From the archives, some Swamp Sparrows. A fall one followed by a summer one.
Category: nature
Week in Review 7/19-26
It occurred to me that I’m out enough that even when I don’t post things, there’s probably something of marginal interest, so I’m going to start a Week In Review. Hopefully on Fridays with an actual post of weekend stuff later, but we’ll see.
Starting with:
7/20: Lunchtime walk at Prospect Hill, very few birds but a Somatochlora overhead and the first Northern Broken-Dash and Common Wood-Nymphs of the year were good.
7/21: It rained.
7/22: Car in for oil change and inspection, so no birding but a fledgling cardinal at the feeders was clearly a new brood.
7/23: Big numbers of House Finches in the yard all of a sudden. Paine Estate at lunch had the first Great Crested Flycatcher in a couple weeks and a House Sparrow (only about my 10th record from there in weekly visits for a couple years now). A Red Admiral was a belated first of year.
7/24: Met State at lunch was quiet other than a family of at least 5 House Wrens. A pondhawk caught and ate a forktail in the yard.
7/25: Finished my atlas work for the season (maybe), highlighted by finally getting a Carolina Wren (or five), a Broad-winged Hawk calling, Green Heron, and a pair of Indigo Bunting. Several good bugs including Lance-tipped and Canada Darners, a Blue-fronted Dancer and a good number of butterflies. A Widow Skimmer in the yard was only the second record.
7/26: Met State in the morning, Indigo Buntings and rain. Went to check out the new boardwalk but was flooded out before getting there. Great Meadows in the afternoon, 3 Osprey, Hoodie, Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Racket-tailed Emerald, Appalachian Brown.
July 09 Pelagic
So after June’s pelagic trip being canceled because not enough people signed up, Saturday was the first BBC trip of the year. I talked my parents into going down to the Cape as well this time, so we headed down Friday. It was hotter than we realized out and by mid-afternoon I was quite out of it, so no birding was done on Friday.
I was too wound up to go to sleep right away and ended up barely getting three hours in before I got up just after 2AM to get ready for the boat. Since the hotel (America’s Best Value Inn, more than adequate) is right up the street, I walked down just before 3. It was very foggy out and started to drizzle a bit while we waited. The crowd was a bit different from previous trips, I didn’t recognize a lot of people.
We boarded around 3:45 and I ended up grabbing a bunk down below. It was a bit more pleasant than I remember (not that I’d want to spend lots of time there) and I was able to doze off once we left the dock at 4:15. I was woken up by the first announcement at 6 and got up, grabbed my muffin and went up to the deck. Since it was quite rough out (and would be for most of the day) and there were still showers coming through, I decided to just hang out at the stern where it was stable and dry.
We started seeing shearwaters and Wilson’s Storm-Petrels very quickly and had our only gannets of the day. I missed the terns, eider, and single passerine that all passed by right as I got up. The shearwaters were mostly Cory’s at first and then Greater for a few minutes. They switched back and forth in abundance several times. Manx and Sooty were mixed in and we got out first Leach’s Storm-Petrels of the day.
I spotted a dark bird coming off the water to the side and shouted out Sooty (only a couple so far on the day) but was surprised when it turned out to be a very large, very dark Pomarine Jaeger:
We continued on towards Atlantis Canyon and found our first Audubon’s Shearwaters of the day. While the boat started to speed up for those, a shout went out and an obviously different bird was coming in. It had a much snappier flight and was much whiter below: a Black-capped Petrel! Unfortunately, it rocketed off before I got any pictures (or even a better than adequate view) but I believe most people did get good views and some got good pictures. This was one of the birds that we’ve been hoping to get on these trips and was a very nice state bird.
The next bit of excitement came with a pod of Offshore Bottle-nosed Dolphins. They came right by the boat. I got a bit of someone’s clothing in the one photo I managed to take but they’re still visible:
We continued on with more of the expected birds (Audubon’s may be pushing expected, but people stopped running for them pretty quickly). Some big flocks were nice to see, even if they’re all common birds, like this Cory’s Shearwater with many Wilson’s Storm-Petrels:
Around noon, I started to feel out of it. Many people had been sick all morning (although I’ve never seen anyone recover faster than when the Black-capped showed up) but I think I was just tired and hungry. I grabbed a slice of roast beef and dozed off for a short time at one of the tables and eventually felt better.
