Quabbin birding and beyond

Monday, November 12, 2012

Another morning at Quabbin Park

Bald Eagle, Gate 52 at Quabbin Park, Nov 12, 2012

Horned Grebe, Hank's Meadow at Quabbin Park, Nov 12, 2012

Bufflehead, Hank's Meadow at Quabbin Park, Nov 12, 2012

I spent the early morning at Quabbin Park with a return trip there later in the morning to see if anything new had shown up. It was a great day to be outside in November with the morning temperature starting off near 50 and the high getting well into the 60's. The day started off a little foggy but the waters of the reservoir were relatively clear and could be viewed fairly well. My early morning trip through the park turned up a total of nine flyover White winged Crossbills as well as Fox Sparrows, a flyby Yellow rumped Warbler, a Greater Yellowlegs at Hanks Meadow and a couple Hermit Thrushes. I added a very active Winter Wren on my later morning trip. Waterfowl from both trips included a male Gadwall, a female Black Scoter, 10 Bufflehead, 14 Horned Grebe, 7 Common Loons, two Long tailed Ducks, 7 Hooded Mergansers, 21 Mallard and 23 Canada Geese. The sun finally came out around midday and the winds picked up a bit more from the south. Although I had hoped the southerly winds of the last few days would bring some unusual birds up our way I didn't find any today. The conditions were certainly prime for Cave Swallows as well as other species from the south. A cold front will come through tonight turning our winds back north and cooling high temperatures back into the 40's again.

In addition to my trip to Quabbin I also took Wilson for a walk along the Belchertown Land Trust trail which had a few highlights including a somewhat late Ruby crowned Kinglet and a flyover Red Crossbill.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

A quest for a lapwing or unusual geese...(no success)

Vesper Sparrow, Bridge Lane, Hatfield, MA, Nov 11, 2012

Horned Larks and Snow Bunting, East Meadows, Northampton, Nov 11, 2012

American Tree Sparrow, UMASS Horse Farm, Amherst, MA, Nov 11, 2012

Lesser Scaup, North Lane Conservation Area, Hadley, MA, Nov 11, 2012

With all the sightings of rare and unusual birds around I spent the morning, along with Jacob Drucker, in a search for a Northern Lapwing among the fields of Hadley, Northampton, Amherst, Hatfield, Sunderland and Whately. A second goal was to catch up with any unusual geese. Although we struck out on the lapwing (we didn't have a single shorebird) and any unusual geese we did find some decent birds. Our first stop at Arcadia produced a Northern Pintail female as well as several Green winged Teal, Wood Ducks, Black Ducks and 240+ Mallards and 525+ Canada Geese. We also had a flyby group of White winged Crossbills and a Great Blue Heron. We then headed to the East Meadows where we had 350+ Horned Larks in a large group along with 8 Snow Buntings and at least two Lapland Longspurs with them. Also in the area were seven American Pipits and a flyover bird that was heard only that stumped us. It may have been another flyover White winged Crossbill but did not sound quite right...it remained the mystery bird for the day. We then turned north to Hatfield where we made several stops that produced several more groups of Horned Larks as well as a group of three Vesper Sparrows together at the end of Bridge Lane. A Northern Harrier and an American Kestrel were the raptors of note here. We then continued up through Whately and over the bridge into Sunderland and then south of Route 47 through Hadley. Despite a lot of great habitat the area was relatively quiet with the only geese (all Canada) noted along Knightly Road on the Amherst/Hadley line. A stop at the UMASS horse farm was also quiet. We stopped briefly at the North Lane Conservation Area to get a look at the river and found a male Lesser Scaup sitting on the river to the south. With the morning rapidly coming to a close we spent the final part of it checking out the honeypot. We found a handful of sparrows, a Ring necked Pheasant, American Pipits and of course, more Horned Larks. We then headed back to Hampshire College where I dropped of Jacob and then headed for home with a brief stop at Winsor Dam (three Common Loons and little else). Although we were unable to find any mega rare birds we can say it was not for lack of effort. Overall a nice morning out in warm weather (eventually near 60) for the 11th of November.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Quabbin Park today

