Category: nature

Wednesday 8/17: Little Blue count at Great Meadows was up to 4! Also BC Night-Heron, ibis, Least Flycatcher, etc.

Thursday 8/18: Went to Plum for the first time in years, although I might have bailed had I realized how windy it was. Nothing too exciting, Black Tern and avocet at Stage, LB Dowitcher at Hellcat about it. New toy worked well though, still need to figure out some of the autofocus controls but it’s a ridiculous improvement. Made an afternoon stop at Hobbs Brook, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 Semipalmated Plover, 20+ Least was it.

Friday 8/19: Redstart, Black-and-white, Canada at BBN plus lots of yellowlegs.

Saturday 8/20: Horn Pond had lots of birds, waterthrush, Least Flycatcher, a few shorebirds, etc. North Res didn’t have any shorebirds but did have 2 Broad-wings and a Great Blue Skimmer. Single nighthawk from the yard in the evening.

Sunday 8/21: Estabrook had the usual stuff, redstarts the only migrants. Ibis and 3 egrets at Elm Brook, Greater Yellowlegs at Hobbs Brook.

Monday 8/22: Chestnut-sided and probable Short-tailed Weasel at Dunback plus lots of hummers, waxwings, etc.

Tuesday 8/23: Redstart at Cookson, very little along the Charles.

Wednesday 8/10: Great Meadows was up to 13 egrets and 5 ibis but not too much else. Pulled in at Elm Brook for a few seconds and had a Pec among a flock of Least flying around and 2 more egrets.

Thursday 8/11: Falzone and the West Meadow didn’t have much.

Friday 8/12: White-rump at Hobbs Brook, nothing at the res or Hardy.

Saturday 8/13: Started at Nobscot, BW Warbler, BW Hawk, bunch of hummingbirds about it. Plus a sleeping raccoon. Raymond Reservation next, 3 of the gallinules showed well plus a bunch of shorebirds and raptors. Heard Pond had a Great Egret, nothing too exciting at Heard Farm.

Sunday 8/14: Usual at Draw Seven and Earhart, lots of Semipalmated Sandpipers but not much else for shorebirds and no passerine migrants. Short stop at Winthrop Beach in order to finally get a Least Tern for the year turned out to be a two hour vigil with Soheil, lots of Semis but not much else.

Monday 8/15: Nothing much at Lindentree, marsh wasn’t too accessible and looked pretty dry too.

Tuesday 8/16: Pretty much the same as last time at Weston Station Pond. Few Leasts were new but otherwise not much.

Wednesday 8/3: Red-shoulder, Osprey, lots of Wood Duck at Weston Station Pond.

Thursday 8/4: BBN had a Semipalmated Plover (patch #189), couple Greater Yellowlegs (BBN #170), lot of Lesser Yellowlegs, 9 Green Heron, etc. Great Blue Skimmer ovipositing too.

Friday 8/5: Creepers and a raccoon at GMHQ.

Saturday 8/6: West a bit. Single Grasshopper Sparrow cooperated at the soccer field in Shirley. Decent number of other things including 34+ Killdeer. Pond at the end of the street had a couple things, so 7 new birds for Shirley. Sterling Peat next, Little Blue was hiding but just barely visible. Lots of sandpipers at the other end but couldn’t find any Semis so just the one Worcester county bird. Made a quick stop at BBN to see if the ibis were still around but just the same sandpipers.

Sunday 8/7: Hobbs Brook had more of the same shorebirds, juv Solitary was the most interesting. Ode walk at the Cranberry Bog had a Lesser Yellowlegs, Lance-tipped Darner, and the usual common stuff.

Monday 8/8: Redstart at Cookson, 2 Night-Herons and a waterthrush along the river plus 2 otters (video below).

Tuesday 8/9: Water level was up a bit at BBN so only a few shorebirds. Check of Mackerel for passerine migrants failed to find much of anything.

Wednesday 7/27: Usual birds and a Zabulon Skipper at Forest Grove.

Thursday 7/28: Pec, Semi, etc at Hobbs Brook.

Friday 7/29: Nothing at Lone Tree Hill beyond a few ringlets. Duck ponds had Solitaries and a Spotted in a quick check.

Saturday 7/30: GW Teal and ibis plus 9 egrets at Great Meadows, no shorebirds though. Juncos out in Otis later but no time to actually go out and look around.

Sunday 7/31: Usual at Dunback and the res. Zabulon Skipper in the yard (yard butterfly #20!).

Monday 8/1: Checked conditions at Nine Acre, less mud than I expected. Indigo was the most interesting. Loon at Flint’s on the way home.

Tuesday 8/2: Bunch of Semipalmated Plovers among the shorebirds at Hobbs Brook. Checked Shade St too without anything.

Wednesday 7/20: First in office day in a bit, so went down Pelham Island Rd even if it was too hot. Nothing at the bridge. Finally a valley Indigo at Heard plus lots of Bobolinks, a Cliff Swallow, and a handful of shorebirds.

Thursday 7/21: Hobbs Brook had a Semipalmated Sandpiper along with the usual other stuff.

Friday 7/22: Nothing of note along the Charles in Watertown.

Saturday 7/23: Lesser Yellowlegs was about it at Horn Pond. Checked the North Res in the fells since they’re doing some dam work and it might be low, but it wasn’t low enough. Usual at Blair Pond. No egret visible from the road at Clay Pit, no parking at the duck ponds.

