The past several days featured waterfowl and a continued Spotted Sandpiper

Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 12, 2016

Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 12, 2016

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 12, 2016

Bufflehead and Common Merganser, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 12, 2016

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 12, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 12, 2016

Following the strong northwest winds yesterday and overnight I made it over to the dam bright and early to see if any waterfowl moved in overnight and I eventually had a total of 17 Bufflehead there plus flyby Black Ducks, Mallards, Canada Geese, four Common Mergansers and a few Common Loons.  I also checked Quabbin Park and Beaver Lake and turned up more waterfowl as well as the Spotted Sandpiper present for several days now.  Other notables included a couple flyover Evening Grosbeaks at the Route 9 marsh, a few Snow Buntings and Horned Larks and a few hundred crows migrating.  I added a single White winged Scoter during a brief stop back at the dam in the late afternoon.  I found a total of a dozen species of waterfowl over the course of the day.

Common Loon, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 11, 2016

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 11, 2016

Long tailed Duck and Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 11, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 11, 2016

I had high hopes yesterday that I would find something good as a cold front was forecast to move through around 9AM and result in a strong northwest wind which would hopefully move some birds.  The date of November 11 also has some great history for me at the dam with two first Hampshire County records occurring there for me on this date with a King Eider in 2013 and a Pacific Loon in 2015.  I arrived and found the winds still out of the southwest (they didn't turn to the northwest until a little after ten but once they did they stayed strong for the rest of the day).  I was joined for part of the morning by Mike, Devin and Aidan.  Most of the waterfowl I had for the morning was early on before the winds shifted and made viewing anything on the water nearly impossible.  Although nothing unusual showed up there was a decent movement of raptors with seven species noted...perhaps my luck at the dam on November 11th occurs every other year...I guess I will find out next year.

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 10, 2016

Common Loon, Quabbin Gate 5, Belchertown, MA, Nov 10, 2016

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 10, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 10, 2016

On what would be the first of three mornings that I would spend around south Quabbin I turned up three Long tailed Ducks, 10 Bufflehead, several loons and the continued Spotted Sandpiper at Gate 52.

Brant, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Nov 9, 2016

Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 9, 2016

On Wednesday I started at Quabbin Park and then travelled over to Amherst and then down through Hadley before heading back home. Quabbin park had the typical species plus a trilling screech owl that I was never able to find despite sounding like it was right next to me.  The lingering Brant continued at the campus pond.  The rest of my travels didn't turn up anything unusual.

Various stops over the past few days produce an amazing Bald Eagle show, more waterfowl, a flyby Pine Grosbeak and a late Spotted Sandpiper (plus other stuff)

Bald Eagles, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Bald Eagles, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Bald Eagles, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Bald Eagles, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Bald Eagles, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Bald Eagles, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Long tailed Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Black Scoters, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Black Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Brant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 4, 2016

On Friday morning I spent a cold and windy morning at Winsor Dam in search of migrants taking advantage of the northwest winds and had some rewards for being out in the cold including some spectacular acrobatics from a few Bald Eagles, 32 Brant flying south (seen distantly through scope), 16 Black Scoters, 26 Long tailed Ducks and four Bufflehead.  I was joined for part of my time there by Devin but he arrived just a few minutes too late to see the best part of the eagle show.

Red necked Grebes, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 6, 2016

Sunday morning found me at Winsor Dam once again after work and the dam was once again very windy which made viewing a bit of a challenge but I nonetheless turned up 22 Long tailed Ducks, 2 White winged Scoters, 2 Red necked Grebes and 4 Horned Grebes.  I wish I had more to spend there as the winds promised to bring in more good stuff but I was exhausted (another group at Quabbin Park had a Golden Eagle and a White winged Crossbill fly by!)

