Category: nature

Wednesday 2/2: Winter Wren, Hermit Thrush, rest of the usuals at BBN.

Thursday 2/3: Nothing unusual at Forest Grove. Kinglet was back in the yard.

Friday 2/4: Yuck

Saturday 2/5: Few waxwings, a sapsucker, bluebird, and Swamp Sparrow at Dunback.

Sunday 2/6: Decided not to chase the Golden Eagle (good choice) and go to Belle Isle and vicinity instead. Belle Isle gate wasn’t open so went to the greenway/cemetery instead. More or less quiet. Winthrop Beach next had the usual sea ducks and stuff, most of which I still needed for the year. No luck with any buntings or larks though. Draw Seven on the way home had the usual ducks (including the Greater Scaup) and 2 eagles.

Monday 2/7: GW Teal, few Red-wings, creeper about the most interesting at Alewife.

Tuesday 2/8: Same ducks along the river (a few more Bufflehead) plus a Peregrine.

Wednesday 1/26: 15 Turkeys and 2 Winter Wren at Ricci Fields.

Thursday 1/27: Usual ducks along the river.

Friday 1/28: Got the Virginia Rails at Great Meadows for the ‘commute’ plus a Marsh Wren but no Sora and barely anything along the river.

Saturday 1/29: Sparrows, cardinals, and a jay were it in the blizzard.

Sunday 1/30: Eagle over Smith and Trapelo about it.

Monday 1/31: Goldeneye joined the ducks along the river.

Tuesday 2/1: Rails cooperated for a February bird but no luck with the wren or Field Sparrow (or much else).

Wednesday 1/19: Wasn’t great out and I wasn’t feeling great, so just a midday res run. One eagle, one Red-tail, a couple gulls and that was it.

Thursday 1/20: Peregrine at Moody St but nothing interesting among the waterfowl. Nothing much further up the river either.

Friday 1/21: Got the Yellow-rump at Dunback but nothing much else.

Saturday 1/22: Quick check of Draw Seven had nothing. Gull show was quite nice at Revere Beach, 3+ Lessers, 3+ Iceland, Glaucous among 10000 Herring. Wish it was a bit warmer though.

Sunday 1/23: Buzzed Wayland (mostly). Lots of Black Ducks but nothing rarer on Pelham Island Rd. No Rough-leg on Landham Rd. Gardens had a Savannah Sparrow plus an eagle and a bunch of ducks on the river. Not much on the Old Rt. 27 bridge. Sedge Meadow had a Fox Sparrow.

Monday 1/24: No Rough-leg or shrike or much of anything at Hanscom. Actually had more in the hundred yards along the edge of Gaining Ground on the way back to the car.

Tuesday 1/25: Nothing but geese east of Watertown Square, the usual ducks and land birds near the dam.

Wednesday 1/12: Still too cold.

Thursday 1/13: Quick check of Norumbega had a couple Gadwall but nothing else. Did finally get some geese flying past the yard too.

Friday 1/14: Riverwalk had the expected ducks but no others. Merlin flying through as I started was the best thing.

Saturday 1/15: Too cold

Sunday 1/16: Eventually warmed up enough for a bit of a walk around Dunback, nothing of note.

Monday 1/17: Afternoon check of the res had 2 eagles and a handful of ducks.

Tuesday 1/18: Barred Owl and eagle at Falzone plus a Hermit Thrush at the West Meadow and a Red-wing at each.

Wednesday 1/5: GW Teal by the foot bridge in Watertown, nothing at Gore.

Thursday 1/6: Yellowthroat was a big surprise at BBN. Also a few Red-wings and a Bufflehead was still around.

Friday 1/7: Too snowy

Saturday 1/8: Started at Great Meadows. Virginia Rail popped up at the bridge, then a few dabbling ducks flew over including a shoveler. Caught up with the Field Sparrow along the river but that was about it. Kaveski was quiet, a few waxwings at Meriam’s. Looped Nine Acre briefly and had a raven but no geese. Usual stuff on the res in the afternoon.

Sunday 1/9: Quick check of the res was all I managed, Merlin going over was the only thing different.

Monday 1/10: Same at the res.

Tuesday 1/11: Too cold

Wednesday 12/29: Trying to squeeze a couple more ‘commute’ birds in, off to Great Meadows. The Cackling Geese were present and obvious. Lots of Canadas and a few that left me puzzled. One of the White-fronts flew out, but otherwise pretty quiet.

Thursday 12/30: Raven, 2 RC Kinglets, a Yellow-rump, 2-3 Hermit Thrushes at Dunback.

Friday 12/31: Waited for the fog to somewhat clear, then went out to Landham Rd for the Rough-leg. Took half an hour to find it, not sure if it was off or if it was just so far down in a corner that I had missed it at first. Cleared enough by then so I headed to Farm Pond in Sherborn. Barrow’s was the first bird I saw in the scope and added a decent number of other birds for the town (mostly ducks). Drove back through Norfolk county but no turkey still. Stopped at Norumbega for a minute on the way home and had 4 Lesser Scaup.

Saturday 1/1: Had planned on a Scituate/Cohasset area trip but it was foggy again so didn’t really have time. After starting with a cardinal in the yard (unless that was an owl hooting at 4:30), went to Earhart figuring I could head to Belle Isle or similar although ended up not having time for that either. Long-tailed Duck was distant but visible in front of the casino, a raven was my first corvid of the year, and the Black-and-white was still at Gateway Park. Decided Sylvester Baxter next. Chat wasn’t around and it started raining pretty heavily but the Pine Warbler was chipping away and occasionally in the open. Pulled in at the south end of the Mystic Lakes and had a few more passerines but nothing much. Spy Pond was fogged over. Forty species on the day wasn’t bad, and got my new for the month out of the way already.

