Category: nature

Wednesday 1/8: Too cold but did a loop of the res while moving my car. About 120 geese, 3 swans, 1 black duck, 1 Mallard, 1 RB Gull, 15 pigeons.

Thursday 1/9: Barely a bird at Cookson. A few ducks and GC Kinglets by the dam.

Friday 1/10: Fresh Pond had 3 Lesser Scaup, 1-2 Common Loon, a kingfisher, a Merlin, and a few other things.

Saturday 1/11: Decided the snow was just strong enough every time I thought about going out and had a lazy day instead.

Sunday 1/12: Started at Jamaica Pond where I found the Cackling Goose fairly quickly but had to wait half an hour for it to wake up and confirm itself. Usual ducks and loon otherwise. Leverett had the usual too. Roslindale Wetlands Urban Wild Park next, Rose-breasted Grosbeak showed up at the feeder eventually. Gave Norumbega a run on the way home, all frozen. Out again to School St where there were a bunch of larks and 3 longspurs in close. No geese at Nine Acre and not much at the res.

Monday 1/13: Yellow-rump was still along the riverwalk (first by the ballfield and then by the museum). A few ducks were in, not too much else. Frozen above the dam and no Pine by Moody St.

Tuesday 1/14: Got Norm’s Marsh Wren at St. Anne’s plus a Winter Wren, Coyote, and sharpie on the Lindentree side. Nothing at Nine Acre or around the res.

Wednesday 1/1: Weather wasn’t terribly good. Deer Island in fog and mist had a RB Nuthatch and the usual waterbirds, although the gull roost was being hit by waves and was pretty nonexistent. Big flock of Snow Buntings at Winthrop Beach, nothing much at Revere Beach. Quick check of the Charles and res had more of the usual.

Thursday 1/2: Too windy for much. Found the Snow Goose at Spy Pond. Watched it fly off, drove to the Mystic Lakes, and DJ waved me over to point at a Snow Goose (seems to be the same). Also the pintail, an eagle, the usual ducks but no shoveler.

Friday 1/3: Even before the wind picked up, BBN was pretty quiet, very few sparrows. Did have a flock of Red-wings and a couple ravens. 

Saturday 1/4: Attempted a bit of town listing. Res and Heard first had nothing. Got to the Hudson Community Gardens and noticed it was freezing in the wind, so didn’t last long. White-throat was new (as were pigeon and Red-tail on the drive) but nothing else much. Tried a couple spots along the river but didn’t see anything obvious and didn’t feel like walking. Skipped Maynard for that reason (other than 3 Ring-bills at the pond in the center) and went to School St. Lot of geese, bunch of larks, couldn’t pick a longspur out without scoping, which I wasn’t about to do. Tried Nagog next, only a couple mergansers and a few land birds while walking at the south end. Flint’s had mergansers. Joined the Concord CBC countdown, then had the Lark Sparrow and a harrier on the way out.

Sunday 1/5: Horn Pond. Dug out the RN Grebe (way out) but no Iceland Gull. Thrasher popped up pretty quickly again. Also Hermit Thrush, sapsucker, etc. Silver Lake next. Handful of gulls in close and a couple hundred flying in the distance but they didn’t come in, so I went up to the Tewksbury parking lot where there were a couple hundred, just about all Herring. Also a bunch of Fish Crows.

Monday 1/6: Harrier and Savannah at Kaveski/Meriam’s. Nothing of note at Nine Acre, Flint’s, or Hardy.

Tuesday 1/7: Did a bit of Dunback before it got too windy. RC Kinglet and a single Yellow-rump. Quick check of the res had a handful of ducks.

Wednesday 12/25: Nine Acre had an eagle, raven, and 350 Canada Geese. One tiny bit of open water at the res had the usual ducks.

Thursday 12/26: Started at Draw Seven. RB Mergs, goldeneye, etc but nothing unusual. Lot of gulls on the ice driving off, so stopped at Station Landing. Couldn’t find anything interesting with them, 3 scaup the most exciting. Got in the wrong lane for Rivergreen so went right to Revere Beach. No oystercatchers but 20+ turnstones were nice. Quick stop at Short Beach had nothing and a flyover Snow Bunting was about it at Winthrop Beach. Made it to Rivergreen on the way back but it was very quiet.

Friday 12/27: Couldn’t find the pintail when I arrived at the Mystic Lakes. Walked up to the dam and found a shoveler on the way, plus the Fox Sparrow and cormorants. Got back to the south end and more ducks were flying in and the pintail was with them. Horn Pond next, took 30 minutes but I got the thrasher. Also a coyote and raccoon plus most of the usual waterfowl (although confined to a hole way out in the middle).

