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| Black Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| White winged Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
This morning featured the first initial push of waterfowl moving in on some strong to moderate northerly winds. I spent the morning at Quabbin Park with a few different stops including some time at Winsor Dam. The winds were much stronger than forecast so my initial plan to find some lingering passerines was put off for awhile and instead I changed my early focus to waterfowl and raptors taking advantage of the winds. Overall for the morning I had seven species of waterfowl including 530+ Canada Geese (most moving southwest), half a dozen Wood Ducks, 14 Mallards, 27 Black Ducks, three Surf Scoters, two White winged Scoters and five Common Loons. Raptors were also on the move with five species seen.
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| Ruby crowned Kinglet, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Ruby crowned Kinglet, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Northern Parula, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Blue headed Vireo, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Song Sparrow, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Chipping Sparrow, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
By mid morning the winds abated a bit and the temperatures warmed up so I tried a few spots for migrant songbirds and had some decent mixed flocks including dozens of Ruby crowned Kinglets, a few Blue headed Vireos (including a dull individual) and four species of warblers including a late Northern Parula.
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| Pineapple Sage starting to flower, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Motion camera, hummingbird feeder and Pineapple Sage, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Motion camera, hummingbird feeder, Pineapple Sage and Honeysuckle vine, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
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| Honeysuckle vine flowers, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 12, 2017 |
My late season hummingbird set up is ready for a vagrant to show up. The motion camera is up, the Pineapple Sage is starting to bloom and the Honeysuckle vine continues to put out new flowers. Hopefully I can get the flowers through the frost forecast for tonight and keep them blooming for at least a couple more weeks.
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| Eastern Coyote, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 6, 2017 |
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| Red Fox, Home, Belchertown, MA, Oct 6, 2017 |
A check of the motion cameras at the house turned up some good stuff with my first capture of an Eastern Coyote plus a Red Fox..both travelling along the shore of the Jabish Brook.
