MA - more dabblers!

Some welcome rain brought slightly cooler temperatures today but it still felt very muggy to me. I had a quick cruise around some of the fields in Gill this morning but found little of interest except a couple of Bobolinks off Boyle Road. Little seemed to have changed at Barton Cove as well, that's until I bumped in Josh Rose at Unity Park in Turner's Falls. Again, the motley Mallard flock drew in yet another species of dabbling duck - four Blue-winged Teal. Unlike last week's Green-winged Teal, these birds didn't mind being watched at close quarters and hung around until Josh and I left at about 09:45 hrs. The molting drake Gadwall continued, now present for about a month at Unity Park. Other than that, a Pied-billed Grebe off Riverview Drive and the continuing, summering Great Black-backed Gull. But, Blue-winged Teal was the bird of the day.....no doubt about that one.

 Blue-winged Teals - four today on the CT river at Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 10th, 2015. 

 Common Nighthawks - two distant birds heading east, Barton Cove boat ramp, Gill, Franklin Co., MA. 

September 10th, 2015. 

Gadwall -  continuing molting male, Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 10th, 2015. 

Later in the day, a quick check of Unity Park on a rainy, gloomy evening found the four Blue-winged Teal still present and Eric Huston scoping them out! Eric had mentioned seeing a fairly late nighthawk. Luckily for me, a quick stop at Barton Cove boat ramp found two Common Nighthawks heading east through the gloom at speed. It's getting quite late to see nighthawks locally though I think we still have a chance of seeing some stragglers through to the end of the month.