Thursday, May 14, 2009

Hitchcock Center Trip- Quabbin Res. 5-10-09

Hitchcock Birding Class- May 10th.

Met the group at the Hitchcock Center in Amherst around 7AM for our trip to the Quabbin Reservoir. Upon arrival, I immediately had a Great Blue Heron and Common Loon moving high overhead-heading northeast. I thought this was fairly interesting considering the wind was already blowing pretty well out of the northwest.

Before leaving the Center, I heard a Wilson's Warbler and a White-Cr. Sparrow singing from the thicket near the center. Unfortunately, the Warbler was not as cooperative as I would have liked, but most folks had an adequate view., but the White-crowned just disappeared.

We arrived at Windsor Dam around 7:45am and the wind was even stronger! A couple of Eastern Kingbirds in the parking lot put on a nice show, but we started seeing Common Loons moving north. At the end of the morning, we had 11 Common Loons and 10 Double-crested Cormorants migrating north. This perhaps doesn't seem like a lot, especially D.C. Cormorants, but for Common Loons migrating inland- this was the highest number I've encountered in years.

Despite the strong winds, the rest of the day proved to be pretty good. We finished the day with over 75 species and sixteen species of Warblers. Partial trip list below.....

Good birding,

Scott



Wilson's Warbler- Larch Hill, Amherst
Veery- Quabbin Park

Enfield Lookout -Quabbin

Black & White Warbler- Quabbin Park

Baltimore Oriole- Goodell Street Feeder
Location: Quabbin Park/H.Q.
Wild Turkey 1
Common Loon 10
Double-crested Cormorant 10
Turkey Vulture 4
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Spotted Sandpiper 4
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Least Flycatcher 3
Eastern Phoebe 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 2
Yellow-throated Vireo 5
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Warbling Vireo 2
Barn Swallow 1
Brown Creeper 1
House Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Veery 2
Gray Catbird 8
Blue-winged Warbler 2
Northern Parula 3
Yellow Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 12
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 11
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5
Black-throated Green Warbler 11
Blackburnian Warbler 3
Pine Warbler 3
Prairie Warbler 3
Black-and-white Warbler 7
American Redstart 6
Ovenbird 9
Common Yellowthroat 2
Scarlet Tanager 5
Eastern Towhee 7
Chipping Sparrow 8
Field Sparrow 2
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 2
Baltimore Oriole 11
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 12
LARCH HILL CONSERVATION AREA-AMHERST
Common Loon 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Chimney Swift 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Carolina Wren 1
House Wren 2
Veery 1
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 5
Pine Warbler 2
American Redstart 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
Wilson's Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 2
White-crowned Sparrow (Eastern) 2
Baltimore Oriole 2
Pine Siskin 2
American Goldfinch 4