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Wednesday 9/23: Mystic Lakes for a change. Big flock of Blackpolls moving through the pines at Sandy Beach but pretty quiet otherwise.

Thursday 9/24: Dunback had 7 warblers (but 8 individuals), a grosbeak, and Indigo, and not too much else.

Friday 9/25: Two Sora, 20+ pipits, a few warblers at Great Meadows.

Saturday 9/26: Storm took its time arriving, so did a fairly large loop in the morning. Res had 10 PB Grebes, various ducks including 3 wigeon and a few pintail and an eagle. Flint’s had 2 loons. Spy, Mystic Lakes, and Horn combined for a few RB Gulls and cormorants. Arlington Res had a White-rump among the peep.

Sunday 9/27: Sort of found a gap in the rain but nothing of note at the res, Flint’s, or Hardy.

Monday 9/28: Mostly waited out the rain but saw the Black-bellied Plover report at the res and went out late morning. Middle had an eagle but not much else. Parked by the gate and walked up to hear that there were some dowitchers too. They were way down so we walked to the speed bump only for everything to fly back towards Trapelo. Meanwhile Arav pulled up and pointed out that there was a golden plover in with the Black-bellies. Back at the gate, most of them gave decent views, although getting an id on the dowitchers has proven tough (a couple are clear Short-bills, a couple still tbd). Also a scaup, some yellowlegs, a Blackpoll, and more ducks that I mostly ignored. Once I got away, I gave Hobbs Brook a quick pass but the water level was up.

Tuesday 9/29: Decided to try Heard Pond for Leach’s. Obviously no luck on that and not too much there. Went to the community garden which had a bit but nothing terribly exciting. Pulled in at the res on the way home. No Leach’s but I could hear a Black-bellied or two, didn’t have time to stop at the flats.

Wednesday 9/16: Rock Meadow had a pile of robins and goldfinches but not too much else. Did have another White-throat and  a couple hummingbirds. Pine Warbler turned out to be new for me at Rock Meadow. Looped the back and had a Solitary flyover and then at least six flickers together back at the front. Another loop of the gardens didn’t have much different but a Dickcissel called a few times although I never did find it on the ground.

Thursday 9/17: Horn Pond had no exciting sparrows but did get the Bonaparte’s Gull at least. After getting the car stuff finished, stopped at Arlington Res, which had lots of peep but not much else.

Friday 9/18: Danehy was very quiet, Blair Pond was quieter.

Saturday 9/19: Tried to wrap up two more towns. Started at Sunny Meadow Farm in Chelmsford. Lot of people around, so I went down the bike path and over to Red Wing, where I had a Philadelphia Vireo and Prairie Warbler among other things. Got back to the farm and added a few more, adding seven on the day. Vietnam Veterans Park next. Started well with a cormorant and Red-shoulder at the pond but a long walk through the woods had very, very little, so still have four to go. Waltham St. after had a couple Indigos and a Bobolink.

Sunday 9/20: Started at Nahanton. Upper garden had a couple warblers and a Lincoln’s Sparrow, which were the highlights for the entire area. Continued to the bend in the Charles which had a couple Pecs among the usual shorebirds. Cambridge Res next, rain began early but I gave it a good check. Osprey at the south end, 11 Pied-billed Grebes in the middle, seven egrets, Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 wigeon, bunch of teal, bunch of Ring-necks at the Trapelo end. Further down Old County just had a few Semipalmated Sandpipers. Arlington Res after had more of the same.

Monday 9/21: Very little at BBN (Magnolia, Parula, GW Teal) but a pair of otter in the pond made it worth it. Had time for a quick check of Rock Meadow which turned up a Pileated.

Tuesday 9/22: Merlin about it at Forest Grove.

Wednesday 9/9: Got two new birds for Prospect Hill: flyover Lesser Yellowlegs and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Not a ton else, handful of warblers and at least 10 ravens.

Thursday 9/10: Dunback was quiet (or blocked by wind and insect noise). Eventually found a few warblers (Magnolia, redstart, Yellow) but that was about it.

Friday 9/11: Had the car in, so eventually got to Arlington Res. No phalarope and nothing else of much note. Did an afternoon loop for the other possible spots, other than a pile of egrets and a Pec along Old County Rd there wasn’t much.

Saturday 9/12: Did some more town listing (after seeing no Connecticut or Buff-breasted reports in Worcester county) and went out to Hopkinton. The Maspenock spur was full, so no shorebirds but did have a swan. Moved to Whitehall and had pigeons on the way. Realized both of those would be new and I only wanted one bird, so kept going into Holliston. Weston Pond had soccer in full swing, so moved to the rail trail. Pretty quiet but had raven and a nice Red-shoulder. Broad Hill next (plus Turkey Vulture on the way), added a Barred Owl, RB Nuthatch, House Wren, etc to reach the goal.

Warren Woods in Ashland had another Red-shoulder, a couple towhees, a Red-banded Hairstreak, and starling (finally). Mill Pond had a Harvester,  Magnolia, and Parula plus a couple Red-shoulders, so Ashland target reached too.

Sunday 9/13: Too wet, did a quick res loop late but nothing of note (did appear to be more teal but didn’t feel like getting out).

Monday 9/14: Went to Watatic based on the nw wind forecast. Started at West Meadow Road, which was totally dead. Also fell into some nettles and then ran into a hunter so bailed pretty quickly. Walk up Watatic was also quiet other than a White-throat. Wind at the top turned out to be a bit too strong and the flight was pretty limited. Ended up with around 100 Broad-wings, a few sharpies, a bunch of eagles, and not much else. Walk down was slightly busier but other than a large raptor flying off through the trees nothing was noteworthy.

Tuesday 9/15: First of fall Blackpoll and a night heron at Cookson, Yellow and not too much else by the dam.

Wednesday 9/2: Dunback had a decent variety of warblers including a Tennessee, 2 Northern Waterthrushes, and a Canada.

Thursday 9/3: Two Ring-necks, both teal at the res. Usual shorebirds at Hobbs Brook and Old County.

Friday 9/4: Couple Yellows and a Blue-winged was it at BBN. Three egrets were roosting at Hardy at night, visible from the yard.

Saturday 9/5: Started at Fisherman’s Bend where I found some martins and the golden-plover but no knot. Greenway/cemetery was pretty quiet, Winthrop Beach was dead. The Whimbrel were visible for a few minutes right as I got to the boardwalk at Belle Isle, not much else there.

Sunday 9/6: Left home in bright sun to work on some town lists, but got on Rt. 2 and it started raining again so I went to Wachusett Res. Bunch of loons, bunch of Ring-bills, and that was it. Rain seemed to be on the way out, so picked up the original plan and went to Farandnear. Interesting place, got one good pocket of warblers although they stayed high and against a gray sky made it tough. Continued to Rockland Rd in Maynard. Soccer fields were open although nothing was on them. Walked through the woods and had a parula but couldn’t pick out anything else. On the way back, it started pouring. Stopped to scan above the marsh and saw a distant Solitary flying over but was getting soaked and couldn’t hear anything over the rain, so ran back to the car. Checked Mill Pond and School St on the way home with nothing.

Monday 9/7: Did a walking day, which was a poor choice. Falzone had a Green Heron and a warbler call. West Meadow had an oriole. BBN had a redstart and BT Green but not much else. Rock Meadow had a hummer. Return trip had a couple more redstarts and a vulture. Barely passed 40.

Tuesday 9/8: Arlington Res had a decent number of the usual shorebirds, both teals, and a couple redstarts. Didn’t take time to count the waterfowl at the res but a kestrel flyover was nice.

Wednesday 8/26: Chestnut-sided, few other things at Hanscom.

Thursday 8/27: Couple redstarts, gnatcatcher, pileated at BBN.

Friday 8/28: Same shorebirds plus a Prairie and Field Sparrow at Hobbs Brook. Nothing much at Shade St and more of the same on Old County.

Saturday 8/29: Tried to get Worcester August to 100 (starting at 94). High Ridge first. Walked further down Neighborhood Rd than I have in the past, although didn’t add much there. Did hear a crossbill or two and a Purple Finch for two. On the way back there was a Least Flycatcher for a third, then just before it opens up again a Magnolia. A few Solitaries, Green Herons, and ducks on the water plus several Lance-tipped Darners.

Couldn’t dig up anything else so continued to Watatic. North side was pretty quiet, a Magnolia at the base and another just before the county line were about it. Up at the peak, there was very little beyond people, so after wandering a bit of the woods, I just went out to the hawkwatch hoping for a couple Accipiters. Bit surprised to see Brian up there, so I stayed for 45 minutes or so. Only hawks were Broad-wings and a Red-tail, probably had more hummingbirds than anything. Started down and stopped to look at a towhee and caught some movement above it, which turned out to be a Black-billed Cuckoo. Unfortunately  that was about the last bird heading down, so I’m stuck at 99.

