Golden Eagle at Winsor Dam...species #233 for Hampshire County this year.

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle (L) with Bald Eagle (R), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle (top) with Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Golden Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Yet again another example of the right place at the right time today.  I was on my way to an appointment and had a few extra minutes so I made a brief stop at Winsor Dam arriving not long after a cold front moved through. The crew at Quabbin had a few boats out and looked to be practicing with deploying containment booms so I knew the likelihood of any waterfowl would be very low.  I scanned briefly from my car and noticed a handful of gull way out and then noticed a raptor flying over the gap that looked 'interesting' so I quick got the scope out and checked it out.  The bird turned out to be a juvenile Golden Eagle!  I watched the bird for several minutes as it slowly drifted off to the southeast and gained altitude.  At one point a Bald Eagle came by and interacted with the Golden Eagle.  I just kept snapping distant photos and hoping some came out.  I rapidly ran out of time as I only had about ten minutes to spare.  The bird was still in view when I left and it was hard to tear myself away.  The Golden Eagle becomes species #233 for Hampshire County this year.  A species I have been trying to find for a few weeks now as their migration peaks.  Even with lots of looking it can be missed for the year so I was quite happy to find it.

Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Hanks Meadow looking north, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, Nov 7, 2013

Early this morning I had some time before an appointment to make it over to Quabbin Park.  The day started out in the upper 50's to the low 60's with a decent wind out of the south so it was fairly pleasant being outside.  I was once again on the hunt for waterfowl and perhaps some rarity.  I found the following waterfowl as I hit Hanks Meadow, Goodnough Dike, Winsor Dam and the Route 9 marsh:11 Black Ducks, a single Mallard, 28 Common Mergansers in a single flyby flock, three Hooded Mergansers, seven Common Loons and seven Horned Grebes.

A brief stop at Beaver Lake in Ware produced 11 Common Mergansers and a handful of Mallards but little else.

Brief stop at Quabbin Park

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Nov 6, 2013

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Nov 6, 2013

With a little time before work I stopped by Quabbin Park to see what I could find.  There were a few species of waterfowl around including a cool dozen Common Loons, five Horned Grebes, a Long tailed Duck, nine Common Mergansers, four Hooded Mergansers, a Wood Duck, 15 Black Ducks and a few Mallards.  Tried my luck once again to catch up with anything unusual at Winsor Dam but all I found during a quick walk there were a few Snow Buntings.

More southerly winds today and tomorrow give us another chance for vagrant birds to be blown into the area before a cold front moves through during the afternoon tomorrow.  Yet again the big target would be Cave Swallow.  Only a few reports of the species came in with the last bout of southerly winds.  Perhaps this  time more of them will show up.  Again, much more likely to appear on the coast but the chances are always there of one making its way through western Massachusetts.  Other species are certainly possible and could turn up anywhere.

Winsor Dam (and other areas)....possible sighting of a very unusual species

Bald Eagle with leg band, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2013

Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2013

Red tailed Hawk, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2013

American Crow, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2013

American Crows, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2013

Snow Buntings, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2013

Snow Buntings, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2013

Although yesterday featured lots of waterfowl at Quabbin Park this morning the featured almost no waterfowl at all with only the following seen:  9 Black Ducks, two Wood Ducks, half a dozen Hooded Mergansers, 7 Common Mergansers, six Horned Grebe, two Common Loons, 78 Mallards, a dozen Canada Geese and a few unidentified ducks.  The vast majority of these were at the Route 9 marsh.  Once again the weather today featured lots of wind out of the north and the day felt more like winter as the temperature started out in the low 20's.  I spent a good portion of the morning at Quabbin Park with the vast majority of the time at Winsor Dam.  My hopes were on finding a Golden Eagle but no luck with that species again but I did have nine Bald Eagles (one with leg bands), three Northern Harriers (all together in one group), 8 Red tailed Hawks and a Peregrine Falcons.  Lots of migrating American Crows today with at least 1564 seen in three hours at Winsor Dam alone.  This total is a minimum count and I'm certain I missed many when I was looking elsewhere.  Another highlight at Winsor Dam included a group of 21 Snow Buntings that flew around Winsor Dam before flying across the water and disappearing into the western cove not to appear again.  I was joined for part of my time at the dam by Devin.

