More waterfowl at Quabbin Park

 

Ruddy Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Ruddy Duck, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Gadwall, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Gadwall, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Gadwall, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Surf Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Surf Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Surf Scoter, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Red necked Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Route 9 Marsh, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 20, 2013

Despite a cold that has really started to make me feel under the weather I felt well enough to head over to Quabbin Park for awhile and got rewarded with some decent waterfowl although the park itself produced less than yesterday with most of the best stuff showing up at Winsor Dam.  The predicted rain of last night did not amount to much so no big groups of birds being forced down.   Within Quabbin Park I had the following waterfowl: 8 Wood Ducks, 4 Black Ducks (big drop off but I did get to the typical roost area a bit late), a single Long tailed Duck (flew in from the north near Goodnough Dike and circled around before heading back north), 8 Common Loons, 3 Horned Grebes, a Double crested Cormorant and 4 Mallards and a dozen Canada Geese. Other birds within Quabbin Park included a couple Rusty Blackbirds, good numbers of Yellow rumped Warblers and other typical migrants for mid October. 

Although I was starting to fade I decided to make a stop at Winsor Dam to quick check to see what might be hanging around. Almost as soon as I arrived Bob Z. walked over and said he was just leaving when he saw me so he headed back over. He said he and Scott had not had much on the water. I quickly scanned the water and almost immediately turned up a male Surf Scoter. The bird must have come in after those guys had scanned the water. I then turned up a couple Common Loons, a group of three dark birds way out that defied identification and a group of 7-8 that also remained unknown. We then turned up a couple birds flying in that turned out to be a pair Gadwall (unusual here) that disappeared into the cove out of our view. Several minutes later seven Gadwall flew out of the cove and landed out in front of our view point. As we continued to scan we turned up another bird that flew in from the north that turned out to be a Ruddy Duck (another unusual species of waterfowl here). A bit later a Red necked Grebe flew in and hung around for a time fishing before heading back north. I started feeling worse so decided to call it a morning. A very productive stop that I almost didn't make but was glad I did. It is always amazing what the view point from Winsor Dam will produce with a little luck and a little bit of time put in watching.

Near sunset I made another quick stop at Winsor Dam and turned up a couple Common Loons, seven Black Ducks and a Ring necked Duck.  Also robins heading north to roost...I counted about 45 in just a few minutes so a dedicated count would probably find hundreds or more.

Saturday at Quabbin Park (where else would I be during watefowl season?!?!?)

Northern Pintails, Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Northern Pintails, Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Wood Ducks, Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Ring necked Duck, Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Quabbin Park at dawn, Oct 19, 2013

Surf Scoter (really!), Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Horned Grebes (with Hooded Merganser in background), Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Black Ducks, Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Common Loon in flight, Quabbin Park, Oct 19, 2013

Starting once again at dawn at Quabbin Park and staying there for a few hours produced some waterfowl which included the following: three Long tailed Ducks, seven Surf Scoter (two adult males...seen in flight before landing on water), three Northern Pintails (all males), two Ring necked Ducks, 77 Black Ducks, four Hooded Mergansers, half a dozen Horned Grebes, ten Common Loons, 48 Mallards and 29 Canada Geese.  Although the morning started off rather cool around 40 it warmed nicely and the breeze never really picked up so it was quite pleasant.  Other birds included a flyover American Pipit, four Rusty Blackbirds, a pair of Great Horned Owls calling back and forth as well as other expected species.  I'm sure with spending even more time there I could have found more but I was feeling a bit under the weather so I called it a day by about nine.

Hopefully the rain predicted for tonight pans out as the timing may force some birds down. Time will tell but the chance is at least there for something good. I will be back again tomorrow to see if anything unusual does show up.

