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Berkshire Lakes

Berkshire Lakes

November 3, 2018

Seth Kellogg & Janice Zepko (stepping in for Myles & Kathy Conway)

The trip attracted 12 participants, who met at McDonald’s in Lee before heading out to search for waterfowl.  The more common species were found on the water at several locations and included at least 350 Canada Geese and over a hundred Mallards.  There were also about a hundred each of Common and Hooded Mergansers and a good number of Ring-billed Gulls scattered on the ponds.  We found about 30 common land birds notably a Flicker, two Brown Creepers, 3 Bluebirds, 6 Cedar Waxwings, and 30 Grackles.  

Our first stop was the north end of Cheshire Reservoir where there were a Great Blue Heron, 2 Mute Swans, an Osprey and 3 Bald Eagles, one an adult that perched beautifully atop a tall tree at our next stop further south on the Reservoir.  There and at other stops we also found a Long-tailed Duck, 2 Lesser Scaup, and a Ruddy Duck.  At one stop a sharp-eyed member noticed 3 Bluebirds flying over that eventually landed atop a tree, giving everyone good scope looks.

North Pontoosuc offered another Long-tailed Duck, 3 Common Loons, 2 more Lesser Scaup, 7 Bufflehead, 4 Horned Grebes, plus 3 Bonaparte’s Gulls together on the water.  At the south end we picked out a White-winged Scoter, a Goldeneye, and a Herring Gull from the Jeebe St., Lanesboro lookout.  

Burbank Park at Onota gave us 2 Red-necked Grebes after careful study and 2 more Common Loons.  Richmond Pond had a dozen Greater Scaup, 8 Coot, 8 Ring-necked Ducks, 14 Bufflehead, and another Common Loon.  Of course the day would not be complete without a stop at Bartlett’s for some yummy cider donuts, followed by a final stop at Stockbridge Bowl that gave us ten Buffleheads.  Our total species count was 51.