Berkshire Lakes

Our second fall visit here drew nine people, two of them very new. It was windy and cold, improving very slowly as the day wore on.  A few Green-winged Teal were at Laurel Lake and Fairfield Pond, while Stockbridge Bowl gave us a Great Blue Heron in the marsh and a Bald Eagle that flew along the shore just above our heads.  We found a distant Red-throated Loon at Richmond Pond and the usual horde of over a thousand Ring-necked Ducks at Mud Pond.  Another eagle perched on the shore at Onota Lake, where many Hooded Mergansers and a Pied-billed Grebe dove for food close before us.  We watched a Sharp-shinned Hawk hunt at the home of Ann Conners, then waited for the Fox Sparrows and a Red-breasted Nuthatch to return to the feeders.  Nearby Pontoosuc had a big flock of Common Mergansers, some Buffleheads and Goldeneyes.  At the last stop, a lingering Yellow-rumped Warbler appeared and a Red-tailed Hawk circled low over our heads.