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A few photos from chasing around Essex county yesterday:

Cassin’s Kingbird (4th state record)

It’s been back off and on (probably depending more on how often we look). Finally got some good pictures tonight.

First one was taken from inside with only the light above the door. I was quite happy with the result for a few minutes.

Wednesday 11/16: Lot 1 had nothing unusual.

Thursday 11/17: Hardy Pond: 1 coot, 1 hoodie, 20ish Ruddy, 2 Great Blue Heron. Cambridge Res: nothing on the first scan but eventually saw a large, dark thing way off. That was a Herring Gull, but scoping that general area turned up a small flock. In the flock, I found a spectacular male Long-tailed Duck, a Red-necked Grebe, and 3 Ruddy. While trying for phone-scoped photos, I noticed something else coming into sight, which turned into a flock of 9 Black Scoter. Also present were a few more Hoodies, 3 Bufflehead, and the big flock of coot.

Sunday was supposed to be the last BBC pelagic of the year (actually the Saturday before but bad weather pushed it back). At the last minute, I decided to go and then spend Monday on the Cape, finally getting around to chasing the Brown Booby and anything else that was around. Unfortunately the trip was canceled due to high wind, so I decided to head down and spend Sunday working my way out to Provincetown.

Wednesday 11/9: Rock Meadow had nothing exciting.

Thursday 11/10: Common Merganser, couple Hoodies, few Ruddy at Hardy Pond. More Ruddy and Hoodie at Cambridge Res.

Friday 11/11: Checked a few ponds midmorning. North end of the Cambridge Res had Hooded Mergansers. Flint’s Pond had Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and mergansers. Cambridge Res had a Long-tailed Duck (197), Hooded Mergansers, and the flock of coots. Hardy Pond had more mergansers, ruddy, and a cormorant.

Wednesday 11/2: Prospect Hill: 2 deer, very few birds.

Thursday 11/3: Duck ponds were having tree work so ended at Rock Meadow. Fourteen turkeys at the entrance to the gardens, a sapsucker and hermit thrush in them. Coot, Ruddies, and a Kingfisher on Hardy Pond in the afternoon.

Friday 11/4: Purgatory Cove had the usual ducks (mostly on the river) plus 5 Bufflehead. After work stop at the Cambridge Res got the coots in close. Took one picture with the phone, but Marj got better. More Bufflehead here, 35, which blows away my previous high count for the area.

Wednesday 10/26: River walk for a change, phoebe, few warblers, nothing but mallards on the water.

Thursday 10/27: Hardy Pond and Cambridge Res in the rain: Ruddies on both, huge raft of coots on the res.

Friday 10/28: BBN at lunch: Bunch of Hermit Thrushes, phoebe, lots of common sparrows and juncos. Ran over to Waltham St after work and found the Lark Sparrow Bob and Karsten discovered earlier. Also Field Sparrow and Palm Warbler. Presuming I saw the American Golden-Plover that was at the Arlington Res a few years ago from the Lexington side, this is #200 in Lexington.

Some highlights from a snow-filled Waltham St. Fields today.

Unhappy Killdeer

Wednesday 10/19: Hardy Pond had 1 Ring-neck.

Thursday 10/20: Purgatory Cove: 7ish Green-winged Teal, 1 Blue-winged Teal, 1 Gadwall, 2 American Wigeon, 15ish Wood Duck, 4 Coot.

Friday 10/21: BBN was quiet.

Saturday 10/22: In Westport for the day but not birding. Did have a Peregrine, many Tree Swallows and a few other things driving around.

Sunday 10/23: All over. Started at Great Meadows where there were no good sparrows but did have a Sora and a few Rusty Blackbirds plus a snipe overhead. On to the School St fields and prison fields where the Cattle Egrets have moved on (guess I should have rushed over Saturday afternoon). Decided to check Meriam’s Corner for them too (thousands of grackles and not much else) and Nine Acre Corner. Cambridge Res on way home turned up a Surf Scoter, finally getting one for Waltham. Up the Charles after lunch with parents where we had 24 coots and 2 Pied-billed Grebe at Charlesbank and about the same ducks as Thursday at Purgatory Cove (new Gadwall though).

Wednesday 10/12: Purgatory Cove: 9 Wigeon (5 cove, 4 river), Hooded Merganser, 3 Green-winged Teal

Thursday 10/13: Hardy Pond: First of fall Ruddy.

Friday 10/14: Duck Ponds: lots of grackles, robins, yellow-rumps.

Saturday 10/15: Led MBC walk to Waltham St. Fields and Dunback. Not a whole lot of birds at either. Best with the group was a Bobolink at Dunback, but I had a Dickcissel walking out by myself. Afternoon walk around Arlington Res got the Great Cormorant sharing a rock with the Double-crested plus 2 shoveler, 2 Wood Duck, 3 Green-winged Teal, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 2 Solitary Sandpiper.