Weekend birding at Quabbin

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

Double crested Cormorant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

Double crested Cormorant, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

Ring necked Ducks, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

Common Mergansers, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

Hanks Meadow looking east, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

The day started off for me before dawn as I heard a couple of Barred Owls calling back and forth at home. With the weather predicted to be a mix of clouds and sun and then sun with strong south winds and temperatures into the 70's I had high hopes of some good migrants at Quabbin. I intended to meet up with Devin and Aidan at Winsor Dam around 7:30 or so and do a stationary count but before that I made a quick run through Quabbin Park and over to Beaver Lake. Quabbin Park was fairly quiet with the highlights being eight species of waterfowl including the continued Pied billed Grebe at the Route 9 marsh and several Common Mergansers on the marsh plus my first Swamp Sparrow of the season as well as a couple singing Purple Finches. Beaver Lake was also quiet with just a few Bufflehead and a Common Merganser.

I then headed to Winsor Dam where I spent the next four hours or so dodging one rain shower after another as the predicted warmth didn't materialize. At times it was a bit chilly with a slight northwest wind and rain. We kept holding out hope the conditions would change but no luck. Nonetheless we still had some decent birds with the highlights being nine species of waterfowl including 38 Common Mergansers, eight Common Loons (five migrating north in the first couple hours) and three Double crested Cormorants. We also had four Great Blue Herons, an Osprey, a harrier, three American Kestrels, a somewhat early Spotted Sandpiper flying by calling, two Northern Rough winged Swallows, at least 293 Tree Swallows (feeding low over the water and oddly moving to the south), three species of warbler, and decent numbers of blackbirds, grackles and robins. Overall we managed a total of fifty species which given the conditions was pretty good.

Osprey, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

Bald Eagle, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

Broad winged Hawk, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 13, 2014

After lunch it appeared that the sun was finally going to break through the clouds so I headed over for another try for migrants at Winsor Dam. As soon as I arrived I noticed some raptors moving. After just over an hour I had about a hundred individual raptors of eleven species with the majority (just under sixty) being Broad winged Hawks. Certainly an early movement of this species taking advantage of strong southerly winds just to our south. As the crowds were building up I headed for home and not long after I arrived the sun really broke through and the winds picked up and the temperature shot into the low 70's...better late than never I guess. More sky watching at home produced a few more Broad winged Hawks and four cormorants plus I had a Blue Gray Gnatcatcher and another Swamp Sparrow.

Mallards, Winsor Dam, Apr 12, 2014

Wood Duck, Winsor Dam, Apr 12, 2014

Hooded Merganser, Rt 9 marsh, Apr 12, 2014

Winsor Dam, Apr 12, 2014

Enfield Lookout with a fog covered reservoir, Apr 12, 2014

Despite the forecast for Saturday morning of clear skies and no fog I woke up before dawn to thick fog. I had intentions of trying to catch up with birds at Quabbin Park before the hordes descended on the place but the fog made it difficult viewing until after 8:30 AM. Eventually it burned off but it was a bit frustrating for a few hours. Nonetheless I still managed to find some good birds. I stopped initially at Winsor Dam but had zero visibility. I next headed through Quabbin Park but yet again no visibility down at the level of the water. The higher hills were fog free which made for some interesting views as the fog coated all the low lying areas. I then heard over to Beaver Lake in Ware which had slightly better viewing but not much...I did manage a couple each of Bufflehead and Common Merganser. I then headed back over to Winsor Dam and waited out the fog as I did a stationary count for an hour plus. One of the best birds occurred as I waited for the fog to clear when I had a flyover, calling Lesser Yellowlegs. Other notable birds included three Bufflehead, three Ring necked Ducks, a Common Loon, a Double crested Cormorant, an Osprey, two Northern Rough winged Swallows. After my time at Winsor Dam I decided to make a quick run back through Quabbin Park hitting just a few areas. Highlights included six Common Goldeneyes, Pied billed Grebe, an early Blue gray Gnatcatcher, three Winter Wrens singing and a few Hermit Thrush including one singing. Increased numbers of Pine Warblers, Eastern Phoebes, Chipping Sparrows, Northern Flickers and Yellow bellied Sapsuckers and others were also noted. After Quabbin came back home and got the Wilson and we headed to Jabish Canal where the highlights included a Red shouldered Hawk and a Palm Warbler. The rest of the day I spent at home doing work around the yard but still managed more decent birds including a Red shouldered Hawk, a Winter Wren and a Yellow rumped Warbler.

Overall a productive weekend with weather that eventually turned out sunny an warm both days.  One more day of 70 degree warmth before a rain storm comes in Tuesday and we spend the rest of the week with highs in the more expected 50's.

