Trip Highlights

Fourteen members gathers at Quabbin Reservoir in very cool and foggy weather conditions.  We started the walk at the Headquarters, but we also visited the Tower Area, the Enfield Lookout, and ended the morning at Hank’s Meadows with a total of 36 species.  

On the reservoir, Common Loons, a Horned Grebe, a few Surf Scoters, and a couple of Common Mergansers were spotted.  It was a slow day for warblers, only seeing the Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, and Blackpoll.  Sparrows seen included White-throated, Song, and Tree.  Flying high were Bald Eagle, Turkey Vultures, Crows, and a couple of Red-tailed Hawks.  Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were present, as well as White and Red-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Eastern Towhee, Phoebe, Dark-eyed Juncos, Blue Jay, Cardinal, Robin, Eastern Bluebird, Goldfinch, Catbirds, a Hermit and a Swainson’s Thrush. Great day, great group!

Ten adults and two junior birders, ages 5 and 2, started out in very cool weather with a light rain. We walked to the 1-mile marker, then headed back, because the weather was not improving.  We spotted a total of 18 species.

On the reservoir, we saw Canada Geese, Mallards, Double-crested Cormorant, a Great Blue Heron and a Common Loon. Along the way, we got Black-capped Chickadees, Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Phoebes, White-breasted Nuthatch, Dark-eyed Juncos, a Blue-headed Vireo, Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Song Sparrow.  Warblers for the day were Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, and Palm.  The most popular bird of the morning was the very vocal Blue Jay.  They were everywhere!

Eight members took advantage of this sunny and pleasant day to bird Arcadia.  It was a really good walk that garnered a total of 47 species. Highlights were a White-crowned Sparrow and a flock of American Pipits.  There was a good variety of warblers found, including Pine, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Common Yellowthroat and Northern Parula. We also scored on raptors, siting Sharp-shinned, Cooper’s, Red-shouldered and Red-tailed Hawks and Northern Harrier.  Great day!

Six members gathered at the refuge this morning to enjoy clear weather, with temperatures hovering around 60 degrees. A total of 33 species were counted, see below for trip list. Beautiful photos of Wood Thrush, House Finch and Northern Flicker taken by Christine might add three more species to that list. Always nice to have a good photographer with the group!

At least 19 members gathered to glimpse a peek at a mass migration of Broad-winged Hawks and they were not disappointed.  The weather was sunny and hazy, with skim-milk clouds that were often no help at all.  It was a tough sky for hawkwatching. Despite this, for Blueberry Hill, it was a spectacular day, one of the best we’ve had in years.  The Broadwings came in many kettles, but were often far away and difficult to count. Dan Burt and Kathy Conway can be singled out for their amazing ability to spot and tally so many of these swirling poppy seeds in the distance.  They easily doubled the count we would have reached without them.  Thanks also to Tom Swochak on Shatterack Mountain northeast of us; he alerted us that 900Broadwings were possibly headed our way.

In all, we counted six different raptor species, with Broadwings giving us the high count of 1409, followed by Sharp-shinned Hawk at 13, Northern Harrier at 5, Osprey and Bald Eagle at 3 each, American kestrel at 1 and just one unknown raptor species.  We also counted a long list of non-raptors, including Canada Goose (1!), Rock Pigeons (3), Northern Flickers (2), PHILADELPHIA VIREO, Blue Jays (ca. 125 migrants), TREE SWALLOWS (500+ in a single swarm), Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, American Goldfinches (3), Purple Finch. Warblers spotted were American Redstart, Black-and-white, Northern Parulas (2), Magnolia, Black-throated Green, and Yellow-rumped. Last, but not least, seven Monarch Butterflies floated by overhead.