Well another strange year. No travel again but a few local highlights.
Jan: Black-and-white to start the year, good gull show, some interesting overwintering birds (5 new January birds for the county).
Feb: Short-ears in Boston, finally got a phoebe in all 12 months, and that seems to be about it.
Mar: Black Vultures were a local surprise, early Great Egret, and a few arrivals.
Apr: A few Suffolk birds, a few Worcester ones, a Hooded Warbler, etc.
May: Maybe a state bird, still deciding how pure the ibis was. Missed Swainson’s Warbler unfortunately, Arctic Tern was a state and county bird, first odes, a shorebird show at Wachusett Res.
Jun: Surveys, a few Norfolk birds (but not the clubtail I wanted), the start of a Great Blue Skimmer invasion, and more.
Jul: County record Ski-tipped Emerald, an early Ring-necked Duck in Bristol, the start of shorebird shows, and a Zabulon Skipper in the yard.
Aug: Semipalmated Plover on patch, otters on the river, more shorebirds, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron at Great Meadows.
Sep: Crossbills and Ruffed Grouse in Worcester, refound the melanistic yellowlegs, Buff-breasted Sandpiper at School St was a ‘commute’ bird, a good hawkwatch, missed a patch Prothonotary (did get Blackburnian for the SRV).
Oct: Golden-winged Warbler, the same otters, crossbill in Concord, a decent cleanup of Norfolk, a Vesper Sparrow at Great Meadows, scoter fallout day, and the LeConte’s Sparrow at Wachusett made for a good month.
Nov: (Re)Found a Lark Sparrow, Iceland Gull in Lincoln, a Bullock’s Oriole, Thanksgiving Dickcissel.
Dec: Warbler show in Dover, Tundra Swan at Great Meadows, fulmar at Jodrey.
242 in state, 211 in county (Arctic Tern new for both, maybe WF Ibis for MA finally)
Only 39 butterflies, but 72 dragonflies (Great Blue Skimmer new for state and county, Ski-tipped Emerald and Banded Pennant also new for Middlesex). Didn’t look much at syrphids or robbers.
Did set a new ‘commute’ record with 190 species with 166 photographed and 103 audio recorded (Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Bullock’s new, 244 overall now).
Goals for 2023 are about the same as last year other than no ‘commute’ target. I’d like to get the Middlesex town lists under 50 all to 50 and work a bit more on my green list.