Birding around the valley the last couple days

Wood Ducks, Ring necked Ducks and Mallards, Aqua Vitae Rd, Hadley, MA, Apr 11, 2014

Blue winged Teal, Greater Yellowlegs and Wilson's Snipe, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Apr 11, 2014

Wilson's Snipe, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Apr 11, 2014

Lesser Scaup, Route 9 marsh, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 11, 2014

Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 11, 2014

With all the strong southerly winds last night and the radar lighting up early on and rain predicted overnight I had high hopes of finding some good stuff and did indeed have some good birds (the rain overnight never materialized).  I started the morning predawn at Winsor Dam where I had five Bufflehead, six Common Mergansers and three Great Black backed Gulls (somewhat unusual here…no sign of the Iceland Gull from yesterday).  I then met up with Jacob and we had the following highlights as we explored various areas along the river:  Aqua Vitae Road- 59 Wood Ducks, 8 Black Ducks, 26 Green winged Teal, 39 Ring necked Ducks, four Killdeer and a few hundred blackbirds and grackles.  Lake Warner area- a couple Northern Rough winged Swallows, 100+ Cedar Waxwings and a Field Sparrow.  Old Pilgrim Airport in Hatfield- a female Blue winged Teal, 21 Green winged Teal, a flyby Common Loon heading north, a vocal American Kestrel, six Killdeer, a Greater Yellowlegs, two Pectoral Sandpipers, 25 Wilson’s Snipe and 13 Horned Larks.  Arcadia- five Wilson’s Snipe, a Pine Warbler, a Field Sparrow and two Fox Sparrow.  After dropping Jacob off I hit a few other areas with the following highlights:  Covey WMA- a Ring necked Pheasant, an Osprey, an American Kestrel, two Barred Owls calling back and forth at 11am, four Pine Warblers and a Field Sparrow.  Beaver Lake Ware- a couple Bufflehead, 16 Common Mergansers and a Common Loon.  Route 9 marsh-five Lesser Scaup (odd at this location), a Bufflehead, a Pied billed Grebe and three Pine Warbler.  Winsor Dam- four Bufflehead, a Pied billed Grebe, six Turkey Vulture, an Osprey and another Pine Warbler.  Many stops had Eastern Phoebes, Tree Swallows, Northern Flickers and Chipping Sparrows in decent numbers.  Certainly an influx of birds last night but nothing too extreme.

Pied billed Grebe, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 11, 2014

Horned Grebes, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 11, 2014

 

Horned Grebes and Bufflehead, Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, MA, Apr 11, 2014

After getting a few things done around the house I headed over to Winsor Dam again to see what might be moving on the continued southerly winds before the rain came in.  The four Bufflehead and the Pied billed Grebe continued but I also had a group of five Horned Grebes, three Common Loons, ten Turkey Vultures, three Bald Eagles and 16 Tree Swallows.  The rain started up about 3:45 and continued as I left a bit after four.  It was a very nice day to be outside with the temperatures eventually reaching the upper 60's...almost like the tropics!  It was even better to spend some time at Quabbin trying to find some waterfowl (and other stuff).  I intend to spend more time over there this weekend and with any luck I will have some success.  After today and yesterday I have reached 123 species for Hampshire County so far...I may indeed have to try to break my old record.

Blackbirds (Rusty or Brewer's), Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Apr 10, 2014

Blackbird (Rusty or Brewer's), Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Apr 10, 2014

Pectoral Sandpiper, Old Pilgrim Airport, Hatfield, MA, Apr 10, 2014

Yesterday I had some interesting birds on a very windy day.  I managed to stop at the Old Pilgrim Airport on the Hatfield/Whately line and had the following highlights: a couple pectoral sandpipers, a couple snipe, 32 killdeer, a couple American Pipits, nine Horned Larks and a couple interesting blackbirds at the old pilgrim airport on the Hatfield/Whately line hat may have been Brewer's Blackbirds.   I initially heard the blackbirds call a few times and my thought was a rusty that didn't sound quite right. I took a look at them through the scope and they were mainly facing away. I took a few shots before they flew off. In retrospect the sound seemed more like a Brewers but it was damn windy there so that may have had an impact on the sound.  After listening to more recordings of brewers I'm more convinced now that is what I heard. The birds certainly looked a bit more iridescent overall but lighting was not great.  Another good one that got away I guess.  I also had a juvenile Iceland gull at Winsor dam at sunset in among the Ring billed Gulls.

Quabbin finally thaws out and an update on a neck tagged goose

Winsor Dam with most of the ice gone, Apr 9, 2014

Ring necked Ducks, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 9, 2014

Greater Scaup, Connecticut River, Hadley, MA, Apr 9, 2014

A major step toward spring occurred today when the majority of ice finally disappeared from Quabbin!  It has been frozen solid since late January and thanks to some warm weather lately as well as a strong wind the ice has broken up.  Now I will finally be able to catch up with some waterfowl there...I have been having serious withdrawals!  Before work I made a brief stop along the Connecticut River in Hadley and found some waterfowl in among the flooded trees of the rapidly rising river.  The waterfowl there included at least 8 Wood Ducks (likely many more hidden from view), 8 Mallards, 53 Ring necked Ducks and a male Greater Scaup.

