Category: nature

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.

Wednesday 11/13: Started at Dunback, where there was a Merlin enjoying breakfast along Allen St. Also sapsucker and a couple Yellow-rumps but not much else. Gave the res a swing but other than goldeneye and mergansers didn’t notice much. Looking at reports during the day, I noticed how the Long-tailed Duck flock out west looked somewhat like Bufflehead and figured I better give the res another look. Sure enough there was one mixed in.

Thursday 11/14: Kaveksi was pretty quiet. Work was being done at Meriam’s, so didn’t go onto the trails there. Quick check of Flint’s had a loon and a swan, nothing jumped out at the res or Hardy.

Friday 11/15: Chased the Snow Goose around BBN a bit (watched it fly over the parkway, worked towards the golf course only for it to fly back to the parkway). Also a sapsucker, not too much else.

Saturday 11/16: Tried a bit of town listing building. Started at Ell Pond in Melrose where nothing was new but lots of Hoodies and Ruddies. Pine Banks Park next. Very quiet but my Malden list is low enough that I added five. Tried for Pinnacle Rock but one parking area was full and the on street option had multiple landscapers and leaf blowers, so just went to Prospect Hill instead (doesn’t look like I missed anything anyway). Almost an hour and a half of scanning had a few Red-tails and a Cooper’s.

Sunday 11/17: Started at Heard. Late catbird, Fox Sparrow, sapsucker, not much else. Old 27 Bridge next. Another Fox Sparrow but zero movement. Nine Acre had very little, so on to BBN. Spent an hour and a half scanning the geese and didn’t find any obvious Cackling.

Monday 11/18: Started at Rock Meadow, which was fairly quiet and a bit rainy. Had time to check the parkway but there were no geese so went to Concord Ave instead. Found a couple hundred on the golf course, again the Snow was the only different one I could see. Quick res check didn’t have much.

Tuesday 11/19: Nothing much at Cookson or the square.

Wednesday 11/6: Hanscom was quiet (other than meadowhawks) as were a bunch of ponds.

Thursday 11/7: Couple Red-shoulders at the West Meadow, waxwings and an RC Kinglet at Falzone.

Friday 11/8: Weasel (presumably Long-tailed), Snow Bunting, Peregrine, few other things at Great Meadows. Gadwall at the res in the afternoon and very little in an evening check of the parkway marsh at BBN.

Saturday 11/9: With NW winds, decided to try for Golden Eagles at Watatic. Started hiking at about 8:30 and made the watch by 9:15. Unfortunately, the winds seemed a bit too strong. In the hour before I gave up, I had one Red-tail, one Bald Eagle, a couple ravens, a few finches, and 50 geese. More geese and a couple Red-shoulders on the way down. Reports indicated it was a scoter day, so I did a few ponds on the way back. Hoodies on Ashby Res, nothing on Fitchburg, nothing on Nagog, geese on Flint’s. Cambridge Res however was very birdy. Big flock of wigeon with a few Gadwall at the south end along with some mergansers. Found the scoter flock in the middle but they disappeared before I got photos. Ton of swans and Ring-necks further down, then some Bufflehead at the Trapelo end.

Sunday 11/10: Was thinking about a Cave Swallow search at Heard but realized Water Row would probably be better. Got to the overlook just after 7:30 and gave it an hour. No swallows and very few larger birds moving (a few geese and Mallard, a hunting harrier, a flock of teal) but there were good numbers of robins and blackbirds and a creeper that landed right in front of me was nice. Eventually decided walking was a better idea. Put the scope in the car and immediately heard a siskin going over. A few feet down and 70 Canada Geese fly by. Got down to the FWS buildings and heard an odd call that eventually I realized was crane bugling. Searched a bit and 4 flew over. Unfortunately I was basically too slow on the audio and had no chance at any photos. Continued down to the end where there was a Fox Sparrow mixed in with some juncos and a pile more siskins. Started back and heard a Marsh Wren across from the pond, then had a phoebe and Winter Wren at the pond. A Red-shoulder was sitting behind one of the houses, but there wasn’t too much else from there.

Back at the car, I drove to Cow Common just in case the cranes had landed there, then doubled back to the Old 27 Bridge. Forty-five minutes of scanning there had a Yellow-rump andanother Fox Sparrow or two, but not much flying around. To Heard from here where there were swans and an eagle. Nothing exciting at the swamp, so home.

Went back out to check the res, which had about the same as yesterday. Then, just at halftime, got a text from Lily that the Snow Goose was back at BBN. Perfect timing to run over, patch bird!

Monday 11/11: Started at Horn Pond. Egret was one of the first birds, then 3 Gadwall. Nothing much exciting after that, most of the usual stuff, no Great Cormorant. Sandy Beach after was pretty quiet. Decided on Earhart next and had very little.

Tuesday 11/12: Usual ducks at Arlington Res highlighted by 5 Lesser Scaup. Bluebird at the farm was a new bird for me here. Quick buzz of the res and Hardy didn’t have anything of note, although I didn’t scan most of the dabblers.

Wednesday 10/30: Nothing much at College Pond other than a Pileated driving over. Couldn’t find the dabbling ducks at the res but did have a flock of scaup (awake ones were Lesser).