The best bird of the day turned out to be one that may have indeed have been a truly unusual bird-a Northern Wheatear.  I initially saw the bird just before 10AM. I found the bird in flight while scoping the far end of Winsor Dam viewed from in front of the admin building. I immediately started following the bird as it seemed interesting as far as flight pattern was concerned (and I had seen so few passerines so far during my time there this morning). The bird was quite a bit smaller and trimmer than a robin but had a thrush like appearance from a distance. The flight pattern was direct with several somewhat shallow wingbeats following by a short glide...very unique in appearance. I kept the bird in view for probably 25 seconds before it disappeared to the southwest, not to be found again. The bird was seen throughout through a spotting scope in very good light. No strongly obvious facial pattern. The overall coloration was a bright light sandy/rufous color with an obvious white on rump/base of tail and dark on tip. The tail was fairly short. The underwings appeared light. No chance to get a photo through the scope or with the camera as I knew looking away would lose the bird and I wanted to try to get as many details before it flew out of view. I took notes after viewing the bird and then consulted a few field guides to see if I could come up with an ID other than a wheatear. I'm stumped as to what else it could be. I have only seen one other wheatear so I'm far from an expert on the species so I'm looking for other possibilities I may have overlooked.  I wish I was able to get a photo!  Worth keeping an eye out in the area if anyone makes a stop there.

Huge influx of waterfowl at Quabbin Park...loads of scoters and long tailed ducks

Black Scoters (with White winged Scoters and Bufflhead), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Black Scoters (with White winged Scoters and Bufflhead), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

 

Black Scoters (with White winged Scoters), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Black Scoters (with White winged Scoters), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Greater Scaup, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Red throated Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Red throated Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Red breasted Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2013

Despite the cold temperatures today and strong winds out of the north I stayed at Quabbin Park the entire morning and amassed a fabulous list of waterfowl.  I started out in Quabbin Park at gate 52 trying to stay out of the wind and after just a few minutes noticed flocks of Black Scoters and Long tailed Ducks moving by.  I decided to head to Winsor Dam as I figured that would be a great spot to see what appeared to be a big influx of sea ducks.  I spent over four and a half hours there and had great numbers and variety.  I really wish I had some other people with me early on as the birds were coming by fast and furious and I certainly missed some stuff.  I have included the lists for the day below.  A very memorable day at Quabbin indeed! Most birds listed below were seen at Winsor Dam but a few were seen elsewhere.


Canada Goose  264    Moving sw
Wood Duck    5
American Black Duck  62     Oddly most moving north
Mallard  16
Northern Pintail  8     Females
Greater Scaup  3
Ring necked Duck        8
Surf Scoter  1
White-winged Scoter  43     Minimum
Black Scoter  597     Flocks moving by all morning. Minimum count
Long-tailed Duck  76    Minimum, flocks moving by as well as a few birds on water
Bufflehead  8
Common Goldeneye  3     Females
Hooded Merganser     14
Common Merganser  21
Red-breasted Merganser  1
duck sp.  13
Red-throated Loon  1     flyby
Common Loon  5
Horned Grebe     3
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Cooper's Hawk  2
Bald Eagle  9
Red-tailed Hawk  14
Ring-billed Gull  29
Herring Gull  2
Peregrine Falcon  1
Blue Jay  4
American Crow  184   most moving southeast
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
American Robin  4
Snow Bunting  1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)  12
House Sparrow  4