Sunday 7/24: Went to Squantum. Lots of peep, a few Semi Plovers, dowitchers, etc but nothing out of the ordinary. Peregrine flushing most of the flock didn’t help. Squaw Rock Park had a redstart. Stopped at Norumbega on the way home, looked like a flat so I tried the trail down but couldn’t get around the briars too see. Did have a Night-Heron, new for Weston. And then finally checked the Healthpoint pond. Not much maintenance and the side near the building was fenced off but had the expected Comet Darners and Carolina Saddlebags among other things.

Monday 7/25: Lesser Yellowlegs and a few other things at BBN.

Tuesday 7/26: No Pec or teal at Great Meadows but another yellowlegs and 5 egrets.

Wednesday 7/13: Turkey chasing a Red-tail was about it at Rock Meadow. Duck ponds looked good for shorebirds but only robins so far.

Thursday 7/14: Egret and FOY Autumn Meadowhawk at Great Meadows.

Friday 7/15: There was a bit of mud at Hobbs Brook so I stopped. A few Least, 1 Solitary, a couple Spotted, some Killdeer, an Osprey, etc. They were working at the power lines, so I didn’t go up there, but did walk the trail closer to 128 a ways, need to see where that comes out as it looks good for passerine migrants.

Saturday 7/16: Went down to Borderland SP for Attenuated Bluet. Somehow missed that but lots of Scarlets and a first July Ring-necked Duck (believe that’s 80 species seen in every month now) among 7 Bristol county birds. Afternoon walk in Magnolia had the expected stuff.

Sunday 7/17: Deer Island was pretty dead. Belle Isle Cemetery had a few egrets and dowitchers but not enough to think it was worth going over to the main part. Earhart had good numbers of terns and an eagle chasing the Osprey around.

Monday 7/18: Finally a Green Heron at BBN, deer was about the only other thing of note.

Tuesday 7/19: Was debating leaving Great Meadows and going to the turnpike marsh as there were only a few Least around, but 3 ibis flew over, so I chased them down to Borden. They apparently didn’t land. Usual bugs as well.

Wednesday 7/6: BBN started muggy. More Great Blue Skimmers were up at the top of the hill, then a really out of season meadowlark was at the bottom!

Thursday 7/7: Nothing much at Cookson or the dam.

Friday 7/8: Meriam’s and Kaveski had the usual, no Chestnut-sided or Alder.

Saturday 7/9: Concord 4th of July butterfly count. Main result was that we need to scout new locations, all of our morning sites were either overgrown or solar farms. A few FOY skippers and some ok other bugs but not much.

Sunday 7/10: Heard had 3 deer and FOF Solitary Sandpipers. Spotted Sandpiper family at the bridge. More of the same at Sedge Meadow.

Monday 7/11: West Meadow was quiet, so I had enough time to run around the parkway marsh and get Least Sandpipers for the patch yearlist.

Tuesday 7/12: Very little at Alewife. Fish Crow over the yard.

Wednesday 6/29: Family of ravens at Fresh Pond.

Thursday 6/30: Usual at Forest Grove.

Friday 7/1: Lots of emeralds (all Mocha?), a few butterflies, some cool flies, etc at Dunback.

Saturday 7/2: Started at Morrison Farm in Acton semiscouting for next week’s butterfly count. A few creepers, not a ton else. Ode walk at the Cranberry Bog after that, little too cloudy for much.

Sunday 7/3: Couldn’t dig up a Louisiana Waterthrush or Canada Warbler at Estabrook but a reasonable amount of other expected stuff. Went to Sedge Meadow next but got a text from Cliff about a Worm-eating at Dunback so I bailed. Walked the woods at Dunback for an hour and a half with no luck. Did get FOY Holopogon and a few other bugs.

Monday 7/4: Decided to go back out to Ashby. Fitchburg Res had the expected loons and a displaying Purple Finch. Blood Hill had several uncooperative Blackburnians, at least 2 sapsuckers, 2 Yellow-rumps, a Black-billed Cuckoo, a Green-striped(?) Darner, and more. Spent too long trying to see the Blackburnian so had to rush a bit at Watatic. Still had almost everything I wanted (missed Ruffed Grouse) and got 2 county odes! First was a moderately expected Banded Pennant, second was a surprising Ski-tipped Emerald!

Tuesday 7/5: Usual stuff at Hanscom, young Field Sparrows and a few butterflies the most interesting. Blue-wing family at Gaining Ground going/coming.

Wednesday 6/22: Alder, RB Grosbeaks foraging in a field, etc at Meriam’s.

Thursday 6/23: Couldn’t find a better idea than BBN. Turned out to be a good one though with a Great Blue Skimmer in the middle area! Birds were about the expected beyond a Virginia Rail calling near the parkway and lots of Rough-winged Swallows.

Friday 6/24: Usual stuff at College Pond, parking was full for Weston Station Pond.

Saturday 6/25: Led my Ashby BBC walk at Willard Brook. Lots of BT Blues, creepers, Ovenbirds, and thrushes. One Louisiana Waterthrush and maybe a distant Blackburnian. No odes on the brook. Stopped at Townsend State Forest on the way home, usual odes.

Sunday 6/26: Figured it would be too hot for much walking, so went towards Water Row. GM HQ first finally got me a Spotted Sandpiper in Sudbury, but no egrets or anything. The north end of Water Row had a Virginia Rail running across the road and a few other things. The overlook was fairly quiet. Decided to try Feely Field again and had a couple Green Heron and the rest of the usual, no kites obviously.

Monday 6/27: Nothing much at Great Meadows, did finally catch up with a Pileated there this year.

Tuesday 6/28: FOY Mocha Emerald at Rock Meadow, another emerald at the duck ponds, not much for birds.