Saturday 12/28: Waited out most of the rain and went to Jamaica Pond. Gadwall was #100 for Suffolk in December (and as I just noticed, I never fixed the Semipalmated Sandpiper, so 101). Also 2 loons, a goldeneye, and lots of mergansers. Leverett Pond had a few Wood Ducks and Ring-necks. Drove to Chestnut Hill Res next but it looked frozen, so I just kept going to Norumbega (gulls) and Cambridge Res (less birds in a smaller opening).

Sunday 12/29: Concord CBC in the fog. 3+ Field Sparrows, 2 Savannah, 35 turkeys at Ricci, nothing exciting at Hartwell, sapsucker or 2 at Tanner’s Brook.

Monday 12/30: Midafternoon loop of the res had the same. Hardy was still frozen.

Tuesday 12/31: Started at Wachusett Res. Gadwall off 40 was a county bird, otherwise normal stuff. Gates 36 and 25 had more of the same. Spruce Grove had a calling Yellow-rump. Decided to try for the RH Woodpecker in Groton from there but there were 4 cars taking up what was room for maybe 3, so skipped. Turned the wrong way on 119 for Fitch’s Bridge Rd, so just went to School St (geese and distant larks) and Nine Acre (nothing).

Wednesday 12/18: Pileated, GW Teal, usual sparrows at Kaveski.

Thursday 12/19: Got all three longspurs at School St (‘commute’ #258) plus a Snow Bunting. Nothing exciting at Nine Acre or the res. Afternoon trip to BBN and the West Meadow had both Snow Geese, lots of Canadas but nothing else.

Friday 12/20: Tried for the Western Tanager in Cambridge. Light snow as I arrived soon became fairly heavy and wet. Red-tail roosting right above the spot the bird has been hanging around didn’t help either, gave up after an hour. Did luck into a turkey turning around on my way out, which was long overdue for Cambridge (non Mt. Auburn portions). Had time for a quick stop at Hardy (and there hadn’t been a flake at home) with a bunch of mergansers and not much else.

Saturday 12/21: Did a short walking loop. Kinglet on the way over to Falzone. Chat was very cooperative, also 28 Common Mergansers and a swan flying over. Not much at the West Meadow. No birds on the pond at BBN (bluebird along the edge at least). Geese were all on the golf course, but in a tough spot to view and I didn’t find anything but Canada. Vulture over Trapelo and Lexington was the only thing of note on the way home.

Sunday 12/22: Eventually wandered out to Silver Lake, which had just above zero gulls. None came in and none were visible in flight after half an hour, so I moved on to Martin’s Pond. There were a bunch of ducks and geese along the edge, nothing exciting (although all 4 were North Reading additions). Buzzed the res on the way home without anything obvious.

Monday 12/23: Winter Wren, bunch of Bufflehead by Watertown Square.

Tuesday 12/24: Hardy was frozen and nothing was at Graverson. Afternoon check of Waltham St. and some of Dunback was quiet.

Wednesday 12/11: Too rainy but did a pond/fields loop with the usual.

Thursday 12/12: Very little at BBN.

Friday 12/13: Did some CBC scouting with the river walk to Prospect St. Pretty quiet along up to Elm, where a Yellow-rump was calling (warbler #6 of December). Crossed Moody and went to check on the Pine from a couple weeks ago. Walked up to the tree and immediately had a Pine, but it was a very dull one. The one I was expecting was as bright as Pines get, so clearly a second! Nothing too exciting on the rest of the loop.

Saturday 12/14: Started with some more scouting. Field Station had a pile of juncos and Tree Sparrows but nothing else exciting. Tried east of Watertown Square in a warbler attempt, didn’t find any. Decided to head to School St for open ground birds. Drove through Nine Acre on the way, 4 ravens and no geese. Small crowd at School St had just had a longspur, we eventually pulled 2-3 out of the flock, although at a distance.

Sunday 12/15: CBC. Barred Owl at Dunback, chat again at Falzone (7 years, 10 feet), 4 Hermit Thrush, a Yellow-rump, no Pine Warblers, frozen ponds.

Monday 12/16: Quick check of the res had mergansers, Gadwall, and the usual.

Tuesday 12/17: Usual at Fresh Pond. Made an afternoon walk for the chat but no luck or much beyond the RC Kinglet.

Wednesday 12/4: Started at Drumlin Farm for the Lark Sparrow. Followed the juncos around the parking lot/entrance road a bit but only turned up a sapsucker. Decided to try the fields as there didn’t seem to be any sparrows among them. Went over the drumlin and had a Pine Warbler with a bluebird. Boyce Field had a pile of bluebirds, juncos and other sparrows but no Lark. The light was pretty bad, especially along the back edge. Went back the way I came and the sparrow promptly flew across the road.

Continued from here to Nine Acre. Didn’t see any obvious geese and thought there was construction by Verrill, so I went around towards White’s Pond (although passing by, I don’t think there was any work beig done). The field at Powder Mill and Plainfield had a pile of geese and there was a young Snow among them. Drove back through Nine Acre and saw nothing.