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Spotted Sandpiper, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Gate 52 looking northeast, the small peninsula in front is normally under a few feet of water, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Red headed Woodpecker, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 8, 2016

Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 8, 2016

After work today I headed for home but not before a brief stop along the river and Hadley and then over to Quabbin Park.  The river in Hadley had just over a hundred Mallards plus one each of Black Duck and Green winged Teal.  Quabbin Park held some great birds during my time at Gate 52 including a fly by Pine Grosbeak and a late Spotted Sandpiper.  I tried to get a recording of the grosbeak but it was too far past by the time I started recording.  At least I got some photos of the sandpiper!  This is my latest Spotted Sandpiper record in the area and only the second November or December record for the Connecticut Valley in eBird,  The Pine Grosbeak was a pleasant surprise and added a new species for the county for the year bringing my total to 235 (although this species was not predicted to be irruptive into the area this year several have turned up in lower New England in the last few days).  After my time at Quabbin I went home and picked up Wilson and we went for a walk at Lake Wallace where we once again had the Red headed Woodpecker as well as at least eight Rusty Blackbirds.  During all my stops this morning it was once again surprising to see just how low the water is at various bodies of water due to our ongoing drought.  At Quabbin Park the water level is as low as I have ever seen it with the water level down several feet (as of November the level is at 80.6%)...Lake Wallace was equally very low....we really need rain! 

A warm start to November

Black Ducks, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 3, 2016

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Nov 3, 2016

Dawn in the Honey pot, Hadley, MA, Nov 3, 2016

I spent the last three days enjoying some warm early November weather with highs that reached near 70 yesterday and today.  The honeymoon is over come tomorrow when the temperatures will probably not make it out of the 40's and there will be a strong northerly wind.  Hopefully the winds will bring in some good late season migrants...we shall see.  Today I started in Hadley dodging the occasional rain shower and checking the various fields along the river up through North Hadley and then into Amherst.  Overall very quiet with much reduced sparrow numbers at the Honey Pot and almost no geese in any of the fields (but lots of hunters).  I also made a brief stop at Quabbin Park on my way home and it was equally as quiet save for the Rt 9 marsh that held a smattering of waterfowl including 22 Black Ducks.

Fox Sparrow, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Eastern Phoebe, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Canada Goose with extensive white on neck and head, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Canada Goose with extensive white on neck and head, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Canada Goose with extensive white on neck, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Common Mergansers, Holyoke Dam, South Hadley, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Red headed Woodpecker, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Painted Turtles, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Nov 2, 2016

Yesterday I headed over to Arcadia before dawn to check the flocks of geese to try to find something unusual among all the Canada Geese. I didn't have any luck in finding any unusual species but did find a couple of unique individuals with extensive white on the neck and/or head. Lots of Mallards and Black Ducks around as well as some Green winged Teal (no sign of the pintail that was there the day before). Besides the waterfowl at the marsh I had a somewhat late Eastern Phoebe working the shoreline. After my check of the marsh I spent a couple hours exploring the meadows and added some more species for the day including my first American Tree Sparrows for the fall. Overall sparrow numbers were way down and oddly some of the best sparrow spots were mowed down since my last visit...not quite sure why. After Arcadia I headed down to the Holyoke Dam where I had half a dozen each of Mute Swans and Double crested Cormorants. A large flock of Common Mergansers (123 individuals) were below the dam along with a single Hooded Merganser. I then headed for home but not before a quick stop at Lake Wallace where the Red headed Woodpecker continued to show well as did at least a few Rusty Blackbird.  There were even some Painted Turtles out enjoying the warm weather there too.

Brant, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Nov 1, 2016

Lapland Longspur, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Nov 1, 2016

Lapland Longspur, East Meadows, Northampton, MA, Nov 1, 2016

Brown headed Cowbirds and European Starlings, Hadley, MA, Nov 1, 2016

Green winged Teal, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Nov 1, 2016

On the first day of November I visited a variety of spots trying to catch up with lingering rarities as well as many species as I could find for the day (ended up with 56 species). I started at dawn at the waterfowl roost at Quabbin Park and then headed west to Northampton before retracing my way back to home by late morning. Lots of highlights including the continued Brant and Red headed Woodpecker.

Quabbin park- 34 Black Ducks, 235 Mallards, an American Woodcock, Eastern screech Owl and Winter Wren
UMASS- Brant
Honey Pot- 110+ House Finches
Arcadia-26 Black Ducks, 290 Mallards, a Northern Pintail, 13 Green winged Teal
east meadows- 170 Horned Larks, 2 Lapland Longspurs and 13 Snow Buntings
East Hadley Rd in Hadley- 260 Brown headed Cowbirds
Lake Wallace- Red headed Woodpecker and 16 Rusty Blackbirds