Greater Yellowlegs, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

Common Merganser flock, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

Red necked Grebe, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

Red breasted Merganser, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

Dawn at Enfield Lookout, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

Bufflehead, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

I spent the morning at Quabbin Park in the hopes of catching up with something unusual brought in with the strong northerly winds associated with a nor’easter that moved through during the end of the week. Although I didn’t find anything super unusual I did manage to find some good birds nonetheless. The non waterfowl highlights included three rather late Greater Yellowlegs (two at gate 52 and at least one at Winsor Dam), 20 White winged Crossbills (various spots), 14 Red Crossbills (which included six Type 10 and two Type 2 and the others of unknown type), my first American Tree Sparrows (3), an Evening Grosbeak and Pine Siskins. Waterfowl included 20 Horned Grebes, a Red necked Grebe, six Common Loons, one, Black Scoter, all three Merganser species (Hooded-3, Common-22, Red breasted-1), six Bufflehead, six Black Ducks, Mallards and a few Canada Geese. There was a large group of gulls milling around at first light but besides a couple Herring Gulls all appeared to be Ring billed Gulls but some were quite distant. I was not able to pull out anything unusual from the bunch.

River Otters, Quabbin Park, Nov 10, 2012

A few interesting non bird sightings as well including an Eastern Coyote swimming across the reservoir to Prescott Peninsula and four River Otters at the Route 9 marsh.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Another Red Crossbill type confirmed

Red Crossbill Type 2, Prescott Peninsula, July 28, 2012

Red Crossbill Type 1, Prescott Peninsula, July 28, 2012

Red Crossbill Type 10, Quabbin Park, July 28, 2012

Another post on the ongoing incursion of Red Crossbills and the different ‘types’ involved. As mentioned in previous post there are at least 10 recognized types of Red Crossbills that may indeed represent ten different species. The only way to separate the different types involves getting a recording of the birds involved and analyzing the call by looking at sonograms and matching the call to correct sonogram that represents known types of Red Crossbills. Matt Young at Cornell has been extremely helpful in doing this for me and will assist anyone else who records any Red Crossbills. See the article regarding this at eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/news/red-crossbill-types. I recently (Nov 4) ran across additional Red Crossbills at Quabbin Park and after analysis by Matt Young at Cornell the bird recorded turned out to be a ‘Type 10” Red Crossbill. I have now recorded Types 1,2 and 10 at various points at Quabbin this year. I have oddly not come across any Type 3 yet even though they are a major part of the current incursion and have been recorded in the area by others. Additional postings on Red Crossbills and their call types can be found here:

http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/08/red-crossbill-type-determined.html

http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/09/red-breasted-nuthatch-and-red-crossbill.html

I initially ran across Type 2’s in July and August, Type 1’s in September and now Type 10’s in November. Given the number of reports of Type 3’s in the area I am bound to run across some of these eventually too. I have included examples of each call type that I have recorded so far this year.

Winsor Dam at dawn, Nov 8, 2012

Quabbin camera view of Winsor Dam area midday (lots of white caps!), Nov 8, 2012

Satellite image of nor'easter, Nov 8, 2012

In addition I stopped by Winsor Dam briefly on the way to work in the hopes of running across something of interest that was brought in with the latest bout of strong winds. The conditions on the reservoir resembled the ocean with white caps limiting visibility. The winds were near constant at 15-20 with gusts into the 30’s with a temperature around freezing which made for some difficult and uncomfortable viewing conditions. I was able to see a dozen plus gulls that all appeared to be Ring billed Gulls as well as a distant Bald Eagle. I was unable to find any waterfowl or anything more unusual brought in by the latest storm.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Nor'easter brings the first taste of snow

Predicted winds, Nov 7, 2012

Nor'easter satellite image midday Nov 7, 2012

Another storm is in the midst of impacting the northeast a little over a week since Hurricane Sandy. This storm is a nor'easter coming up the coast. The winds have picked up quite a bit and with the cool temperatures have certainly made it feel like winter. The winds will be 15-25 MPH with gusts up above 40 MPH. The storm is also predicted to bring our first snowfall of the season with a few inches possible as well as some icing. The strong northeast winds have brought a large flight of Dovekie's (possibly one of the largest) to coastal Massachusetts. With a flight of such a large size perhaps a bird will make it inland and make it all the day to western Massachusetts. Who knows? Unfortunately the storm will also bring additional problems to the areas to our south that were heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy last week.

