Quabbin Park waterfowl

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Red necked Grebes, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Black Ducks, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Green winged Teal, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Hanks Meadow looking toward Gate 52, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Went out at first light this morning to check for waterfowl at Quabbin Park before the hordes of 'leafers' arrived and turned the place into a mob scene. Lots of good stuff around with a little looking. Nothing extreme but a little variety nonetheless. I started and ended at Winsor Dam and also hit a variety of areas in the park itself. I spent just over an hour in Quabbin Park and over an hour and a half at Winsor Dam. My totals for waterfowl in Quabbin Park included the following: 23 Wood Ducks, 26 Black Ducks, a Green Winged Teal, a Common Mergansers, six Common Loons together and two Red necked Grebes plus 37 Canada Geese and half a dozen Mallards. Other birds in the park included a Great Blue Heron, a phoebe, a thrush that flew in front of the car that I didn't get an ID on and other expected birds plus a family of three River Otters.

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

White winged Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Red breasted Mergansers (yes really), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Canada Geese migrating, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

Horned Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 12, 2013

At Winsor Dam I had the following waterfowl: 11 Black Ducks, two White winged Scoters, a Common Merganser, two Red breasted Mergansers, two Common Loons, two Horned Grebes, four Mallards, 154 Canada Geese heading south and four dark ducks in flight too distant to ID plus a Double crested Cormorant. Also had some raptor migration that included all three species of falcon, a few Red tailed Hawks, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's Hawks and Bald Eagles. In addition I had a couple flyover American Pipits and ten Wild Turkeys among other species. Overall some nice diversity which should continue to pick up as the days go by and waterfowl migration peaks. Warbler variety continues to drop as the vast majority have cleared out the area as they head for the tropics for the winter.

Canada Geese and Black Duck, Quabbin Park, Oct 11, 2013

Yesterday I stopped at a few spots before heading to work including Quabbin Park (Winsor Dam, Hanks Meadow and the Route 9 marsh) plus a stop along the Connecticut River in Hadley.  The breeze out of the northeast kept the water a bit choppy so birds far out on the reservoir were probably missed.  Waterfowl at Quabbin Park included 31 Canada Geese, 33 Wood Ducks, 18 Black Ducks, 12 Mallards and a Common Loon.  All the geese and Wood Ducks were at the marsh with most Black Ducks and a few Mallards at Hanks Meadow with the loon the only waterfowl species at Winsor Dam.  Other notable birds included a hooting Great Horned Owl  and numbers of juncos, White throated Sparrows and Yellow rumped Warblers.  The only waterfowl along the Connecticut River was a group of 30+ Mallards. 

Honeypot produces more birds including a couple Dickcissels

Dickcissel, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2013

Dickcissel, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2013

Dickcissel, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2013

Dickcissel, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2013

Dawn in the Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2013

Savannah Sparrow, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Oct 9, 2013

Despite the predictions for light winds this morning when I arrived at Winsor Dam before dawn the winds were strong out of the north with a sustained 15-20 MPH wind.  Needless to say my attempt to find any waterfowl out on the water was destined for failure given the conditions.  I scanned through a few times but the waves were just too much to see anything hiding out on the water. 

I then headed over to the Honeypot to meet Ian and Andrew for a little birding before work.  Although it started off quite cool and quiet the birds started to come alive once the sun came up.  Lots of sparrows around with a total of nine species including Lincoln’s, White crowned, Field and loads of Savannah Sparrows.  Highlights included two Dickcissels including one that stayed teed up in view for a few minutes before disappearing.  Still at least one Bobolink and one Indigo Bunting around too.  Lots of American Pipits working their way through the fields and flying over as well as a flyby group of three Rusty Blackbirds that called as they came by.  Raptors around included an accipter, Northern Harrier and a high flying Osprey.  Still some warblers to be seen with Yellow rumped and Palm Warblers (with a least one western type) the most common by far.

An evening stop at Winsor Dam produced a couple White winged Scoters, a couple Mallards, a half dozen flyby geese and three small ducks that defied identification.