Canada Goose with neck tag, UMASS Pond, Mar 25, 2014

An update on the neck tagged Canada Goose (Y3R7 red/orange with white writing) seen on a few separate occasions in the valley between March 16 and March 25.  I got the information back on the bird a few days ago and here are the particulars on the individual.  The female goose was tagged as a young bird on July 3, 2010 in Varennes, Quebec, Canada.   Always fun to see the journey a bird makes over its lifetime.

 

Sarapiqui area of Costa Rica -March 27-29

Lineated Woodpecker, Chilamate, Costa Rica, Mar 27, 2014

Long tailed Tyrant, Chilamate, Costa Rica, Mar 27, 2014

Amazon Kingfisher, Chilamate Ecolodge, Costa Rica, Mar 27, 2014

Howler Monkey, Virgen del Socorro, Costa Rica, Mar 28, 2014

Violet Sabrewing, Mirador La Cascada, Costa Rica, Mar 28, 2014

This will be one of a few posts about my most recent trip down to Costa Rica.  The first installment will cover the first few days down there when I was primarily in the Sarapiqui area on the Caribbean side of the country.

We arrived in Costa Rica late on March 26th and spent the night outside San Jose and then we headed northwest to the Sarapiqui region the next morning.   I had intentions to stop at a spot known for some unusual hummingbirds but the driver could not find the spot so I missed out on a few possible species there but oh well. We arrived at Chilamate Ecolodge around noon and I spent the afternoon exploring the grounds and nearby areas and managed ten life birds in a few hours time. Nice to be in a new area of Costa Rica and see a new suite of birds.

On Friday the 28th I had arranged for a guide for the entire day but the guide didn't show at the agreed time and for a time I thought I was in deep trouble and would miss out on my one full day I had available up there for birding.  Luckily the owner of the lodge knew the guide and called him. A bit of miscommunication on his part had me scheduled for guiding the next day...damn! The guide made it there up a bit late and was very apologetic.  Better late than never we were off to Virgen del Socorro.  Although the birding was a bit slow we did run across a family of Howler Monkeys including a couple youngsters. We spent a few hours there but it was fairly quiet. We then made it to a small restaurant nearby that had some hummingbird feeders and a great view of a nearby waterfall. We spent about an hour there and I managed a few life hummingbirds and some great photos. With the day nearly half over we headed to La Salva with a brief stop on the way to pick up a Great Potoo (just look for the handwritten 'potoo' sign...no kidding!). We arrived at La Salva and spent hours exploring the grounds and had some great birds picking up several more lifers including Agami Heron.

The guide made up for his late appearance on Friday by guiding for me for a few hours on Saturday before we made our trip to Rio Magnolia Lodge. We started off right at dawn trying to track down a pair of nesting Great Green Macaws.  We had them vocally flying away not long after we arrived so we counted ourselves lucky to see them at all. We then headed back over to La Salva and spent a few more hours there and yet again picked up some great birds. Overall a great couple days on the Caribbean side around Sarapiqui during which I managed to get 46 life birds...very happy with that. The guide (despite some initial problems with dates) turned out to be great. He is in charge of guides at La Salva and really knows his stuff. I would recommend Roldofo to anyone birding up that way.

We then made the long drive (about five hours) down to Rio Magnolia Lodge with a few stops along the way with the most productive birding spot being the feeders at La Georgina....lots of hummingbirds you can't get elsewhere coming in really close for great views.

 

More photos from the latest trip down there can be found on my Flickr page and I'm adding more as I get them sorted out:

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/54277284@N05/sets/72157643533350313/

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A little birding back in the valley

Red necked Grebe (with Ring necked Duck), Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 7, 2014

Red necked Grebe, Arcadia, Northampton, MA, Apr 7, 2014

I decided to make a quick stop at Arcadia this morning on the way to work to see if I could find some more waterfowl in the among the somewhat flooded river and oxbow. Still a bit of ice in the oxbow but it is rapidly melting. Although I only had a short time to look I turned up the following waterfowl: 18 Canada Geese, 19 Wood Duck (certainly an under count), five Black Duck, 23 Mallard, four Green winged Teal, 53 Ring necked Duck, 34 Common Merganser, a Pied billed Grebe and a Red necked Grebe (swimming in among the flooded trees with Wood Ducks and Ring necked Ducks...an odd sighting). Numerous phoebes were calling as well as some Killdeer flying over. With the bridge closed and my time short I didn't have the time to check on the herons, eagles or the Great Horned Owls nesting at the rookery. Another odd sighting on my way in occurred on East Hadley Road and Bay Road when I had a very small goose flying along with a small group of Canada Geese. As I was driving at the time I never got a chance to get a good look but it certainly was a very interesting looking small goose.  