Winsor Dam at dawn, Nov 6, 2012

I also stopped by briefly at Winsor Dam on a record setting cold morning (19 degrees) yesterday to see if I could possibly relocate the Black legged Kittiwake I found there yesterday. There was a low fog on the water and I was unable to find anything besides a Common Loon and a large raft of gulls way out on the reservoir. I didn’t have time to stop today but the strong winds out of the north would have made viewing quite difficult anyway.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Black-legged Kittiwake at Quabbin and lots of scoters

Black legged Kittiwake, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 5, 2012

What a great day to be outside despite the cold temperatures and brisk breeze. The bird of the day was without question a Black legged Kittiwake I found at Winsor Dam in the afternoon while I was checking out the large scoter flock I had seen earlier (more on that later). I had seen a report from earlier in the day that James Smith had found a kittiwake in Turners Falls in Franklin county http://pioneerbirding.blogspot.com/#!/2012/11/ma-black-legged-kittiwake-gill.html this morning and I certainly would love to find one at Quabbin but realized the chances were exceedingly rare. This species is very seldom seen inland in Massachusetts with only a handful of records with most (all but one really) occurring following a storm in October of 2005. I ran into Steve Motyl almost as soon as I got back to Winsor Dam and after we talked for awhile, mentioned birds being seen (including the kittiwake in Turners Falls) and checked out the various species of waterfowl a bird flew past that I saw as different and once I got a look at it I knew it was a Black legged Kittiwake! I ran to the car, got the camera and managed a few shots before it flew out of view. It reappeared a few minutes later flying north along the shore. It landed on the water briefly before heading north and eventually out of view toward Gate 8. Steve left at this point and I continued looking for the bird. After about 20 minutes it reappeared near the dam flying west and I got additional photos and great views of the bird before it disappeared into the cove in the southwest corner. The bird was almost certainly moved inland by Hurricane Sandy but where it (or they) have been before today is any one guess. I left a bit after 2:30 after getting word out via facebook of the sighting. I'm not sure if anyone else got to see it later. In addition to this sighting being a new Quabbin bird for me it became species #221 for the county this year.

Canada Geese, Arcadia marsh, Nov 5, 2012

Mallards, Arcadia marsh, Nov 5, 2012

I started the day by heading over to the Northampton and Hadley looking for geese. I started at Arcadia in Northampton and ran across a few nice birds. At Arcadia marsh I had 436 Canada Geese, 11 Black Ducks, 282 Mallards, 21 Green winged Teal, 16 Wood Duck, 2 Gadwall and an American Wigeon. One unusual sight was watching all the waterfowl on the lower end keep flying further and further upstream. I could not figure out why until I saw a River Otter working his way up river and moving all the birds in front of him. In addition to the waterfowl I had a half dozen White winged Crossbills flyover. I scanned through several fields in Northampton and Hadley as I headed back home but found no geese at all. I also stopped briefly to search for the Northern Shrike at Hampshire College but it appears to have moved on.

Black Scoter flock (part of at least 610 birds present) Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 5 ,2012

Black Scoter flock (part of at least 610 birds present) with Bald Eagle(lower right) Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 5 ,2012

Black Scoter flock (part of at least 610 present at this location), Winsor Dam, Nov 5, 2012

Besides the kittiwake at Winsor Dam there was a great waterfowl show here which included at least 610 Black Scoter (flocks counted in photos taken, the birds were quite active at times flying around), a dozen White winged Scoter, two Surf Scoter, 3 Bufflehead, 7 Long tailed Duck, 8 Lesser Scaup, Horned Grebe, Red necked Grebe, Common Loon, seven Common Merganser and a few Mallards. Occasionally a Bald Eagle would make an appearance and send all the waterfowl up to fly around for several minutes before finally settling down again. Elsewhere at Quabbin Park I had another flock of Black Scoter numbering 173, three Horned Grebes and a couple Common Loons. There was likely at least 783 Black Scoters present at Quabbin park today which is by far the largest number I have ever had inland for this species. There certainly was an incursion of this species overnight as many people reported groups of this species on various water bodies in the area. Other notable birds included a flock of 21 Snow Buntings at gate 52, a Fox Sparrow and a Winter Wren. The 'Monday morning bird group' also got to see many of these species as they decided to spend part of the morning at Quabbin.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Quabbin Park on the first weekend in November