Quabbin Park again

Wood Ducks, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

 

Mallards, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

White winged Scoters, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

Ring billed Gull, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

Gate 52, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

White tailed Deer, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

Peregrine Falcon, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

Peregrine Falcon, Quabbin Park, Oct 7, 2013

Spent another morning at Quabbin Park trying to catch up with some early waterfowl. Luckily the predicted thick fog didn't materialize so viewing was decent but not great. The day eventually became windy with a southerly wind in front of a cold front and the temperatures responded nicely topping off in the mid 70's. I covered the same general areas as yesterday morning but today was a little more active. I found the following waterfowl: 33 Canada Geese, 26 Wood Ducks (rt 9 marsh), 31 Black Ducks (Hanks Meadow, goodnough dike and rt 9 marsh), 51 Mallards (Hanks Meadow and rt 9 marsh), 10 White winged Scoters (Hanks Meadow), six Common Mergansers (Winsor Dam), 9 Common Loons (mainly Hanks Meadow but also Goodnough Dike and Winsor Dam) and a Horned Grebe (Gate 52). Other notable birds included a Peregrine Falcon I watched cruise in from the north just off the surface of the water and disappeared into a hidden cove at Winsor Dam and scared up a previously unseen Greater Yellowlegs...always impressive to see a peregrine on the hunt. A Spotted Sandpiper continued at Gate 52. Lots of Ruby crowned and Golden crowned Kinglets as well as a few thrushes including Swainson's and Hermit. Managed a total of five species of warbler including a Magnolia Warbler and also found a singing Blue Headed Vireo.

Took Wilson for a walk a bit later in the morning along the land trust trail and although I was unable to find the Green Heron that has been hanging around I did find at least two Winter Wrens as well as a group of three Hermit Thrush together.

White winged Scoters (plus a Black Scoter and Mallard), Winsor Dam, Oct 7, 2013

White winged Scoters (plus a Black Scoter and Mallard), Winsor Dam, Oct 7, 2013

Just as the heavy storms with wind and heavy rain moved through just after 6pm I headed over to Winsor Dam again to see if anything unusual got forced down.  Despite the continued rain, wind and fading light I found a group of 14 White winged Scoters plus a Black Scoter and a Mallard.  Now I just need to find a Surf Scoter.

Quabbin Park in the rain

White winged Scoters, Quabbin Park, Oct 6, 2013

White winged Scoters, Quabbin Park, Oct 6, 2013

Horned Grebe and Greater Yellowlegs, Quabbin Park, Oct 6, 2013

 

Greater Yellowlegs, Quabbin Park, Oct 6, 2013

The morning certainly had a fall like feel with temperatures in the high 50's with rain showers and drizzle with a little breezy out of the east.  With the occasional rain overnight I had high hopes of finding some downed waterfowl at Quabbin. I started predawn at Winsor Dam viewing through the low light and rain and found a pair of White winged Scoters but little else there so I headed into Quabbin Park with stops at Hanks Meadow, Gate 52, Goodnough Dike and the Route 9 marsh. These various stops produced the following waterfowl: nine Canada Geese (goodnough), 21 Wood Ducks (marsh), 5 Black Ducks (marsh), 37 Mallards (most Hanks Meadow with a few at the marsh), two Horned Grebes and a Double crested Cormorant. Other birds of note within the park included a couple Greater Yellowlegs at Gate 52 (fun to watch the yellowlegs and a horned grebe in the same scope view), Spotted Sandpiper and various other expected species including my first groups of juncos for the season. I then returned to Winsor Dam where I spent the next hour and a half watching the water and sky for any birds coming by. Highlights during this stop included a couple Black Ducks, a Common Loon, a couple Double crested Cormorants, a couple ravens and groups of Ring billed Gulls that I spent a lot of time trying to find something different in among them.  The weather conditions also allowed me to finally test out an addition to the scope that will allow viewing in rain and wind.  This same weather a couple weeks from now would almost certainly have produced some big numbers and or/variety of waterfowl but just a little early in the season I guess.

Green Heron, Belchertown Land Trust trail, Oct 6, 2013

A walk along the land trust trail produced a somewhat late Green Heron, a Winter Wren and a variety of other expected species in a somewhat constant rain.

