Quabbin Park and Lake Wallace

 

Ruby throated Hummingbird, Quabbin Park, June 16, 2013

Ruby throated Hummingbird, Quabbin Park, June 16, 2013

 

Yellow throated Vireo, Quabbin Park, June 16, 2013

 

Cedar Waxwings, Quabbin Park, June 16, 2013

 

Enfield lookout, Quabbin Park, June 16, 2013

 

Winsor Dam at dawn, Quabbin Park, June 16, 2013

 

I spent a few hours this morning around Quabbin Park and then over to Lake Wallace. Not surprisingly I didn't find anything unusual given the fact that it is mid June and most (if not all) species seen now are local breeders. Nonetheless it is still interesting to watch the activities of these birds as they raise the next generation.   I made stops at Winsor Dam, Enfield lookout, Hanks Meadow and Goodnough Dike plus the Route 9 marsh at Quabbin Park.

 

Great Blue Heron on nest, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 16, 2013

 

Painted Turtles, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 16, 2013

At Lake Wallace I had a few species of waterfowl including three adult female Hooded Mergansers (no young seen), three Wood Ducks (again, no young), Mallard with four quite large ducklings and several Canada Geese with young of various ages. The Great Blue Heron continues to sit on the lone nest and a nearby Green Heron added another wader species. At least two Virginia Rails continue to call from the marsh section of the lake.

The day clouded up quickly and occasional showers started up by late morning.

 

Chimney Swift, Amherst, MA, June 15, 2013

Last night I spent some time in Amherst with several other birders following up on a report of an unusual hummingbird seen at a private residence. Despite a lot of looking and waiting the suspect hummingbird never showed. The bird may have been an odd ruby throated hummingbird or perhaps something more exotic but we didn't have any luck finding it. The homeowner will keep her eyes out and if the bird shows up again she will let us know.

Prescott Peninsula and gate 12



Moose, Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

Meadow with Moose (right, rear), Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

White tailed Deer, Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

Common Yellowthroat, Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

Beaver pond on Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

Common Yellowthroat carrying food, Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

Song Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

Song Sparrow, Prescott Peninsula, June 15, 2013

Finally had a day with no rain at all. Nothing but deep blue skies, low humidity and a slight breeze with temperatures near 80. I woke up with a headache so wasn't really sure if I was going to go out at all but I decided to head out and try it. My first stop was up to gate 12 but the area was oddly windy which made hearing some stuff difficult and I had little activity in the 20 minutes I was there.  Given that the forecast was for light winds I decided the area must be an anomaly so I decided to go elsewhere. The 'elsewhere' ended up being the permit only Prescott Peninsula. I have been wanting to get some of my field surveys done up there so I figured I was already half way there and I was feeling better so I might as well continue to the peninsula. I made it in there a bit after six and only stayed for about two and a half  hours covering several field complexes on the northern part of the peninsula. Lots of good breeding birds around as well as a nice show of mammals with Moose, White tailed Deer (which came crashing through a field right at me and then turned away once it saw me) and Coyote. I have included the entire eBird list below.

Prescott Peninsula,

Hooded Merganser  1   female
Ruffed Grouse  1     Drumming
Wild Turkey  3
Great Blue Heron  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Killdeer  1     Unusual here, calling overhead
Mourning Dove  3
Black-billed Cuckoo  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  4     all four together
Belted Kingfisher  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  6     Minimum
Downy Woodpecker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Alder Flycatcher  2
Least Flycatcher  10
Eastern Phoebe  3
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  4
Blue-headed Vireo  5
Red-eyed Vireo  43     Most heard, likely many more
Blue Jay  7
American Crow  3
Common Raven  1
Tree Swallow  10
Black-capped Chickadee  8
Tufted Titmouse  2
Red-breasted Nuthatch  3
Brown Creeper  1
Golden-crowned Kinglet  3
Veery  22     Minimum
Hermit Thrush  2
Wood Thrush  6
American Robin  13
Gray Catbird  16
Cedar Waxwing  20
Ovenbird  19
Blue-winged Warbler  2
Black-and-white Warbler  3
Common Yellowthroat  34    
American Redstart  24
Magnolia Warbler  5
Blackburnian Warbler  4
Yellow Warbler  5
Chestnut-sided Warbler  23    
Black-throated Blue Warbler  10
Pine Warbler  11
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  3
Black-throated Green Warbler  8
Eastern Towhee  18    
Chipping Sparrow  12
Song Sparrow  9
Swamp Sparrow  4
Scarlet Tanager  6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  4
Indigo Bunting  5
Red-winged Blackbird  8
Common Grackle  7
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Baltimore Oriole  2
Purple Finch  3