We cruised Atlantis Canyon for quite some time but weren’t able to add any other spectacular birds. I did get some shots of one of the later Audubon’s and something resembling a photo of a Leach’s Storm-Petrel.
We eventually began to start the long trip back. At around 5PM a shout of Whale! went up. The excitement when it was identified as a Northern Right Whale was short-lived as it was tangled in some fishing line. Really upsetting for a critically endangered animal. We took down the coordinates and snapped a bunch of photos. I’d later find out that it was an adult male named Radiator and that rescue efforts were not made as it was too late in the day and the whale likely was just moving through. Hopefully he’ll be refound and can be taken care of.
Around 6, I went to grab my sandwich and ended up lying down again and sleeping pretty much until we were back in Hyannis. Twelve hours birding was more than enough.
Also see my Greater Shearwater photos and the full report on the BBC website which also contains links to much better sets of photos.
I can’t wait for next year’s trips (and am almost tempted for the overnight one in August).
Greater Shearwaters
First round of photos from the pelagic, these are the ones that came out fairly sharp. All Greater Shearwaters, mostly when we slowed down to chum a bit.
The other photographed highlights tomorrow
MSSF
A few bugs from Myles Standish State Forest today while I’m sorting through pelagic photos (not too many good ones this year I’m afraid).
Carolina Saddlebags:
He wouldn’t slow down enough to get a shot off, so I just caught him for a few seconds.
Atlantic Bluet (presumably) and Beetle:
Frosted Whiteface:
Martha’s Pennant:
Skimming Bluet guarding:
They were mostly in tandem pairs. This one appeared to be ovipositing. The male appeared to drag the female headfirst into the water down to some aquatic plant before letting go. He then hovered above the plant and appeared to be guarding while she disappeared. I’m not sure if she’s visible in either photo (I did see her climbing along the plant before I starting taking photos but haven’t found her in either one yet). Both can be enlarged by clicking and then on All Sizes.
And one of 4 Black Ducks on the pond, I’m wondering if they could have bred there.
Summer Snow
Snow Goose in the fog.
Very few summer records for Massachusetts, nice to catch up with this one that’s been hanging around Plum Island for the last few weeks.
Saturday Gossamers
I didn’t get out birding this morning as I was busy fighting Verizon’s overzealous filters blocking all Massbird, but I eventually got out for the Mass Butterfly Club’s trip to Horn Pond Mountain.
Horn Pond Mountain’s a great place to explore but with the recent two weeks of lousy weather it was on the quiet stuff. We did see most of the expected stuff but in low numbers. However, almost everything was spectacularly fresh, obviously having emerged in the last day or so at the earliest.
A couple highlights:
Summer Azure basking with wings open (they almost never do so)
And no longer basking
This Banded Hairstreak was nearby
And this Edward’s Hairstreak was stunning.
Place 13 – Dunback Meadow
I had a very long post about Dunback written up to continue the 100 Places series, but decided to shrink it down quite a bit.
Dunback Meadow, located in Lexington, is one of the best areas around for birding all year. Spring and fall are loaded with migrants, there’s plenty of good breeders, and it’s a great place for winter finches and raptors. It’s also very productive for butterflies.
The town of Lexington has a page up with a map and a bit of information. Two access points are labeled (Allen St and at the Bowman School). You can also enter from the Clarke School, from the end of Blossomcrest Rd (there’s a new trail there not shown on the map) and from Bacon St (no parking there however).
Just about anywhere can be productive but the best spots are the community gardens, the area right around the trail intersection, the birches to the right, and the two sets of pines (the short white pines by Clarke and the taller pines on the hill). Note that all directions below are based on the intersection when coming from Allen St).
Birds to look for include many owls (I’ve had 5 species in the tall pines with this being one of the best spots I know for Long-ears and Saw-whets), redpolls in winter (any of the birches), Northern Shrike (out in the field), hummingbirds (anywhere and everywhere in fall), Olive-sided Flycatcher (many of the dead snags in fall), Connecticut Warbler (down to the bridge entering the woods to the right), and many others. Besides the really rare birds, big numbers of Fox Sparrows can be found (I’ve had about a dozen in one day) and huge numbers of robins build up in fall (to the point of being deafening and making it really hard to find anything else). The crowds attract raptors, including 4 Buteos, 2 falcons, and 2 Accipiters. Pheasant used to be regular (although I did hear one this year for the first time in several years). Winter Wrens frequent the stream in fall and winter and I’ve had Rusty Blackbird and other late blackbirds in fall and early winter.