Red Crossbill, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

Red Crossbills, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

Red Crossbills video, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

Red Crossbill video, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

Ring necked Duck, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

Hooded Merganser, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

Today I spent the first day of standard time exploring Quabbin Park once again (plus a brief stop at Gate 5). Although less windy today the temperatures started out colder and never warmed out of the 40's. I began and finished at Winsor Dam and spent the remainder of the time in Quabbin Park itself with stops at Enfield Lookout, Hank's Meadow, Goodnough Dike and the Route 9 marsh. The highlights were many and included a total of 39 White winged Crossbills with most birds in a 33 bird flock at Hank's Meadow, 11 Red Crossbills, two Pine Grosbeaks, three flyby Great Blue Herons together, five Common Loons, Ring necked Duck, Hooded Merganser, a couple Bufflehead, a Ruby crowned Kinglet,

Black Scoter flock, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

Black Scoter flock (and Bufflehead), Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

late AM view from Winsor Dam, Nov 4, 2012

Greater Yellowlegs, Quabbin Park, Nov 4, 2012

I spent some time doing a stationary count at Winsor Dam and had the following waterfowl there: 29 Black Scoter, 7 White winged Scoter, 8 Bufflehead, 3 Lesser Scaup, a Red breasted Merganser, 2 Red necked Grebe, a Common Loon and a single seventeen bird flyby flock of Canada Geese. There was also a good showing of American Crows as they moved southeast in groups with my total exceeding 325. Other birds of note here included two Greater Yellowlegs that flew past calling and then landed out of sight along the shore, another group of a dozen White winged Crossbills, and a flyby Evening grosbeak.

Horned Grebe in transitional plumage, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

Horned Grebe in transitional plumage , Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

Horned Grebe in transitional plumage, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

Horned Grebes (right non breeding plumage, left transitional...view I had early on in trying to figure this bird out), Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

Horned Grebes in early light, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

Greater Yellowlegs (left) and Bufflehead, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

Bufflehead in flight, Quabbin Park, Nov 3, 2012

I started a rather brisk and cool Saturday at Quabbin Park. I intended to make a quick run through there and then get some errands done but I got side tracked and never left there until almost 11. The winds were gusty at times out of the northwest which certainly added a feel of later fall to the air. I went initially to Hanks Meadow but it was closed off by DCR so I went to Gate 52 instead. I ran across an interesting bird almost immediately when I found a group of Horned Grebes and another grebe with them that appeared different. I kept getting fleeting glimpses of the bird as it actively fed but it appeared different. My hope was for an Earned Grebe but it was just not quite right. The bird was in transitional plumage, something I have not seen with Horned Grebes this late in the fall. The bird moved to an area where the shadows made viewing even more difficult. I tried for some photos but nothing was coming out good. I sent a few messages back in forth to Ian Davies to pick his brain as I tried to get a better look at the bird and look up some info on molt timing on grebes in fall. I eventually got some decent looks at the bird which made my ID lean quickly toward Horned Grebe once the view was good enough. I eventually got some fairly good views of the bird in good light and managed a few photos. As I spent time trying to get a better look at the bird and figure out exactly what it was I got to see a variety of other birds including five other Horned Grebes, three Common Loons, seven Buffleheads, pair of Hooded Mergansers, three Long tailed Ducks plus a few groups of Pine Siskins( 16+ total birds), a flyover Evening Grosbeak, a Greater Yellowlegs working the shore, a Winter Wren and a Red shouldered Hawk harassing a Red tailed Hawk. With only a short time left before I had an appointment late morning I briefly stopped at Goodnough Dike where I found six more Long tailed Ducks, nine Black Scoters, a Common Loon and a flyby group of eight scoter species that were seen briefly and may have been more Black Scoters.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at home catching up on yard work and had only a few birds around the yard but some good stuff including two Winter Wrens. Mid afternoon I got a call from Ian Davies that they had found a juvenile Northern Shrike at Hampshire College. I was going to be heading over that way late afternoon so I decided to stop there on the way through. I didn't find the bird but that was not really surprising given the fact that a kid was racing around the fields on his ATV certainly scaring away any birds. Hopefully I will catch up with a shrike elsewhere.

Bald Eagles (three), Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Nov 2, 2012

Dusk at Winsor Dam, Nov 2, 2012

On Friday evening I made a brief stop at Winsor Dam before heading home after work. Only birds of note were a Common Loon and five adult Bald Eagles. A large gathering of gulls out near gate 8 contained at least 300 birds with almost all Ring billed Gulls.

At home just after dark I had a Barred Owl calling along the Jabish Brook.