The rest of the day I caught up on work around the yard and enjoyed the great weather. 

Quabbin Park and Lake Wallace

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, June 10, 2013

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, June 10, 2013

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, June 10, 2013

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, June 10, 2013

Looking north from Hanks Meadow, Quabbin Park, June 10, 2013

Winsor Dam at dawn, Quabbin Park, June 10, 2013

With rain forecast to arrive by midday I got out early to check out Quabbin Park and nearby Lake Wallace. There was a bit of fog in a few spots at Quabbin near dawn but other areas were fairly clear. I concentrated my time at Hanks Meadow and Gate 52 with brief stops at Winsor Dam and Goodnough Dike. Hanks Meadow featured at least two Black billed Cuckoos (a good year for cuckoos it seems) as well other expected species. The clouds were low here and started getting lower as I was there but it seemed to be clearer toward gate 52 so I headed there next. When I arrived at gate 52 I had an adult Common Merganser across the water on the shore of one of the island with seven small ducklings. Although there may be a few baby birds that are as cute, not many can compete with baby Common Mergansers. I believe they rate at least a nine out of ten on the cute scale but I have not actually done the math. It was fun to watch them all gathered around the mother merganser and then all hit the water when a couple of crows came by. As they swam along they would all try to climb up onto the back of the mom (with some success). At other times they had some luck picking insects off near the water surface as well as diving down and catching some small fish. It was very interesting to watch the ducklings interacting with their surroundings and learning to become successful mergansers. Other birds of note included several Bald Eagles of various ages.

Here is a link to a short video of the mergansers:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/9007005821/

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

Great Blue Heron juvenile, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

Great Blue Heron, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

Wood Duck with ducklings, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

Belted Kingfisher, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, June 10, 2013

At Lake Wallace I ran across a late male Blackpoll Warbler calling along the tree line not long after I  arrived there. Waterfowl on the water included Wood Duck, Hooded Merganser and Canada Geese with some having young birds in tow. The Great Blue Herons were still in attendance at the one nest at the lake plus there were a couple more Great Blue Herons (including a juvenile) fishing in the lake. A couple Green Herons were also seen and at least two Virginia Rails were sounding off.

I then headed home to get Wilson and take a walk along the land trust trail before the arrival of the rain. Not much out of the ordinary here but we did manage to get the walk in before the rain started. The rest of the day featured rain on and off.

Quabbin Gates 15 and 12

View of reservoir from end of Gate 15, June 9, 2013

Mountain Laurel blooming, Gate 15, June 9, 2013

Briggs Brook, Gate 15, June 9, 2013

Briggs Brook, Gate 15, June 9, 2013

I decided to spend this sunny morning taking a few long walks at a few gates on the west side of Quabbin primarily searching for Hooded Warbler and Acadian Flycatcher (and anything else that might show itself). I started at gate 15 around 5:30 and spent the hour and forty five minutes walking down to the water and back along Briggs Brook. No luck with my target species at this gate but did have a good number of breeding warblers singing and carrying food, a couple Winter Wrens singing and an adult Ruffed Grouse with at least seven very tiny young. Although Acadian Flycatchers traditionally have nested along the brook at gate 15 I have not had them there in a few years. They seem to have left the area after some logging was done there but hopefully they will return someday.

