Quabbin Gate 8

I made a trip up to Gate 8 at dawn and walked down to the water. It was a beautiful, calm day. I had some really nice birds along the way beginning with a hooting Great Horned Owl. I then added a Hermit Thrush, Northern Shrike, Northern Flicker, a dozen Golden crowned Kinglets, eight Red Breasted Nuthatches, seven Common Mergansers, 130+ Junco's (one group of 72), 137 American Robins most of which were leaving out of a small roost at dawn and a group of 43 Blue Jays moving around together. In addition I had some very fresh moose tracks among the other tracks in the snow.

Once back home I heard the Winter Wren that has been around all fall and winter.

Winsor Dam and Quabbin Gate 5

I made it over to Winsor Dam again to get a more accurate number of robins roosting in the area. The real movement started at 6:55 and largely ended by 7:15. My total amounted to 4600+ American Robins. Most were moving south or southeast. I also had a handful of Hooded Mergansers, a few Bald Eagles and a Common Loon at gate 5. In addition to these birds I had a Winter Wren singing a half song several times mid morning at home. It appears the temp's in the mid 40's inspired a bit of song on his part.

Robins at Quabbin

I made a trip over to Winsor Dam at Quabbin Park near dawn. I arrived at 7am with the temperature a cold 5 degrees. I immediately noticed American Robins moving east-southeast in large numbers. My conservative estimate over the next 20 minutes totalled 2460. I missed many as I concentrated on the birds within naked eye view primarily but when I did scan with binoculars there were birds moving along a broad front. I would love to trace the birds back to their roost and get more accurate numbers and perhaps find something odd in among the robins.

More from my trip to Florida in December

I will continue a review of my trip to Florida in December with the addition of a few images. All of these were taken in or near Three Lakes WMA or along Joe Overstreet Road, all south of Orlando. Other interesting sightings from this area included Red Cockaded Woodpecker and a pair of adult Whooping Cranes way out in a farm field.

Feeder activity...and robins

Spent a relaxing day away from work and at home. Beyond a short walk around the nearby woods I spent most of the day inside watching the comings and goings at the feeders. Nothing out of the ordinary for the day. There was a nice passage of American Robins both in the morning and evening as they moved back and forth between their roost and feeding areas. Well over 150+ in the evening in the course of about 20 minutes.

Fox Sparrow at feeder

During our weekend long snowstorm I had quite a few visitors to the feeders with the highlight being a Fox Sparrow. In addition I had a couple American Tree Sparrows, a Song Sparrow, eight White Throated Sparrow and 40+ Junco's. I apologize for the photo quality but it was taken through a window from quite a distance during an especially snowing time period.

New Years birding

I made a trip to a couple of spots this New Years morning to see what I could find. I intended on spending some time at Quabbin Park but it was closed for the holiday so I had to be content with just the area around Winsor Dam. This actually turned out to be quite productive with three Bald Eagle chasing each other, a couple Ravens, five Snow Buntings, a Red Winged Blackbird, a Song Sparrow and numerous other birds. I then went to Covey WMA and had a few more Snow Buntings, one each of Red Winged Blackbird and Raven, a couple more Bald Eagles (including my first adult of the year), four Hooded Mergansers and lots of Robins, White throats and Juncos. A very productive morning. At home I added some nice additional birds for the day including Ruffed Grouse and Winter Wren. I have had the Winter Wren around since fall.