A morning at Quabbin Park

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Oct 18, 2013

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Oct 18, 2013



Common Loons, Quabbin Park, Oct 18, 2013

Green winged Teal, Quabbin Park, Oct 18, 2013

Hanks Meadow at dawn, Quabbin Park, Oct 18, 2013

With the prediction of heavy rain overnight I had high hopes of finding some waterfowl (and possibly something else) grounded by the weather.  Unfortunately most of the heavy rain moved north and west of the area.  I made my way back over to Quabbin Park and made quite a few different stops at different vantage points and found the following waterfowl over the course of the morning: 16 Wood Ducks, 32 Black Ducks, 2 Green winged Teal, 3 Common Mergansers, 10 Common Loons, a Double crested Cormorant, 9 Mallards and 37 Canada Geese plus four distant dark ducks in flight that could have been scoters but the distance was extreme and the light not great.  Besides the waterfowl I also turned up some really good stuff including an adult Northern Goshawk that was seen well for several seconds before it disappeared back into the woods. I was walking back out of the woods when I noticed some agitated crows. The goshawk then flushed and my initial thought on size alone was red tailed hawk but the structure was wrong. I got on the bird with binos and saw what it was. I tried to get the scope down and set up to get a digiscoped shot but the bird flew before I could. The crows didn't chase or directly harass the goshawk but instead stayed in the general area and made lots of agitated noises.  Certainly some raptor movement this morning with the strong northwest and then west winds with at least six Bald Eagles, several Red tailed Hawks, a few each of Cooper's and Sharpshinned Hawk plus a Peregrine Falcon that repeatedly made passes at a kingfisher forcing it over and over to dive into the water to escape.  The two disappeared from view before I could see how the chase ended.  A nice show of Ruby crowned Kinglets this morning too with dozens around.  Also had a couple each of Eastern Towhees and Blue Headed Vireos in among the other typical species seen.

Horned Grebes (L) with Black Ducks and Mallards, Quabbin Park, Oct 17, 2013

Horned Grebes, Quabbin Park, Oct 17, 2013

Yesterday morning I once again had just a short amount of time before work so I headed over to Quabbin Park in search of waterfowl.  I limited my stops to just Winsor Dam, Hanks Meadow and the Route 9 marsh.  Waterfowl found included a total of 66 Black Ducks, 7 Hooded Mergansers, 2 Common Loons, 4 Horned Grebe,  29 Mallards and 29 Canada Geese.  The low clouds and fog in spots made viewing a bit of a challenge at times but overall most areas could be viewed.  Late in the morning yesterday I got a second hand report of a possible Red necked Phalarope seen at Gate 52 in Quabbin Park around 11:30.  Another very unusual species inland that would be great to catch up with.

Species #229 for the year breaks my previous Hampshire County record!

Surf Scoters, Distant shots of two females showing the dark cap, white vertical patch behind bill and white head patches, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Oct 15, 2013

Black Ducks and Mallards, mixed group of approx 100 birds at first light, Quabbin Park, Oct 15, 2013

With just a little time between it being light enough to see and having to make it to work I decided to once again hit Quabbin Park with stops at Winsor Dam and Hanks Meadow only looking primarily for waterfowl.  The air was calm and the water was like glass without fog which made viewing superb.  I managed to find some good stuff in the limited areas I searched including a new species for Hampshire County this year, a couple of Surf Scoters at Winsor Dam.  The Surf Scoters became species #229 which breaks my previous best year total of 228 which I set last year.  It will be interesting to see what my final county tally for the year will be.  I still have two and a half months to add birds (but not a lot of possible species).  Other waterfowl this morning included an impressive 68 Black Ducks, 9 Common Mergansers, 27 Mallards and a Horned Grebe. I wish I had more time to explore the area in greater detail as the viewing was so good but it was not to be today.  I was very happy to add a new species so I will call it a very successful morning.

