January: Good start to the year with Lesser Yellowlegs, Mountain Bluebird, and Hammond’s Flycatcher all on the 2nd. My prediction of doubling my state list at that rate didn’t quite come true though. Good numbers of ducks on the res later in the month, owls calling from the yard, and traded the Smith’s Longspur at Bear Creek for a puffin at Andrew’s to end the month.
February: Pelagic finally got me a fulmar and lots of other birds but that was about it for the month.
March: Went up to Vermont for Nymphfest, which was a good time and had Bohemians at the hotel. Western Grebe in Winthrop, then the Yellow-billed Loon and Mew Gull at Race Point.
April: First bugs of the year, but otherwise a fairly quiet month.
May: Missed White-faced Ibis again, had a good weekend in Concord, Black Vulture on Birdathon, Acadian at Assabet, and the usual migrants. Ended the month with the Prothonotary at Great Meadows.
June: Maine Snaketail was my 100th dragonfly in county plus the usual breeders and some other good bugs. Heard only Clapper Rail was a state bird to upgrade.
July: DSA meeting added a bunch of lifers in Nevada and Utah and was a great time. Might finish the report one of these days. Shorebird show at the res and Hobbs Brook began with ibis and a Little Blue.
August: Migrant warblers started arriving, plus the shorebird show at Horn Pond got really good. Laughing Gull in Everett was only my second for the county and a YT Vireo was a Beaver Brook North patch bird. Ended with month with county recordBig Bluet at the Earhart Dam
September: RN Phalarope at Millennium was better than the one at Flint’s since it was 10 feet away. Shorebird show at the res continued with a Stilt Sandpiper and some more White-rumps. Pelagic ended the month, my highlight was South Polar Skua.
October: Leach’s at Heard Pond was one of the year’s highlights (would have been the highlight had I not ignored the odd stick in the water…). Shorebird show continued, Vesper Sparrow was a patch and Waltham bird, and ended the month with successful chases for Harris’s Sparrow and Gray Kingbird. Did miss Bell’s Vireo and Yellow Rail, but Seaside Sparrow and Sedge Wren balanced that out.
November: Hammond’s Flycatcher and Western Tanager were rather nice locally.
December: Started with good warblers along the Charles before a Pink-footed Goose at the res. Then refound the goose at Nine Acre. Tanager was still at Dunback, which was a bit of a surprise. Quiet CBC, then finished with Nashville and another warbler on the Mystic and the lingering Ovenbird at Horn Pond.
Totals: 316 overall, 261 MA, 204 Middlesex, 146 Waltham, 115 BBN/Rock Meadow, 99 Charles, 121 Cambridge Res
New birds (11): Hammond’s Flycatcher (1/2, Fairhaven), Northern Fulmar (2/7, offshore), Yellow-billed Loon (3/19, Race Point), Abert’s Towhee (7/11, Clark County Wetlands), Lucy’s Warbler (7/12, