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Wednesday 4/22: Arlington Res had about the same. Nothing on the res or Hardy.

Thursday 4/23: Nothing east of the square, Yellow and a bunch of Yellow-rumps at the square.

Friday 4/24: Slow to get going so just went to BBN. Solitary and six snipe still there, couple Yellow-rumps, couple Palms, not much else so probably a good thing that I didn’t go further.

Saturday 4/25: Started at Squantum for the White-faced Ibis. Beat the road race but no bird when I arrived. Walked around a bit and eventually came back to people on it, fairly close. Also a few ducks and shorebirds, but glad I parked further away and was able to leave. Decided that nearby wasn’t a good idea so zipped up to Belle Isle. Had a long conversation with Paul before he took off for the ibis, nothing too exciting on the platform. Headed to Revere Beach where I eventually picked up the Manx flock and then got a message about a White-faced at Belle Isle, so ran back. No luck finding it (still not clear if I missed it or not earlier), did get Turkey Vulture for the area and an American Lady at least.

Sunday 4/26: Did some more town listing. Started at Sunny Meadow Farm where I picked up eight birds for Chelmsford, gnatcatcher the most interesting. Got all four of the ones on the 5 or less towns remaining list too. Continued to Nashoba Brook where I had six for Westford. Drove around Nagog next but the parking lot at the south end was filled with drone flyers so I skipped there and just went to Maynard. Rail trail had Barn Swallow, RB Nuthatch, Yellow-rump, and FOY Beaverpond Baskettail. Saw the messages about the Little Blue at Horn Pond, and, realizing it was an April bird, headed over. Fortunately it was near the entrance by Willow Rd and was quite cooperative, could have been in and out in 5 minutes if I wasn’t chatting.

Monday 4/27: Pileated, Hermit Thrush, pile of creepers, Mourning Cloak at Estabrook but no waterthrushes.

Tuesday 4/28: Yellow Warblers, a catbird, and Warbling Vireos in at Falzone. RB Grosbeak singing from the West Meadow.

Wednesday 4/15: Nothing put down (or lingering at least) at the res. College Pond and FOY Green Darners and Broad-wing.

Thursday 4/16: Ton of Yellow-rumps, a few Palms, a few swallows, not much else at Arlington Res. PB Grebe and Great Black-back at Hardy.

Friday 4/17: Nothing at the res. GW Teal, Lesser Scaup, Merlin, continuing Green Heron at Fresh Pond.

Saturday 4/18: Westborough WMA was pretty quiet beyond a couple beavers. Did get creeper and Tree Sparrow for Worcester for the month at least. Continued to Waseeka which was pretty good. Got 8 for Hopkinton including FOY BH Vireo and gnatcatcher. Couldn’t dig up any warblers though. On to Weston Pond in Holliston, 5 more there although Rusty was the only one of much interest.

Sunday 4/19: First BBC walk at Mt. Auburn. Dark and pretty quiet, couple catbirds, lots of kinglets, not too much else until the group all had to leave. Found the Black-and-white, a gnatcatcher, a couple more common warblers, and more almost immediately after.

Monday 4/20: Didn’t come up with a better idea for the holiday than more town listing. Went out to the Hudson/Marlborough State Forest (and the new bike trail along the edge). Nothing too exciting but 8 for Hudson including Rusty Blackbird and a pile of Palms. Continued to the Assabet River Trail where I got 4 more (so a second town past the goal of 10). Checked a nearby lake but didn’t see anything (and it appeared to all be Stow anyway), then went to Rockland Ave in Maynard. House Wren was singing near the start and crows seemed interested in something that I never found in the pines. The big conservation land was marked closed for trail work and the smaller one had a landscaping crew making a racket in the office park lot, so nothing else there. Buzzed Flint’s and the res on the way home without anything of note.

Tuesday 4/21: Marsh Wrens, Osprey, turkeys, no warblers at Great Meadows.

Wednesday 4/8: Mt. Auburn had a pile of sapsuckers, a Field Sparrow, a Hoodie, and a Hairy.

Thursday 4/9: Snipe, Pileated, kestrel at Meriam’s/Kaveski.

Friday 4/10: Nothing much at Arlington Res. Finished early so had time to check Hardy (usual) and the res (Redheads back, but at the Trapelo end).

Saturday 4/11: Mostly town listing. Nothing at Lake Q. Tried the Partridge Island trail for the Rusties I still need for Essex but no luck, nothing more exciting than a Rough-wing. Audubon Rd was also fairly quiet. Reading Town Forest was ok, got 8 new birds, so first town past the goal of 10 for the year. Five more at the Wilmington dog park along with FOY Mourning Cloak.

Sunday 4/12: Did a walking day. Barn Swallow on the wires by Hardy was interesting. Falzone had a couple Common Mergansers on the pond but not too much else of note. West Meadow also had a variety but nothing exciting. BBN had a Hermit Thrush by the basketball court, a good number of snipe (on foot #167), the Solitary, a few Pines and Palms, a dead Star-nosed Mole, and a few other things. Return trip was quiet, but a cormorant replaced the mergansers for species #50 on the day (plus swan after, should have walked down to Hardy for a few more).

Monday 4/13: Res had a few Ring-necks. Weston Station Pond had a lot of Chipping Sparrows, kinglets, and the 3 early warblers. Res on the way back had even more Ring-necks.

Tuesday 4/14: Nothing exciting at Dunback.

Wednesday 4/1: Long loop at BBN had a Virginia Rail, couple Palms, Fish Crow, and Chipping Sparrow.

Thursday 4/2: Redheads still on the res with a few more ducks but in awful conditions. Nothing at Flint’s, Nine Acre, Hobbs Brook, or Hardy.

Friday 4/3: Two kestrels, Fox Sparrow, couple Palms, etc at Dunback.

Saturday 4/4: Started at McCarthy Park, which was under construction. Did the south side and along the river a bit, only managing eagles for April in Norfolk. Barber Reservation in Sherborn next, PB Grebe, Rusty Blackbird, nesting Osprey, a ribbon snake, and a few other things. Wind had picked up but still tried Mill Pond in Ashland. Water had nothing but a few hawks and vultures went over and a couple easy landbirds. Drove past Heard and around the res on the way home without much beyond FOY Rough-wings.

Sunday 4/5: Started at Great Meadows. Got the Barn Swallow but otherwise pretty quiet. Saw the report of Black Scoter at Horn Pond, so headed that way. It was in close enough to get from the car, so I ticked and ran and then went to Sandy Beach. Fairly quiet there, nothing down the lakes or at Spy Pond. Saw the Aythya flock at the res and got out to scope, but there were 3 Bonaparte’s in the view when I first looked. Panned over and the Redheads were among the scaup.

Monday 4/6: Bunch of Palms, singing Winter Wren, not too much else at Forest Grove.

Tuesday 4/7: Snowing too heavily along the river.

Wednesday 3/25: West Meadow was fairly quiet. BBN was too except for 4 snipe on the mud.

Thursday 3/26: Great Meadows had a Blue-winged Teal, snipe, and turkeys following me around.

Friday 3/27: BW Teal was still at Cold Spring (Newton #165). Forest Grove was pretty quiet beyond a big flock of Tree Swallows. Nothing at Norumbega or the res on the way home.

Saturday 3/28: Wasn’t terribly nice. Started at the Christian Herter Gardens which were pretty quiet. Looped Watertown Square, no ducks, a couple RC Kinglets about it. Drove around a bit after without anything.

Sunday 3/29: Started towards Bolton Flats but realized that of my March targets, Delaney was a better option. Lots of Ring-necks and a few other ducks but only got creeper and Osprey among the targets. Did a bit of town listing after. Have Not Pond in Boxborough had nothing. Hartwell Family Preserve in Littleton also had nothing to add, so went to Long Lake. Did a big loop. Nothing on the lake itself but got GC Kinglet, raven, and Fox Sparrow, so an ok stop. Nothing at School St on the way home.

Monday 3/30: Redheads had left Horn Pond but found a few other ducks and eventually caught up with the White-crown. Quick stop at the Mystic Lakes had a Lesser Scaup and both cormorants.

Tuesday 3/31: Two Redhead on the res, usual stuff at Arlington Res.

Wednesday 3/18: At least 3-5 Fox Sparrows at BBN, Rusty and 5 GW Teal about it otherwise. Eagle over the house as I got home.

Thursday 3/19: Nothing at Cookson. Dog walker stopped me to point out an early Night Heron by the dam. Continued to the east side to look for a reported Horned Grebe with no luck.

Friday 3/20: Usual ducks at Weston Station Pond, nothing but a couple of Fox Sparrows elsewhere along the rail trail. Res had mergansers and nothing else.

Saturday 3/21: Did a bit of town listing. Started in Wakefield. Pulled in at Lake Q and started scanning the mergansers. Got to ten or so and a hooded gull appeared. Ran out with the scope and it was a Laughing. Phone-scoped a couple shots and doubled back for the camera and the gull had disappeared. Panned back and forth for a bit and went through the ducks but couldn’t find it. Eventually scoped to the far end where a bunch were on the grass and it looked like one had a hood. Jumped in the car and drove down and sure enough it was with them. Gave it a few just as I started to move on an eagle may or may not have flushed everything.

Continued to Aububon Rd from there. Lot of Ring-necks, 2 scaup (#2 for Wakefield), a few teal, etc. Decided to go down to Spot Pond next, walked from the boat launch to Quarter Mile Pond and only found a Ring-neck. Skipped Ell Pond and went to Fellsmere next, which was a bit of a waste (Ring-billed Gull was new for Malden). Doubled back to Pine Banks Park and got a few more things here (5 total I think) although nothing exciting.

Afternoon pass of Nine Acre and the res didn’t have anything obvious.

Sunday 3/22: Started at Great Meadows. Hoped for something to blow in on the southerly winds but they weren’t there yet and all that was around was basically the same ducks. Gave up and went to the Billerica trail. Got Pileated, Fox Sparrow, Common Merganser, and Bufflehead there (and Carolina Wren-ruled the ducks for Carlisle) along with the first tick of the year. Vietnam Veterans Park after had a lot of blackbirds and a few ducks but nothing to add. Res had more of the same on the way home.

Monday 3/23: Afternoon pass of the res had 8 mergansers and nothing else.

Tuesday 3/24: Car battery was dead, so just walked Hardy Pond. Decent variety but nothing terribly exciting.

Wednesday 3/4: Wandered around Falzone, getting dripped on and hearing the ice melting. And falling down in the deep stuff on the field.

Thursday 3/5: Scaup were back at the ball field, eagle was in the parking lot, and a couple Wood Ducks were in along the river. Still frozen past Moody and nothing on land there.

Friday 3/6: Too icy

Saturday 3/7: Horn Pond had the usual. Drove around Wilmington a bit after, nothing worth mentioning.

Sunday 3/8: Started at Earhart which had 2 loons and not too much else. Continued up to Nahant. Checked the Brant at Short Beach, then did a quick walk around the thicket, before doubling back to Nahant Beach where I found the 3 Black Brant. Not the best views, but one in the bank. Quick stop at King’s Beach didn’t have much.

Monday 3/9: BBN had a flyover Killdeer or two, FOY cowbird, and FOY (first migrant for the state?) Tree Swallow.

Tuesday 3/10: Nothing much at Great Meadows. Rusty, Pileated, Red-shouldered the most exciting.

Wednesday 2/25: Still snowy

Thursday 2/26: Made it to BBN. Lot of bluebirds but not too much else. Trails were fine but the sidewalk somehow was not.

Friday 2/27: Grackles were in on the riverwalk. Most of the usual ducks (no scaup) plus a RB Merganser too.

Saturday 2/28: Needed a county month bird so headed west. Started in Worcester revisiting the longspur, which was showing well (by itself) when I arrived. Continued to the Elm Circle entrance at Squannacook. Trails had some ski tracks but were often soft. Red-shoulder and eagle over and a couple waxwings by the car were it. Decided to try Townsend State Forest too. Better trails but minimal birds. Groton Library (after getting turned way around doubling back to park) had 4 Evening Grosbeaks and a bunch of waxwings. Turkey Vulture over School St on the way home.

Sunday 3/1: Went to Dunback in case the snow was worse than expected. Other than a pile of flickers, not much. Snow got heavy enough that I walked all the way back along the roads. Ended up not accumulating but didn’t bother going back out after.

Monday 3/2: West Meadow had a few blackbirds but not much else, BBN had 3 Hoodies and not much else.

Tuesday 3/3: Nothing at Cookson, not much more at the dam.

Wednesday 2/18: Forest Grove had 5+ bluebirds but not much else. Pump house had some open water but just common stuff.

Thursday 2/19: Just about nothing at Dunback.

Friday 2/20: Moody St was frozen, couple Fish Crows over Crescent St on the walk over. Usual stuff down to Shaw’s.

Saturday 2/21: Work-related mishap blocked up the morning. Lot of waxwings and not much else at Nashawtuc in the afternoon. School St. was birdless.

Sunday 2/22: Waited for fulmar news and started at the Lynnfield Marshes, which were pretty birdless. Decided Castle Island made sense anyway, tried to find an Essex county stop on the way and failed. Bird was obviously gone (owl midnight snack?) but the Pine Warbler and northern eider were around along with a few Snow Buntings and most of the usual ducks. Stopped at Earhart, 2 RT Loons, 3 Gadwall, not much else.

Monday 2/23: Too blizzardy.

Tuesday 2/24: Too much snow