Sunday 1/2: Concord CBC. Started well in the mist with 20 turkeys, 2 Savannah Sparrows (another January Middlesex bird), and 3 cowbirds at Ricci. Nothing much walking down Hanscom Dr, 45 waxwings at the boardwalk at Hartwell/Brooks, and not much at Tanner’s Brook. With a lack of coverage, I added College Pond this year. Mallard was the only addition to the day list and other than a Winter Wren there was very little else. Swung through Nine Acre on the way home (WF Goose is the fourth month addition).

Monday 1/3: Finally got around to chasing down Norm’s chat. Unfortunately it had been a no-show yesterday but it flew out and then back into its favored hedge pretty quickly. Sapsucker and Winter Wren on the way out too. Res was quiet and nothing different at Hardy either.

Tuesday 1/4: Had to go into Boston so checked Fenway a bit, nothing particularly interesting. Ring-necks at the war memorial were the best.

Wednesday 12/22: Quick parkway check at BBN had a Winter Wren but not much else. Too foggy to see at Hardy or the res.

Thursday 12/23: Habitat was pretty quiet.

Friday 12/24: Great Horned was calling from the yard at 6:30. No Snow Buntings at Horn Pond but the crows did a good job of chasing the Great Horned all over the place. Went to Silver Lake after, moderate number of gulls, one Iceland but couldn’t pick out anything else.

Saturday 12/25: Too icy/wet

Sunday 12/26: Started at Hop Brook (after no birds at Grist Mill and nothing worth looking at at Hager). Water was pouring off the trees making it hard to hear and very little around. Long loop there and through Assabet had about nothing beyond a couple ravens. Continued to Water Row where an eagle was immediately visible. That was #100 for the year in Sudbury, which is my 10th town to hit that mark! Also 2 more ravens here. Continued to School St where I saw the larks in flight but no good geese. Decided to go through Nine Acre on the way home, one of the White-fronts was obvious but couldn’t pull anything else out beyond the cowbird flock.

Monday 12/27: No Snowy at Hanscom but did get Winter Wren, Snow Bunting, and Horned Lark for Bedford.

Tuesday 12/28: Too nasty in the morning but had a gap around 11 to check BBN. Lots of woodpeckers but not much else and had to get back to work before I got a full loop in.

Wednesday 12/15: Worked my way to the doctor’s for a physical. Nothing really of note at Forte Park, the square, or Arsenal Park.

Thursday 12/16: Got to BBN too late for the geese but there was a Bufflehead on the water, patch #188! Nothing interesting at the field station or Hardy.

Friday 12/17: Dunback had a ton of Red-wings, a RC Kinglet, and a grackle but that was about it.

Saturday 12/18: Did a bit of CBC scouting. Gore was quiet beyond juncos. Peregrine at Cookson was somehow my closer than Great Meadows this year. Nothing much on the river. Decided to run over to Great Meadows after but couldn’t dig out any Cackling Geese. Did get one of the pintails at least.

Sunday 12/19: CBC, again lots of normal and not much unusual. Started in the snow at Dunback where a sapsucker was new for the section. Falzone was quiet (although the group that did the hill had a ton of White-throats and Hermit Thrushes). Hardy had a lot but all expected. Afternoon at Gore and along the Charles didn’t add much either.

Monday 12/20: Had to go into the office so went to Heard, which was quiet. At least 8 Gadwall among others at the swamp though. Hopefully was worth missing the eagle…

Tuesday 12/21: Decided not to head south unless there was an early positive report so went to Forest Grove. Usual stuff there and at the res on the way.

Wednesday 12/8: Started CBC scouting by hitting the river walk for the first time in ages. Was dark and nasty so not much anyway. Couple Ring-necks and a couple kinglets were about it there. Had plenty of time to go all the way to Prospect St. Wasn’t shocked by a Pine Warbler down that way.

Thursday 12/9: Finally got a Pileated at BBN. Also 2 Hermit Thrushes, a couple Red-wings, a few other of the should get but often a pain in winter species.

Friday 12/10: Too dark early. Quick res trip while waiting for it to brighten had mergansers but nothing else. Went to Ricci Field from there. Orange-crowned was almost the first bird seen, #180 for Lincoln. Also 2 ravens, a couple Savannahs.

Saturday 12/11: Not terribly nice so pond loop it was. Nothing at the res or Flint’s. Big flock of geese by the river at Nine Acre but the White-fronts were on Plainfield. The big flock appeared to be entirely Canada. Also a ton of turkeys. Spy Pond had an eagle and 230+ Common Mergansers. Too foggy at the Mystic Lakes and it started pouring right after.

Sunday 12/12: Fresh Pond was pretty quiet, sapsucker the most interesting. Quick stop at Blair Pond had nothing but as I was driving off I noticed an eagle sitting on a nearby rooftop. Alewife had a GW Teal and not much else.

Monday 12/13: Falzone was pretty quiet, lots of waxwings on the way out. West Meadow had a couple Rusties and a Winter Wren.

Tuesday 12/14: Bunch of Savannahs at Kaveski, couldn’t pick out the Cacklers at Meriam’s.