Sunday 8/30: Started at Squantum for the knot. Heard it was around but couldn’t find it from the hummock, so relocated to Wollaston where John was on it by the time I caught up to him. Also had a Pec among the Semis but not too much else. Went back to the hummock to hunt for a Western but didn’t dig it or anything else out. Nickerson Rock was dead other than a small tern frenzy that had dissipated by the time I circled around. Orchard Beach had more terns although the interesting ones got away. Gave up from there and gave the res a check (no changes) and Old County (3 egrets and fewer peep).

Monday 8/31: Ended up at a very quiet Estabrook, YT Vireo still singing and a couple RB Nuthatches about it.

Tuesday 9/1: Res had a yellowlegs and four Blue-winged Teal. Continued to Great Meadows but it was pouring by the time I arrived. Saw there was a gap approaching, so sat in the car for half an hour then went out to the platform. Pretty birdy, with a GW Teal, a few shorebirds, a Least Flycatchar, and a Traill’s Flycatcher that was almost certainly a Willow.

Wednesday 8/19: Broad-wing about it at Dunback.

Thursday 8/20: Pileated and very little else at Prospect Hill, egret at the res on the way home.

Friday 8/21: Quick buzz of the res didn’t have anything but turkeys. Hobbs Brook had a pile of Semis and Lesser Yellowlegs but little else (one Killdeer). Hardy had nothing, went back around the res and had a flock of Semis (both) and a Solitary.

Saturday 8/22: Started at Deer Island. Fairly quiet although I actually got two new birds for the site. One was the expected Wilson’s Storm-Petrels, the other was a still expected American Kestrel. Winthrop Beach next. Most birds were still at the high tide roost which is really hard to scan. Did have a few down by the water but nothing interesting. Quick stop at Belle Isle had mosquitos. Earhart had a ton of Semi Sandpipers.

Sunday 8/23: Res loop. Nothing particularly noteworthy at the res itself. Old County Rd had a good number of shorebirds although nothing different that I could pick out. Hobbs Brook had a ton of Semi Sandpipers and a few yellowlegs but again nothing new. Continued to Newton access of the bend of the Charles that I had previously scanned at long range from Powell’s Island (thanks Laura for pointing me at the trail). Wandered the wrong way at first but soon found the viewing point. Ton of peep, plover, yellowlegs, plus a couple Bank Swallows. Surprisingly, four of those were new for me in Newton (probably all were on the Newton side of Purgatory at some point but I don’t track that carefully, think all except maybe the egret were physically in Newton and not Needham). Checked the res again after the rain but nothing jumped out as different.

Monday 8/24: Nothing particularly interesting at Weston Station Pond.

Tuesday 8/25: Extremely dead east of and at the square.

Wednesday 8/12: College Pond had a redstart, a bunch of buntings, a bunch of odes, and not too much else. Res had some peep flying around but wasn’t able to stop and scan thoroughly.

Thursday 8/13: Falzone was very quiet. Waiting for car work, Hardy had a bunch of waxwings but not much else.

Friday 8/14: Same sandpipers at Hobbs Brook but a waterthrush in the stream by the overpass was a patch bird. Tried for the small white heron on Old County Rd too, no luck. Started around the res but the middle was too in the sun and when I doubled back to the start, there was a big truck parked.

Saturday 8/15: Did another loon ‘survey’ in Dracut. None again but did have an eagle fly in with a stick. Continued to Pawtucket Farm in Lowell. Fairly quiet but did add hummingbird, towhee, and Black-and-white. Went to one of the boat ramps next. Barely anything here plus several cops putting boats in. Went back to the state forest, which meant driving past the river fest that I had managed to miss on the way down before. Fortunately traffic wasn’t too bad. Went straight to the marsh, had Barn Swallows for 10 for the year in Lowell, so turned around. Heard one mixed flock that I chased a bit on the way out and added RB Nuthatch too. Moved on to Tyngsboro, starting in the Shelburne sanctuary. Looked nice in season but pretty quiet. Did manage a couple additions. Decided to go to the Hunter property next. Back field was quite busy with orioles, a tanager, and a few other things along the edge. One oriole looked very yellow and I chased it around for a bit. Found it in photos once home to confirm a late Orchard. And had a gnatcatcher while looking, which meant five new ones for Tyngsboro today, much improved from only getting two in previous trips.

Sunday 8/16: Started at Nahanton, which had a bunch of Barn Swallows but not too much else. Millennium next had a nice shorebird show but a Bobolink and Virginia Rail were the only other things of any note. Checked the res for shorebirds on the way home, couple Killdeer at the south end, Killdeer and Lesser Yellowlegs along Old County (no small egret still).