Butterflies are attracted to a large patch of milkweed straight out from the intersection and also at the community gardens and just about everywhere else. More interesting species include Milbert’s Tortoiseshell, Pepper-and-salt Skipper, and Ocola Skipper. I’ve also had a few interesting dragonflies and occasional mammals including fisher and coyote.
And after spending a few hours at Dunback, the Waltham St. Farms are right across the street, Hayden Woods is behind those, and there are plenty of other places nearby worth checking as well. But on a good day, you’ll find so much at Dunback that you won’t want to leave.
Bobolinks
Never got around to posting a picture for last week’s BPW. I was intending to show a Bobolink from last year based on the ones I saw over the weekend, but I’ll do better than that and show one I found this weekend in my home atlas block.
Rock Meadow is in the process of having the meadows restored with a lot of work being done with invasive plant removal and it looks like it’s paying off. This was the only one I saw but I’d say there’s a good chance of having them breeding by the end of the atlas in two years.
And since I have the picture, this is the one I was planning on using last week. It was a young bird and presumably a postbreeding dispersal in my Dunstable block (they could be in the farm fields but this was not in breeding habitat).
Saturday Fun
Never hit post on this, but fixing the date now.
Yesterday was a long day. I was out of the house and at Minuteman NHP in place to do my yearly survey at 5AM. The survey involves 7 stations and a 10 minute count at each one. Since the stations are all deep in the woods and it’s barely light out, it’s almost all by ear (although I did actually pick up a Wood Thrush and Scarlet Tanager by sight this year). I forgot that I had broken my timer and couldn’t find a good replacement the night before, but lucked out in that my iPod happened to be on a song that was exactly nine minutes long, so I could check the time without too much difficulty. Next year, I’ll make up a 10 minute long blank file that will work perfectly.
With the survey done, I decided to stop in Concord and do a bit of atlas work. I started with a few of the farm fields near Nine Acre Corner. There weren’t many birds around (I did confirm Tufted Titmouse) but along the edge of one field, I found a bunch of nice dragonflies including several Chalk-fronted Corporals, my first Blue Dashers of the year (not that I won’t be seeing them by the thousands shortly), and one or two Delta-spotted Spiketails. Since I was out primarily for the survey, I left the camera at home, but here’s one from Lincoln a couple years ago:
I moved on and decided to drive down Old Road to Nine Acre Corner (quite the name). I saw a parking lot with signs that looked like a conservation area, so I pulled in. There was a big sign about staying on the trails and keeping dogs out of the fields to protect grassland birds, so I zipped down to the fields. There were at least 5 Bobolinks flying about, although they were all males. The field appears to have potential for some other stuff, but other than confirming Red-wing, the only thing of note I picked up were ticks (3 of which needed tweezers later).
I then headed to the Old Rifle Range to pick up pewee and a couple other birds that hadn’t been within safe dates when I last visited. I got all those and heard a somewhat surprising Veery and Ruby-throated Hummingbird (I’m guessing that’s the first heard only hummingbird I’ve recorded).
I then cruised past the Harrington fields and again didn’t find an entrance, but since I found the grassland stuff elsewhere, I’m less concerned now, so I continued to Knox Trail. There was a yard sale sign pointing down the road, even though the only buildings are part of an office park. That proved annoying as lots of cars were driving up and down. The Osprey was a no show and I’m wondering if the nest was abandoned as I’ve yet to see any activity on it but I did find an oriole nest and a few other things. There were plenty of dragonflies about, including first of year Slaty Skimmers and a Cyrano Darner that was making continuous circles along the water. It would have made for a nice photo but again, no camera so here’s one from last year:
Not the best view there, but it’s a big greenish darner with a huge forehead.
I went home for a long nap at this point.
At 6, we headed out for dinner. Two flat tires later, we ended up just getting pizza at home. But in the meantime, I built up quite a good list sitting on the side of the Pike including several Great Blue Herons, a Green Heron, and a couple huge flocks of blackbirds.