Beaver pond along Purgee Brook, Gate 12, June 9, 2013

Purgee Brook, Gate 12, June 9, 2013



Purgee Brook, Gate 12, June 9, 2013



My next stop was gate 12 where I walked down along Purgee Brook to the reservoir and then back. I had better luck here finding an Acadian Flycatcher along the brook on my way down. The bird would call a couple times and then go silent for long periods before calling again. I never saw the bird and was unable to get a recording as it was calling so sporadically and the running water noise was quite loud. The bird was not calling on my return trip back up the road.  The Acadian Flycatcher became species #212 on the county list this year.  Like gate 15 this area featured the typical breeding warblers in decent numbers.

For the day I managed to find 15 species of warbler, finding almost all the expected species for June around here.  Many of the birds were actively gathering food and disappearing back to hidden nests. I walked several miles this morning but didn't run across another person the entire time which seemed odd given how nice a morning it was.

Storm delivers just rain, no birds

Double crested Cormorants, Winsor Dam, June 8, 2013

Double crested Cormorants, Winsor Dam, June 8, 2013

Winsor Dam as another shower moves in, June 8, 2013

Winsor Dam as the clouds start to break up, June 8, 2013

 

Winsor Dam at dawn in rain, June 8, 2013

It appears that the remnants of Tropical Storm Andrea did not bring us any unusual birds. Not the optimal time of year or track for a storm to bring us any number of unusual birds. Although I spent several hours this morning trying to find something storm related at Quabbin Park I had no luck. The rain and wind were still going strong when I got there around 5:20 and continued for the next couple hours before trailing off to just drizzle and then eventually some partial sunshine. The winds shifted from NNE to N to NW and finally west during this time period. The temperatures were actually a little chilly first thing with a reading of 54 with a strong wind.

I know some others out looking in other areas of the Connecticut Valley didn't have any luck either. Reports from the coast of New England were also unproductive for anything beyond the expected seabirds.

It does appears the storm did displace some birds but much further to our south with frigatebirds noted along the North Carolina outer banks.  After browsing through a number of other list serves I couldn't come up with anything else storm related.  Looks like we will have to wait for another storm later in the season to deliver us some hurricane related birds.

The rain arrives

Winsor Dam at dawn (Canada Geese on right), June 7, 2013

The effects of Tropical Storm Andrea have started to arrive here with heavy rain being the main event.  Occasional showers started last night and continued through early morning before turning into a steady rain.  We should end up with at least a few inches of rain from the storm as it moves north and passes to our south.  Before work I made a quick stop at Winsor Dam before the heavy rain started to take a quick look around.  Nothing out of the ordinary, just a Common Loon and a couple of vocal Bald Eagles at and near the nest.

 

Winsor Dam in the evening during rain, June 7, 2013

Late in the day I stopped back by Winsor Dam a few times to see if I could find anything noteworthy related to the storm so far.  No luck but the very heavy rain made viewing difficult.  The only notable birds included a cormorant, a Common Loon and an adult Bald Eagle carrying a very large fish to the nest.

I will be there at first light tomorrow to try once again to find something storm related.  I urge anyone else with the ability (and drive) to get up early and check out their local patch of water or flooded field for something related to the storm.  There may be nothing but you could find something really good.  You will never know until you try.

Tropical Storm Andrea forms




Projected path of Tropical Storm Andrea

The hurricane season is only five days old and the first tropical system has developed and will likely have at least some impact on the northeast.  The minimal tropical storm is projected to pass over Florida and then travel up the east coast staying offshore and becoming an extra tropical system.  The impact will primarily be heavy rain with some wind.  What will the storm bring as far as birds are concerned?  I would predict the most likely birds to show up related to the storm would be terns, unusual gulls or shorebirds (including phalaropes?).  The chance is also there for other southern species to be moved north.  I will certainly be out looking for something unusual and would encourage everyone to keep an eye out on bodies of water, flooded fields or even in your backyard for something unusual....and of course letting me know about it!

Here is a link to some additional information as it relates to this storm and the birding potential:
http://birdcast.info/forecast/hurricane-season-2013-tropical-storm-andrea/

I also heard about a Lawrence's Warbler found by Bob Z at Quabbin Park today (at Hank's Meadow).  I was out of the area for work so I was unable to try to chase that hybrid down but if anyone else is around that area it would be worth trying for it.