Thursday 10/31: Lesser Scaup, couple coots, 2 Palms about it at Fresh Pond.

Friday 11/1: Very few sparrows at Ricci but 2 were Field. Also 24+ turkeys, a bunch of pipits, a ton of robins overhead, etc. Quick check of the res had lots of ducks but nothing obvious of note.

Saturday 11/2: Started at Millennium where there were a few siskins, a couple Hermit Thrushes, a Winter Wren, and not too many sparrows. Great Pond next, did a full loop. Two BB Plovers, 2 Semipalmated, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, 2 Snow Buntings, 3 eagles, and Osprey, etc.

Sunday 11/3: Tried for some of the stuff seen recently on the Rose Kennedy Greenway without much luck. No chat, no Dickcissel, no towhees. Lincoln’s, 2 Swamps, sapsuckers about it. Went towards the public garden to look for kingbirds but ended up on Storrow looking for a space, so just continued to Revere Beach. Good number of Bonaparte’s but all far out. Had time for Winthrop Beach too. No oystercatcher but a golden-plover, pile of Dunlin, a few turnstones, 2 Bonaparte’s, a bunch of gannets, a few Snow Buntings, a few scoters, lots of loons were all good.

Monday 11/4: Got the BT Gray at Mt. Auburn after a bit of a wait, ‘commute’ #257!

Tuesday 11/5: Nothing of note at Cookson or along the river.

Wednesday 10/23: Cormorant still hanging around and a bunch of Ruddies at Arlington Res. More Ruddies and a couple coots at Cambridge Res.

Thursday 10/24: Decided it was murky enough that Great Meadows was the better choice. Cleared up a bit and was pretty quiet. Harrier, ton of sparrows, couple snipe, big snapper. Pulled in at Elm Brook on the way out and had the Snow Goose and almost as many species in 5 minutes as I had in the hour at GM.

Friday 10/25: Sun was brutal at the res, don’t think there was anything different. Pretty quiet at Rock Meadow, BH Vireo walking back to the car at the Lone Tree Hill lot was about the most interesting.

Saturday 10/26: Went west. Started at Wachusett where I had a Red-necked Grebe and Great Egret at Gate 40. Couple scaup and a GW Teal were about it at 37 and just about nothing at 25. Up to Jewell Hill next, where the Red-headed Woodpecker eventually popped up (technically not in Worcester county but whatever) and I flushed a woodcock first. Walked to the overlook and hawkwatched for a couple from the parking lot without much else.

Sunday 10/27: Brant was at Magazine Beach. Worked the Bonaparte’s at Revere Beach, probably got the Little but obscured and then it flew away. Had to run to get to Mt. Auburn for Ted Davis’s service, which was nice although we didn’t exactly see anything on the bird walk portion.

Monday 10/28: Lindentree and St. Anne’s had the usual. Couple Hoodies on Flint’s on the way over, nothing obvious on the res in the evening.

Tuesday 10/29: BBN had the continuing Greater Yellowlegs, a GW Teal, and a few other things at the marsh. Went over to the West Meadow instead of uphill for a change. No Nelson’s yet but a Lincoln’s was nice and a Sharpie was somehow a commute year bird. Went down the side trail and chickadees were very upset. Eventually had to just about crawl into the bushes but found a Screech-Owl. Ran to the office to find out the internet was down, gave the res a swing on the way home and had a few Gadwall and a pair of wigeon. Probably more if I had time to stop.

Wednesday 10/16: Kaveski and Meriam’s had the usual. Merlin, ton of pipits, bunch of Yellow-rumps, Field Sparrow, etc. Tried comet viewing from the BBN parking lot in the evening (barely visible naked eye, ok with bins/phone) and heard a Night Heron overhead.

Thursday 10/17: Not much at Cookson, sapsucker on the river.

Friday 10/18: Nothing terribly exciting at Weston Station Pond, lots of Ring-necks, a few blackbirds, very few sparrows. Flock of Ring-necks flying around the res.

Saturday 10/19: Fought traffic up to Halibut Point. Didn’t expect too much on the water but there was a steady flight of ducks (10 species) and gannets. Also a flyover pipit and 2 flyover longspurs. Walked the trails a bit, although the only interesting thing was a creeper in the quarry.

Meant to go to Waring Field but apparently missed a turn, so just went straight to Audubon Rd. Bunch of teal from the parking lot, then 2 coots from Audubon Rd. Quick check of the res didn’t have much.

Sunday 10/20: Waltham St. early (almost too early as the sun was barely hitting the field when I arrived). Oriole at Dunback first. White-crowned Sparrow and Orange-crowned Warbler in the swale almost together, then a Nashville in the front. Otherwise the usual blackbirds and Savannahs. Did the other section too, which was more of the same. Afternoon loop of the res had a ton of ducks including 8 Ruddy and a wigeon.

Monday 10/21: Sat in traffic for half an hour to get to Danehy. Purple Finch, Field Sparrow, Orange-crown about it.

Tuesday 10/22: Ricci Fields had an apparent Vesper Sparrow (essentially only in flight) and then a Grasshopper Sparrow in the same general spot later. Also a harrier, pipit, etc.