Another morning at Quabbin Park

Red necked Grebe and Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Red necked Grebe and Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Red necked Grebe and Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Red necked Grebe, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Horned Grebe, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Common Mergansers, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Common Merganser, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Common Merganser, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Common Merganser playing with a piece of wood, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Common Mergansers flying by, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Common Loons in the fog, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Hanks Meadow looking toward Gate 52, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Looking north east of Gate 52, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Wood Ducks, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

Belted Kingfisher, Quabbin Park, Oct 14, 2013

I spent yet another morning at Quabbin Park in search of waterfowl with a main focus this morning being a search for the reported Western Grebe. No luck finding the grebe in question but still had some good stuff. The morning fog made viewing difficult at times but most he of the thickest fog burned off within a few hours of the sun coming up. It actually turned out to be a sunny, warm day (at least by mid October standards). I stopped at various locations in the park including Winsor Dam, route 9 marsh and various overlooks from Hanks Meadow to Goodnough Dike.  Waterfowl this morning included 21 Wood Ducks, 34 Black Ducks, 2 Green winged Teal, 5 Hooded Mergansers, 37 Common Mergansers (35 in one flock), 11 Common Loons, a Horned Grebe, a Red necked Grebe, 11 Mallards and a dozen Canada Geese. Other notable birds included Great Horned Owl calling, 7 Hermit Thrushes together, a couple Eastern Towhees, loads of both kinglets and Yellow rumped Warblers, flyover American Pipits plus other expected species. 

The flock of 35 Common Mergansers put on quite a show within just feet of me at Gate 52. The entire group stayed just off shore for several minutes as I observed them. One individual kept diving and coming up with a stick and then would drop it and then dive down and grab it again.  Once the fog lifted enough to view previously socked in areas I made additional stops to areas visited earlier in the morning. Luckily I did this as it produced my only grebes of the morning when I found a Red necked Grebe and Horned Grebe swimming and fishing right next to each other. I had not seen this behavior before but the birds always surprise.

Finding a Western Grebe here would be a great sighting as the only western Massachusetts sighting of this species occurred in 1934 and 1936 during an incursion of this species into New England.  All previous reports of this grebe in Massachusetts have occurred between November and April.  This species has been found in the Finger Lakes area of New York within the last few years but not inland in Massachusetts in over 75 years so needless to say finding one here would be extremely unusual and a spectacular find indeed!  Certainly worth keeping your eyes out for it.

Quabbin Park and Lake Wallace

Green winged Teal (R) with Wood Duck, Quabbin Park, Oct 13, 2013

Black Ducks before dawn, Quabbin Park, Oct 13, 2013

'Murder' of American Crows, Quabbin Park, Oct 13, 2013

I once again tried the Quabbin Park area looking for waterfowl but the numbers and variety were down from the decent morning I had there yesterday.  I only managed to find 24 Black Ducks, 17 Wood Ducks, four Green winged Teal, a Common Merganser, two Common Loons, 11 Mallards and 42 Canada Geese all moving southwest.  Also had several Eastern Phoebes, a singing Hermit Thrush, a Spotted Sandpipers, a Peregrine Falcon moving past with what appeared to be a Northern Flicker in its talons, three Bald Eagles together and quite a few Yellow rumped Warblers plus a large group of crows that appeared to be migrating.

Double crested Cormorants, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Oct 13, 2013

Double crested Cormorants, Lake Wallace, Belchertown, MA, Oct 13, 2013

With Quabbin Park fairly quiet I decided to try my luck at Lake Wallace.  The lake was nearly devoid of any waterfowl with only a Mallard and a couple of cormorants plus a flyby pair of Canada Geese.  The hunting pressure the rest of the week almost certainly has kept the number of waterfowl low here.  Other notable birds here included a half a dozen Eastern Phoebes and scores of White throated and Song Sparrows plus a few Belted Kingfishers.

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Oct 13, 2013

Common Loon, Quabbin Park, Oct 13, 2013

Late in the morning I got a call from Bob Z who believed he had a western type grebe at Quabbin Park near Goodnough Dike. The description sounded good for an exceedingly rare species inland in Massachusetts. He last saw it flying north and could not relocate it. I headed over early afternoon in an attempt to catch up with it but no luck. I did find three Common Loons in the area as well as a distant Double crested Cormorant. On my walk back out to my car I ran across a nice little mixed species flock that contained four species of warbler, a vireo and lots of Ruby crowned Kinglets