Author: jason

Wednesday 4/7: Sapsucker, Hermit Thrush, GH Owl at Hayden Woods. Greater Scaup and a bluebird at the res.

Thursday 4/8: Pretty busy at Weston Station Pond, year birds included Chipping Sparrow and Northern Rough-winged Swallow, plus commute Palm Warbler and a few other things.

Friday 4/9: Usual at Forest Grove, singing Rusty the most interesting.

Saturday 4/10: Went a bit west for some town list building. Not too much in Boxborough, got 7 (out of a hoped 13) plus a few more in Littleton. First butterfly of the year too with an azure.

Sunday 4/11: Nothing too exciting at Arlington Res, 3 swallows about it. Snipe at Waltham St, nothing at the res (although I thought I had a grebe from 128) or at Hobbs Brook.

Monday 4/12: PB Grebe, Swamp Sparrows in finally, few other things at Great Meadows.

Tuesday 4/13: Cabbage White at Gore, Fish Crow by Watertown Square.

Wednesday 3/31: Tried the North Bridge but no sign of any migration so ran to Great Meadows for a bit, which was also pretty quiet.

Thursday 4/1: Yuck again so another pond loop. Usual at Hardy and the res except for a Barn Swallow, which is my earliest by 5 days and #100 for the county this year. Flint’s had a couple ducks, nothing at Nine Acre.

Friday 4/2: Quick check of Flint’s had nothing. Lindentree had another Barn Swallow plus RB Nuthatch and the usual stuff.

Saturday 4/3: Started at Farm Pond, Palm and Pine but no interesting waterbirds. Osprey and a ton of Tree Swallows at Heard, not much along Water Row.

Sunday 4/4: One Surf Scoter still at Earhart along with both loons, a Greater Scaup, and a Field Sparrow at Draw Seven. Both scaup at the res.

Monday 4/5: Field Sparrow east of Watertown square.

Tuesday 4/6: A couple groups of Red Crossbills (including some that landed) and a Virginia Rail at BBN.

Wednesday 3/24: Arlington Res had the usual. Cambridge Res had 2 scaup (probably Greater), Hardy had the usual.

Thursday 3/25: Having car work done, quick check of the res first had a Wood Duck and a few Ring-necks but no scaup.

Friday 3/26: Nothing at Gore or by the dam.

Saturday 3/27: Started at Horn Pond. Pretty quiet, FOY cormorant on the drive out about it. Stopped at Sandy Beach and had 3 bluebirds. Later check of the res and Waltham St. had nothing.

Sunday 3/28: Out to Bolton Flats for a change. Wasn’t terribly nice and the field was a bit dry. Didn’t find the shovelers others had and not too much else either. Stopped at Mill Pond in Maynard to boost that list slightly, then had nothing at the res.

Monday 3/29: Icky, so a pond/Nine Acre loop with not much to show.

Tuesday 3/30: Usual at BBN, no Rusty, no Marsh Wren, no interesting ducks.Yellow-rump in the woods may or may not have been a new arrival.

Wednesday 3/17: Got the sapsucker and WW Crossbills for the month at Mt. Auburn, turkeys and hoodies about it otherwise.

Thursday 3/18: Quick check of Gore and Watertown Square didn’t have much.

Friday 3/19: Windy and cold, so a pond loop. Ruddy at Hardy, not much elsewhere.

Saturday 3/20: Started at Mary Cummings, Rusty Blackbird and Fox Sparrow new for Burlington. Would have liked a view of a marsh wren type songster. Went back to Alewife midday and the YT Warbler was hopping around in the open. Also flushed the woodcock again. Got home and went to download photos and before I had even started saw the email about a Pink-footed Goose along the river, so right back out again. Got it at close range, very nice to get back after missing it in Watertown.

Sunday 3/21: Deer Island had a ton of scoters plus a raven, Great Cormorant, and a few other things.

Monday 3/22: Usual at Forest Grove. Quick loop around more of the river only had a few Canada Geese and nothing else.

Tuesday 3/23: Common Mergansers on Potter Pond. Phoebe and RC Kinglet at Rock Meadow, nothing at the duck ponds.

Wednesday 3/10: Another miss of the YT Warbler. Did get one of the catbirds at least.

Thursday 3/11: Red Crossbills and a Barred Owl at BBN. Surprisingly few blackbirds considering there were 300 grackles in the yard as I woke up.

Friday 3/12: Decent selection of ducks at Great Meadows plus a couple eagles and a Tree Swallow.

Saturday 3/13: Couple mergansers and not much else at the res. Usual at Hanscom, Tree Swallows, harrier, ravens the most interesting.

Sunday 3/14: Bit of a skywatch on Water Row. A few Rusties, finally Common Merganser in Sudbury, lots of other blackbirds. Great Meadows headquarters had more of the same. Nine Acre had a couple vultures and lots of Canada Geese, river may not flood this year. Flint’s was still essentially frozen.

Monday 3/15: Too cold and windy but did a Spy Pond, Mystic Lakes, Cambridge Res loop. Lots of mergansers, the RT Loon (‘commute’ #70) but no cormorant, and a few eagles.

Tuesday 3/16: Fox Sparrow, redpoll, at least 4 and probably 6 Yellow-rumps at Dunback.

Wednesday 3/3: No warblers at Alewife. Lot of other stuff but none exciting.

Thursday 3/4: Yellow-rump but not too much else at BBN.

Friday 3/5: Missed the PF Goose by seconds then worked around a bit trying to relocate without any luck.