Monday 8/17: Quick check of the res had a few turkeys. Great Meadows had 4 species of swallow, a harrier, a Red-shoulder, and a few shorebirds.

Tuesday 8/18: Pileated, Least Flycatcher, not too much else at BBN.

Wednesday 8/5: Prospect Hill had a couple redstarts, maybe a crossbill, and an interesting sounding raptor.

Thursday 8/6: Estabrook had at least one crossbill, not too much else even though I topped 40 species.

Friday 8/7: BBN was pretty quiet.

Saturday 8/8: BBC Leader’s Appreciation at Wompatuck. Other than a few martins, the walk part was fairly quiet. Decided it was too hot for any stops on the way home (probably should have gone for the Roseates at Squantum…).

Sunday 8/9: Waited for tern reports so went to Heard Farm to be partway. Looped around and water levels were too high for any shorebirds and nothing exciting on land. Still no reports so went to Hamlen next. Walked a trail around the pond that I hadn’t done before but nothing exciting. Pod Meadow was even quieter.

Monday 8/10: Couple Black-and-white and 5 ravens at Weston Station.

Tuesday 8/11: Dunback was very quiet.

Wednesday 7/29: Forest Grove had a few Turkey Vultures but not too much else ahead of the rain. Nothing obvious elsewhere along there river, at the res, or at Hardy.

Thursday 7/30: Nothing different on the res. Hobbs Brook had a lot of peep and a Pec. Loon at Flint’s, nothing at Nine Acre. Bunch of swallows at Hardy but nothing storm related anywhere.

Friday 7/31: Falzone had a Broad-wing, nothing much else there or at the West Meadow.

Saturday 8/1: Started at Westboro WMA working on the August Worcester list. Good start with a Tennessee, but nothing terribly exciting otherwise. Continued to Waseeka where I only managed one new Hopkinton bird (Turkey Vulture). Nothing too much on the water and the woods were pretty quiet. Tried Broad Hill in Holliston next, got a handful although nothing terribly exciting. Looks good for cooler weather though.

Sunday 8/2: Started in Squantum at Nickerson Rock, which had a few redstarts but not too much else. Orchard Beach had a bunch of shorebirds but didn’t feel like scoping, so only BB Plover was of note. The shorebird flock at the hummock was 500+ strong but almost all Semis (and distant so picking anything else out was tough). Went to Castle Island for the Razorbill next. Pulled in along the road and thought I saw it way out, so went down to the parking lot and started walking. No sign, continued all the way around and found it pretty close to shore not very far from where I had pulled in. Earhart next, just buzzed to the casino and back without anything of note (except a night heron flying over that was probably a Yellow-crowned but got on it too late).

Monday 8/3: Was still a bit bright so went to Great Meadows. Rain started as I was arriving but got a few minutes in before it got too bad. Nothing much there though. Did have a Least flying around on the walk out. Went to the res, became a deluge by the time I reached a spot to pull over and didn’t seem like much anyway.

Tuesday 8/4: Nothing at Cookson, about that at the square.

Wednesday 7/22: Usual at Weston Station Pond, nothing at the res in a quick scan.

Thursday 7/23: Nothing particularly different at BBN. Tried to check the duck ponds but there was a crew mowing so didn’t stop.

Friday 7/24: Res was too sunny. Shade St was quiet, couple robber flies about the only interest. Hobbs Brook had nothing exciting for shorebirds, grass may be getting too thick in places.

Saturday 7/25: Started at Millennium figuring I could get Suffolk over 100 for July. Eventually heard a rail and found a young crow that appeared to be a Fish, which meant 101. Also a bunch of Willows but not too much else. Continued to Raymond Reservation where two Least Bitterns were visible on my first pass, then the gallinule family on the second. Afternoon loop had two Turkey Vultures on the ground at Elm Brook but nothing else of note.

Sunday 7/26: Went out west. High Ridge had a couple families of warblers (redstart, Chestnut-sided), 2 Alder Flycatchers, a crossbill, and a Belted Whiteface. Continued to the Lake Wompanoag Bog, which was fairly quiet ode-wise (Elfin Skimmer, a few uncooperative darners) but had a decent variety of birds. Stopped at Fitchburg Res (3 loons, 2 eagles) and the res (usual) on the way home.

Monday 7/27: Dunback had mostly the usual, lot of grosbeaks.

Tuesday 7/28: Solitary, bunch of hummingbirds, eagle, etc. at Great Meadows.