.  Still a good number of Wood Ducks (98) and Mallards (158) with some very young Mallards included in this total.  There was also a Great Egret, half a dozen Green Herons and four Great Blue Herons.  I managed to have all three species close together for a quick digiscope shot.

In addition to the trips this morning at home I had a Louisiana Waterthrush singing as well as a Yellow Warbler.  I had not heard either in a few weeks but both were calling today.  The Alder Flycatcher was also quite vocal today which has not been the case for a few weeks either.

Morning around Belchertown before the rain

Green Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012



Great Blue Herons, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012

Great Egret, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012

Green Heron (juvenile) 'hunting' feathers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012

Green Heron (juvenile) 'hunting' feathers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012

Green Heron (juvenile) 'hunting' feathers, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012

River Otter eating fish, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012

Today dawned cloudy with occasional drops of rain.  It looked like it would pour any minute but the rain held off until late morning allowing me to visit several locations around Belchertown.  I started at Lake Wallace then over to Quabbin, Covey WMA and then along the Belchertown Land Trust trail.  I was looking to see if I could find any new species either dispersing after breeding or brought down by all the heavy rain yesterday and overnight.   Lake Wallace held three species of waders including Great Egret-1, Great Blue Heron-6 and Green Heron-7(one of the juvenile Green Herons repeatedly picked at goose feathers on the water surface as if practicing for hunting fish in the same manner).  There was yet again a fair number of waterfowl here with 59 Wood Ducks and 113 Mallards.  There was along a River Otter that was working the pond and finding some food to chew on.  Given the threat of rain I left my camera at home and had to be content to get photos with the phone again.  Not great quality but still fun to use to try to capture behaviors or interesting sightings.

Field with Ring-billed Gulls and Killdeer, Belchertown, MA, July 29, 2012

Upon leaving Lake Wallace I noticed a large gathering of gulls on the soccer fields nearby and stopped to check for anything unusual.  All the 71 gulls present were Ring-billed Gulls with no odd gulls  but in among them were 37 Killdeer. 

My stops at Quabbin Park and Covey WMA were uneventful with nothing beyond the usual birds present.  My final stop of the morning along the land trust trail turned up an American Woodcock that flushed right from the side of the trail and flew within a few feet of us before disappearing into the woods.  A rather thin looking Raccoon lumbered across the trail moving toward a small swamp.  A calling Broad-winged Hawk that flew low overhead ended the morning stops. 

Connecticut valley birds plus Quabbin Park

Tagged Ring-billed Gull, UMASS, Amherst, MA, April 1, 2012

Tagged Ring-billed Gull, UMASS, Amherst, MA, April 1, 2012

Wilson's Snipe, Hadley, MA, April 1, 2012

Peregrine Falcon with prey, UMASS, Amherst, MA, April 1, 2012

Spent the early part of the morning through mid morning with Ian Davies exploring areas around Hadley and Amherst and then over to Hatfield before heading home and making a stop at Quabbin Park.  The day was cool and overcast but very calm.  We started along the rail trail at Station road and tried for the Sora but all we could find today was the starling giving a great impression of a Sora.  We next headed through the fields of Hadley around South Maple St and had a few American Kestrels as well as several singing Eastern Meadowlarks plus at least four Wilson's Snipe along East Hadley Road.  We next stopped off at Hadley Cove and had 29 Green-winged Teal plus a few Black Ducks and Mallards plus a Wood Duck.  We then crossed over the Connecticut River and headed up to Great Pond in Hatfield.  There was little in the way of waterfowl here but there were at least 40 Rusty Blackbirds plus a Yellow-rumped Warbler. The fields of Hatfield, Whately and Sunderland were very quiet except for a flock of Horned Larks near Pilgrim Airport.  Lake Warner in North Hadley was also quite quiet with a Wood Duck, a Mute Swan and a couple Canada Geese.  With little activity in many spots we headed back to UMASS to try our luck at the campus pond.  Just the typical waterfowl here plus a calling Peregrine Falcon carrying a prey item of some sort.  There was also a wing tagged Ring-billed Gull present at the pond.  I'll post more on the wanderings of this individual once I hear back from the state.  There is an interesting article about the wanderings of these gulls at the following link:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/watersupply/watershed/study/gullsmasswildlife.pdf

UPDATE:  I got the information back on the wing tagged gull pictured above.  Here is the reply I received from Dan Clark from DCR:

Captured 2/27/12 at the Walmart in Ware, MA

Captured using a rocket net baited with bread and chips

Adult female ring-billed gull

Florescent yellow wing-tags: A290

Blue leg band: 052

Federal band: 0994-21466

Released on site

Sightings:

This is the first sighting of the bird since capture, so it is particularly important.

It will be interesting to see if I come across this bird again as the year goes on.

Belted Kingfisher on weather station, Quabbin Park, MA, April 1, 2012

After dropping off Ian I headed over to Quabbin Park.  At Quabbin I had a handful of good birds including a Red-necked Grebe, three Common Loons including two in full breeding plumage and one juvenile bird plus lots of Pine Warblers singing on territory plus the Belted Kingfisher pictured above.