Quabbin Park again

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

Northern Harrier, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

Northern Harrier, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

Double crested Cormorant, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

Quabbin at dawn, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

Hooded Merganser, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

Hooded Merganser, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2013

I spent a few hours this morning at Quabbin Park trying in vain to find something unusual brought in by all the strong south winds. I started and finished at Winsor Dam plus hit Goodnough Dike and the Route 9 marsh. I didn't stop at Hanks Meadow as the annual disabled hunters hunt was taking place so I may have missed some stuff there. Waterfowl numbers and variety were quite low with the following seen in Quabbin Park itself: 5 Common Loons, a Double crested Cormorant, 5 Hooded Mergansers, 4 Wood Ducks, 4 Black Ducks, a couple Mallard and a dozen Canada Geese. The vast majority of these birds were at the marsh with only the loons, cormorant and a few geese on the reservoir. Other notable birds in the park in included my first Snow Buntings of the season, a couple of Pine Siskins among the goldfinches.  I decided my best chance of turning up something of note would be with a vigil at Winsor Dam which I stayed at for just over an hour and half. The vast majority of the time the only waterfowl on the water were three Common Loons. A few Mallards and a Black Duck flew by but never landed. Late in the watch a male Surf Scoter flew in and eventually landed way out and was joined by a male Bufflehead. Other flyover birds included a male Northern Harrier (following the same flight line all the harriers I have seen there this year have flown), a Ruby crowned Kinglet, an American Pipit, two Horned Larks.   The other notable show this morning was a strong movement of American Crows moving northeast to southwest.  I noticed a few groups moving while I was in the park but I had the vast majority while watching at Winsor Dam.  The total came to a conservative 815 individuals although I'm sure I missed some while scanning elsewhere.  I would assume the birds were migrating as they were still moving (in lesser numbers) as I was leaving at 10AM.  I would assume if the birds were leaving a roost they would have moved earlier.

A walk later in the morning along the land trust trail in Belchertown turned up a somewhat late Common Yellowthroat but not too much else of note.

Today was the last nice day with temperatures above average (highs today in the mid 60's and sunny). Tomorrow is forecast to have a high of 45 with a wind out of the northwest with lows tomorrow night in the low 20's. There is still the chance of something unusual associated with all the south winds to show itself tomorrow or Monday and I will be out looking (and freezing)

November begins with strong southerly winds, rain and warm temperatures

Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 1, 2013

The latest storm system moving through is bringing some rain and strong southerly winds (plus warm temperatures in the high 60's) that have the potential to bring in some southern or western vagrant birds.  Although the coast is usually the best spot to find these wayward migrants the possibility is always there that something unusual will show up around here.  One possible species to be on the lookout for would be Cave Swallow as these types of conditions this time of year have produced them in the past although again much more likely along the coast or in the Great Lakes.  There is a recent record of Cave Swallow from Worcester last November so it pays to be on the lookout inland too.  Other possibilities could include unusual flycatchers, other swallow (or martin) species and who knows what else.  The best spots to check for any odd stuff in Hampshire County over the next few days would include Quabbin, along the Connecticut River, other lakes and ponds, the East or West (Arcadia) Meadows or the Honeypot.  Other spots certainly could produce also so it is worth it to look anywhere you happen to be.

Double crested Cormorants (two of six in flight here) plus gulls, Oxbow, Northampton, MA, Nov 1, 2013

I made a brief stop by the Oxbow in Northampton and found at least a half dozen Double crested Cormorants as well as 35+ gulls with almost all Ring billed Gulls although without binoculars or a scope there may have been other species present that went unfounded. 

Common Merganser (ratty looking indivdual), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 1, 2013

Common Merganser (ratty looking indivdual), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 1, 2013

Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 1, 2013

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 1, 2013

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 1, 2013

I used a little vacation time this afternoon and headed over to Quabbin Park to see if I could find anything noteworthy.  I stopped at both Winsor Dam and a few spots within Quabbin Park itself.  No luck finding anything unusual but did have the following waterfowl:  three Common Mergansers (with one very ratty looking individual), 11 Hooded Mergansers, a couple Wood Ducks, a couple Common Loons, two Horned Grebes and 21 Canada Geese.  Only other notable birds were three Hermit Thrushes together at Hanks Meadow.

With storms like this unusual birds are just as likely (or maybe more) to turn up a day or two after the storm passes through so I will be out the next few days trying yet again to find something out of the ordinary.