Saturday 3/6: Another goose try, not too much around. Gave the warblers at Alewife another try, Fox Sparrow and 2 deer the most interesting. Quick scan of Fresh Pond and Clay Pit didn’t have much on the way home. Lot of geese along Concord Ave but nothing with them.

Sunday 3/7: Went out to Wayland to start. Pretty quiet at Heard, eagle the only thing of any interest. Usual ducks at the swamp, skipped Water Row for Nine Acre, which had a harrier. Tried Alewife again in the afternoon. No warbler again but did have a woodcock.

Monday 3/8: Falzone and West Meadow were fairly quiet, did finally get a patch ‘commute’ RB Nuthatch.

Tuesday 3/9: Fairly quiet along the river, Killdeer over Purgatory and a stonefly near Shaw’s about it.

Wednesday 2/24: Nothing at Gore. RB Merg (Watertown bird!), first spring Grackle, Wood Ducks, and a couple Redpolls at the square.

Thursday 2/25: Skating rink at BBN. Bluebird always nice especially without the boxes at Rock Meadow, a few Red-wings, and FOY Killdeer went over.

Friday 2/26: Tried Mt. Auburn again, as much because I figured it would be easy to walk around as anything. Red Crossbill flew over by Auburn Lake then had a goose sitting in the middle of the Dell. Looped around the tower and decided to give Auburn another quick check and had the flock of White-wings (‘commute’ #238!) in almost the same place. Also started the day with a Red-wing singing from the yard and had a flock of grackles go over.

Saturday 2/27: Ran out in the snow to Arlington Res, pintail, GW Teal about it. Checked Blair Pond (Common Merg and Ring-neck) and then buzzed Fresh Pond and Hardy without anything.

Sunday 2/28: Started at Millennium. Bluebirds flew up as I was sliding past the Sora spot, much overdue in Suffolk. Quiet otherwise. Worked down the river a bit on the way home. Usual ducks at Norumbega, more at Charlesbank plus a raven. Decided to skip Mt. Feake and go to Purgatory. Lot of ducks including some smaller ones on the ice, so I got out to scope. Crossbill was calling, Charles #170! Four Wood Duck, 4 GW Teal, more of the other ducks too.

Monday 3/1: Too rainy early, work call ran a bit long and then it was rainy again.

Tuesday 3/2: Gave Nine Acre a quick run just to get out even though it was too cold and windy, saw nothing.

Wednesday 2/17: Tried for the WW Crossbills at Mt. Auburn. 3 Creepers, RB Nuthatch, and GC Kinglet (finally) but no finches.

Thursday 2/18: Not much at BBN, two swans going over were the most interesting.

Friday 2/19: Didn’t bother with the snow.

Saturday 2/20: Started at Dunback, which was pretty quiet. Afternoon loop of the Charles had nothing new.

Sunday 2/21: Was going to Deer Island but saw a report of eider at Earhart so went that way instead. No eider, usual scoters and stuff, nothing particularly different.

Monday 2/22: Weston Station Pond had a Winter Wren, redpoll (town bird!), and a few other things.

Tuesday 2/23: Hanscom was fairly quiet beyond Fish Crows at the Gaining Ground entrance.

Wednesday 2/10: Didn’t get out, not much in the yard.

Thursday 2/11: Riverwalk had about the same as the weekend, but a Red-breasted Merganser was a nice addition.

Friday 2/12: At least one of the Yellow-rumps at Dunback had apparently moved to the pines and presumably the same Merlin was nearby. Too cold for anything else.

Saturday 2/13: Finally made it to the coast a bit. Castle Island had Purples and Dunlin plus most of the expected waterfowl. No turnstones though and it was too windy to go back and scope further out. Gave Norumbega down to Mt. Feake a quick look on the way home without much. Ran out briefly in the afternoon to get the Snow Bunting showing up in Arlington.

Sunday 2/14: Morning loop of Alewife missed the catbird, cormorant, and teal that had been around but did have redpoll, creeper, and Common Mergansers all of which were new for there. Quick stop at Fresh Pond had nothing. Afternoon check of the Mystic Lakes was pretty quiet.

Monday 2/15: Quiet at Meriam’s. Pileated, bluebirds, Red-wings at Kaveski. Take away geese and more people than birds at Great Meadows.

Tuesday 2/16: Pretty nasty out but a couple redpolls would have been very photogenic (if they weren’t soaking wet and I had a camera) at the Watertown dam. GW Teal was there too.

Wednesday 2/3: Moderate number of ducks on the riverwalk including a scaup but not much else.

Thursday 2/4: Pretty quiet at BBN, probably heard the Marsh Wren but couldn’t be positive. Finally got turkey for the year at Potter Pond on the way home.

Friday 2/5: 13 redpolls at Cookson, a GW Teal and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet by Watertown Square.

Saturday 2/6: Had to run to the office for a minute, so started in Wayland. Red-wings, a Purple Finch, and a ton of Tree Sparrows at the community gardens, a Red-shoulder at Water Row, and 2 Wood Duck by the town building. Was planning on Earhart after that but saw Haynes’ post about a huge flock of Redhead at Prospect St. Found them easily (still waffling on whether I actually had 13 or just the 12 in photos). Not too much else as I continued the loop down to Moody. Went to Purgatory next for a quick scan and was shocked to see the Redhead flock here too. Sounds like they were moving south.

Sunday 2/7: Snow was later than originally forecasted so got over to Earhart. Got all three scoters for the month plus 3 loons. No luck with the Horned Grebe or much else.

Monday 2/8: Tree Sparrow in the yard was the first in a couple years.

Tuesday 2/9: Actual commute today. Quick run around Forest Grove finally got Black Duck on the commute list but beyond a few redpolls not much else.