Had enough time for a good scope of the res. Found most of the usual ducks plus a Lesser Scaup and a couple cormorants.

Thursday 12/5: Eventually did a res loop, which had more Common Mergansers but not much else. Decent number of mergansers on Flint’s too. Canadas at Nine Acre were all in tall vegetation and no geese in the field that had a Snow yesterday.

Friday 12/6: Creeper at Cookson was the most interesting thing there and at the square.

Saturday 12/7: Started at Kendrick Pond, which was busy although nothing particularly noteworthy (did get 6-7 Norfolk December birds though). Nahanton after, picked up the towhee and a couple other month birds. Had enough time for a quick check of Millennium. Orange-crowned was nice, if mostly uncooperative, nothing beyond a kinglet or two otherwise.

Sunday 12/8: Twitch. Went to Plum after, nothing terribly exciting.

Monday 12/9: Both Accipiters(ish now), Purple Finches, waxwings, etc at Dunback but no Yellow-rumps.

Tuesday 12/10: Great Meadows was quiet. Red-shoulder, bunch of bluebirds, usual waterbirds and sparrows. Ran over to Horn Pond in the afternoon. If there was any light, I would have had spectacular photos of the Blackpoll and Cape May. Ran down to the gardens and then along the causeway after, nothing noteworthy.

Wednesday 11/27: Sharpie at Gaining Ground, not much at Hanscom.

Thursday 11/28: Turkey hunt had a pile of geese at Nine Acre and an eagle at the res.

Friday 11/29: Did a bit of a coastal swing. Started at Sandy Beach in Cohasset, where I scanned from the car for a bit without much of anything (too many dogs and rough seas). Stodders Neck next, might have skipped if I realized that it was basically a dog park. Nothing of interest either.

Saturday 11/30: Went to Franklin Park. Got the RH Woodpecker quickly. Watched a bunch of geese fly in while I was on that, so doubled back to the pond and eventually picked out the Cackling (which then walked back to where I had been originally). No luck with any warblers though. Allendale Woods after, no Pileated or much else. Quick stop at Hammond Pond didn’t have anything besides a PB Grebe.

Sunday 12/1: Gave BBN a quick check before heading to Horn Pond for the warblers. Missed the Snow Geese by a couple minutes and didn’t have much of interest in a quick loop. Little late for the BT Gray at Horn Pond but the Townsend’s cooperated and the Blackpoll buzzed through. Both cormorants were on the docks of the Lower Mystic Lake on the way back.

Monday 12/2: No Empid at Danehy, creeper and Killdeer the most interesting. Did an afternoon loop of Riverwalk Park figuring there are more rare warblers around and almost succeeded with a Pine. Not much else there and just the usual on the res.

Tuesday 12/3: Went back for another try at the BT Gray. Townsend’s and Blackpoll cooperated but no other warblers. Quick check of the pond had a few ducks but no Gadwall or PB Grebe.

Wednesday 11/20: Pileated, 3+ Killdeer, a few ducks at Weston Station Pond.

Thursday 11/21: Pond/field loop had very little.

Friday 11/22: Same stuff at BBN.

Saturday 11/23: Decided to do some town listing and check ponds while it wasn’t terribly nice out. Started at Lake Quannapowitt, which had gulls and little else. Audubon Rd had 5 Gadwall (Wakefield tick). Found the Common Loon at Martin’s Pond in North Reading, then eventually parked at the little playground. Ton of juncos and stuff there, including a robin for the first bird I’ve seen in every town in the county (9 total new North Reading birds). Also a ton of gulls came in, estimated close to 450 Herring. Decided that was a good sign for Silver Lake so headed that way. Gulls were more interested in flying, but Hooded Merganser was another addition. Horn Pond from here, no luck with the Great Cormorant. Fox Sparrow was the most interesting.

Sunday 11/24: Made a coastal swing hoping for Cave Swallow. Decided to try to find my own at Deer Island instead of chasing the one from yesterday at Winthrop Beach. No luck (but none at the beach either). Did have a RB Nuthatch, siskin, American Tree Sparrow, usual water birds, etc. Too windy to check the south side though.

Yirrell Beach next, didn’t see much of anything until I crossed to Winthrop Beach where a flock of Snow Buntings dropped in. Started to check those for a longspur and got a notification that a Cave Swallow had just been seen. No birders and no swallow in sight though. Several people arrived almost immediately and we wandered around without any luck (Peregrine and kestrel maybe getting in the way). Eventually I bailed to check elsewhere, which worked out as no one else found the bird. Quick stop at Pico/yacht club and Bayswater had nothing and a swing along the Charles on the way home didn’t have much.

Monday 11/25: Went to Great Meadows with faints hope of a swallow. Obviously none, big flight of crows and a couple coot about it for anything of interest.

Tuesday 11/26: Tried Fresh Pond. Loon on the water, Yellow-rump by the golf course, and Palm near the road.