MA - Cackling Goose; first of the autumn

Warm, muggy southerlies today, hardly the sort of day to be looking for Arctic geese but a quick check of Turner's Falls found the first Cackling Goose of the autumn season loafing on the power canal with a mere 70 Canada Geese. This is the earliest Cackling Goose I've found locally, though I have suspected late September birds before, usually fly-overs with Canada Geese. The waterfowl numbers were small but diverse at Turner's Falls this afternoon with 2 Hooded Mergansers and a Green-winged Teal at the power canal and an American Wigeon and the long staying Gadwall above the dam at Unity Park.

Forecast calls for rain, temperature drop and winds from the northern quarter in the next couple of days...could bring some interesting changes....let's see what happens.

Cackling Goose (left) - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2015. 

 Cackling Goose (left) - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2015. 

Cackling Goose (raised wings) - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2015. 

 Gadwall -  Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2015. 

 Green-winged Teal - Turner's Falls power canal, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2015. 

American Wigeon - Unity Park, Turner's Falls, Franklin Co., MA. September 29th, 2015.