Back from Arizona

Just back from a good trip out to Arizona. Although it was not a strictly birding trip I had some very good luck nonetheless. Hit areas around Tucson, Mount Lemmon and Madera Canyon over the course of a week. I managed a total of 136 species with 20 of those life birds for me. The big highlights included Rufous-capped Warbler and Flame Colored Tanager. I will be posting some of my photos over the next few weeks.

Lots of Mergansers

I made a trip through Quabbin Park starting before dawn and had a good number of Common Mergansers. The total for the morning made it to 377 with the largest group of 318 together. I also had a nice looking pair of Red Breasted Mergansers and a handful of Hooded Mergansers. Among the other waterfowl were 67 Ring Necked Ducks and a handful of Wood Ducks, Black Ducks, Bufflehead, Green Winged Teal, Mallards and Canada Geese.

At home I had a half dozen Tree Swallows and a few migrant Cooper's Hawks.

Rail Trail and Quabbin Park

Got out a bit today and had some nice birds around. I spent over an hour on the rail trail in Amherst and had a few first of the season birds for me. I had a calling Field Sparrow and Eastern Phoebe as well as a couple Tree Swallows. Other birds of interest included a calling Great Horned Owl at dawn, a displaying American Woodcock and a nice flyby group of Green Winged Teal.

I then took an hour long trip through Quabbin Park. The big highlight here were the large number of Common Mergansers. I had at least 263 individuals and this is conservative. I can only imagine the total number on the whole reservoir this morning. Other waterfowl included Hooded Merganser, Ring Necked Duck, Wood Duck and a pair of Bufflehead.

A big loss

Although I usually only post about my bird sightings here I felt a need to post something a bit different today. I have not had alot of free time lately as I dealt with the declining health of my best buddy and frequent birding companion, my dog Kody. We had to put him down yesterday which was a very tough thing to do. We saw alot of birds together in our journeys around the area. He will be missed greatly.

Snow storm

Not alot in the way of birds to report but I couldn't resist posting a few photos of the latest snowstorm. I did make a brief stop at Winsor Dam at Quabbin this morning to try and relocate the Common Loon that has been there. No luck on the loon but did have three Common Mergansers and a group of 56 Cedar Waxwings. At home I had a very vocal Pileated Woodpecker plus the first Red Winged Blackbird at the house this season.

Cooper's Hawk in the snow

On my way to work during yesterday's snowstorm began with a spectacular site. A Cooper's Hawk was feeding on a fresh kill in the middle of my snow covered driveway. I initially didn't have my camera with me and I took a brief look through binoculars and then decided I needed to get going to work. I attempted to drive past the hawk but it was in no mood at all to move. I drove to within about 15 feet and it didn't seem fazed at all. After looking at the hawk for a few moments I decided I would back up the driveway and get my camera and see if I could get a few photos. I raced back up to the house and came back down to find the hawk still feeding. I drove to within 15 feet and leaned out the window to get some shots. The snow made it difficult to get as many shots as I wanted to get but I managed a few good ones. After several minutes I really needed to get moving so I drove closer. The hawk still would not move. I had no way around it so I inched a little closer. I was finally so close I could not see its full body past the nose of the car. I then leaned out and got a few more photos. It was so close at this point I could not fit the full body of the bird within the frame. As I was very rapidly becoming later and later for work I had to get by it. Only after I opened the door and moved toward it did it fly....about ten feet further down the driveway with the remains of the bird in its talons. It gave me a long look as I tried to inch by and it finally flew off into the woods to finish its meal in piece. A nice way to start a day despite the tough weather.

February birding...

It has been about a month since my last post so I thought I would try and get a post on here today. The avian activity has dwindled down and my free time has done the same. I have a few sightings of interest to report from the last few days. The weather has been seasonable mild with daytime temps near 40 which has greatly reduced the snow cover. I have had a Winter Wren singing a partial song the last couple mornings at home. The wren has been around all fall and winter. This morning I made a stop at Covey WMA and Quabbin Park (Winsor Dam only). Covey had a group of eight Eastern Bluebirds together. Quabbin had a flock of 54 Cedar Waxwings, three Bald Eagles and a continuing Common Loon in one of the only open sections of water on the Quabbin. In addition a couple of Coyotes patrolled the ice out near Gate 5. A fairly nice morning to be out with little wind.