After seeing more reports of unusual waterfowl likely downed by the weather out in the Berkshires (including both White winged and Surf Scoter, Red throated Loon, Northern Shoveler,etc) I headed back over to Winsor Dam a couple times to see if I could find anything new. No luck with finding anything else new but always worth the effort.

Arcadia meadows

Song Sparrow, Arcadia, Oct 5, 2013

Swamp Sparrow, Arcadia, Oct 5, 2013

I spent about an hour and a half in the Arcadia meadows this morning and although I didn’t get any really unusual birds I did manage some decent stuff.  Sparrows were the name of the game this morning as I found half a dozen species including the following totals: Savannah Sparrow-33, Song Sparrow-97, Lincoln’s Sparrow-4, Swamp Sparrow-26, White throated Sparrow-15 and White crowned Sparrow-3.  The numbers are an absolute minimum of the areas around the Ibis Pool and half the trolley line only.  I can imagine the total number of sparrows throughout the meadows must number several hundred at least.   I also had a Great Horned Owl hooting before dawn, a Winter Wren, five House Wrens, a Northern Harrier and four species of warbler including at least ten Common Yellowthroats and a Nashville Warbler.  There were also five Double crested Cormorants in the nearby oxbow.

 

Another search for the Lazuli Bunting and some tropical activity

Dawn at the honeypot, Oct 4, 2013

With only a little time this morning I made a quick run through the Honeypot in an unsuccessful attempt to catch up with the Lazuli Bunting again and try to get some photos.   There were still a few Indigo Buntings around so perhaps the Lazuli is also still around. It was very early and I only covered a small area so I’m really not surprised I didn’t find it.  Lots of sparrows around including four Lincoln’s Sparrows and half a dozen White crowned Sparrows plus other more typical species.  Also had a flyby American Woodcock at first light and three Black Ducks heading toward the river.

The tropics have picked up slightly in activity with the formation last week of TS Jerry way out in the Atlantic and the recent formation of TS Karen in the Gulf of Mexico.  The storm is forecast to remain a strong tropical storm as it moves north and landfalls near Alabama/Mississippi.  It will approach hurricane strength but is not suppose to exceed it at this point.  The storm will continue to move northeast after landfall and get absorbed by another system and likely bring some rain to the northeast by early next week.  No real chance for any major impact here but the heavy rain could force some birds down depending on timing and other factors. 

Lazuli Bunting in Hadley! Species #228 for the county this year

Somewhere in this field is the fifth state record of a Lazuli Bunting, Honeypot, Hadley, MA, Oct 2, 2013

Yet another foggy morning in the valley found me checking out the Honeypot area before work to see what I might be able to find.  The fog was extremely thick when I arrived and after a half hour of waiting for the fog to lift I decided to head to work.  Despite the fog and limited visibility I still managed to find some decent birds including a few Indigo Buntings, 15+ American Pipits, a Vesper Sparrow, 5 Lincoln’s Sparrows and half a dozen White crowned Sparrows with some of them singing.  I knew Ian, Keenan and Ben intended to hit the area too but just a little later in the morning and I was hopefully the visibility would be better for them.  Oddly when I drove across the bridge to the other side of the river the fog had lifted and the skies were sunny just west of the honeypot. 

Around 8:15 I got a call from Ian that they had found a Lazuli Bunting in the same area I had been in earlier in the morning.  This would be only the 5^th state record of this species and the second record of it in Hampshire County so I decided to take an hour of personal time and see if I could find it.  I figured if I waited the bird would be gone and I would never get a chance to see it.  I arrived there about 8:30 and refound the bid with Ian, Keenan and Ben.  The bird was in heavy molt and did not have the typical wing bar associated with this species but the other field marks for Lazuli Bunting were present.  Thanks to Ian for letting me know about this bird so I could get a chance to see it.  Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me so photos of the bird can be found on Ian’s Flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uropsalis/10054392265/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uropsalis/10054392335/in/photostream/

The Lazuli Bunting was not only a new Hampshire County bird for me (#276) but it became species number 228 for the year in the county and tied me with last year for species seen in the county in a single year.  The bunting was also a state bird for me.  A very nice bird to tie my old record with!