Double crested Cormorant, Great Pond, Hatfield, MA, Apr 7, 2014

American Wigeon, Green winged Teal and Canada Geese, Russellville Rd, Amherst, MA

Late in the day I made a swing up through Hatfield and then down through some fields in Hadley in the hopes of finding some of the unusual geese still around (mainly a Greater White fronted Goose) but had no luck with unusual geese...although I did have a group of over 500 Canada Geese along Russellville Rd on the Hadley/Amherst line. Even though I didn't find anything too unusual I had the following birds: Great Pond- 37 Canada Geese, 14 Wood Duck, 6 Black Duck, 18 Mallard, 9 Ring necked Duck, 11 Common Merganser, a Double crested Cormorant and five Great Blue Heron. The Pilgrim Airport produced a few Black Ducks, Mallards, Green winged Teal plus a couple Great Blue Herons, 32 Killdeer, a Wilson's Snipe and 63 Horned Larks. The location looks primed for some good shorebirds if the conditions hold out for the next few weeks. A drive through various fields was fairly unproductive until I found the previously mentioned group of geese along Russellville Road which also included a couple American Wigeon, three Black Duck, four Mallard and ten Green winged Teal plus hundreds of American Robins and a several hundred bird mixed flock of blackbirds, cowbirds, starlings and grackles.

Meanwhile at home I had my first of the season Ruby crowned Kinglet. The kinglet became species #116 for Hampshire County this year...I also added two other new species today including Pied billed Grebe and Double crested Cormorant. This total puts me slightly ahead of last year at this time.

Back from Costa Rica again.

Sunset at Rio Magnolia Lodge, Apr 4, 2014

Golden browed Chlorophonia, Bosque del Socorro, Costa Rica, Apr 3, 2014

Green and Black Poison Dart Frogs, Chilamate, Costa Rica, Mar 29, 2014

Agami Heron, La Salva, Costa Rica, Mar 28, 2014

Snowy Cotinga, La Salva, Costa Rica, Mar 28, 2014

Semiplumbeous Hawk, La Salva, Costa Rica, Mar 28, 2014

Just back from a ten day trip down to sunny, warm Costa Rica.  I'll be posting about it as I get some time and get all the photos downloaded (all I have downloaded so far are photos from my iPhone...they will have to do for now).  Suffice it to say it was another great trip with lots of great birds and other 'stuff'.  

Winsor Dam, Quabbin Park, Apr 6, 2014

Green winged Teal, Quabbin Park, Apr 6, 2014

I needed to catch up with some more new birds around here for the season which I started to do today despite some jet lag.  Although Quabbin itself is still mostly frozen the smaller ponds nearby (Route 9 marsh, Beaver Lake and Lake Wallace) have all thawed and contained various species of waterfowl this morning.  Nothing new as far as waterfowl goes but I did have an Osprey moving north while I was at Winsor Dam plus my first Mourning Cloak butterflies of the season...almost like being back in the tropics (well....not quite!)

Pink footed Geese continue...yes, more than one around!

Pink footed Goose, Lake Warner, Hadley, MA, Mar 26, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Lake Warner, Hadley, MA, Mar 26, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Lake Warner, Hadley, MA, Mar 26, 2014

Pink footed Goose, Lake Warner, Hadley, MA, Mar 26, 2014

Canada Goose with neck tag, UMASS campus pond, Amherst, MA, Mar 25, 2014

A quick post as I don't have a lot of time this morning but it appears that there are at least two (possibly three) Pink footed Geese present in the valley...amazing!  I tried to catch up with one of them again yesterday morning but didn't have any luck.  However this morning I did find one (possibly two) at Lake Warner in among several hundred Canada Geese.  Although I didn't find any Pink footed Geese yesterday I did find a few decent birds including two Black Vultures in among Turkey Vultures at West Farms Road and Ryan Road in Northampton (about the same spot I had Black Vultures last year)...I tried to get a few photos with my iPhone but I don't think they came out well enough to ID them (photos still on a flash drive at work).  I also found the neck tagged Canada Goose again...this time at the UMASS campus pond.  The other notable species yesterday was a Wilson's Snipe at East Hadley Road...the vultures and snipe became species #110 and #111 for the year respectively in Hampshire County.  I'm some how oddly ahead of last years record setting pace by five species at this point despite no real winter irruptives to speak of...crazy!  Still tons of geese around so I wouldn't be surprised if other unusual stuff eventually turn up...hopefully if anything else shows up it stays for awhile.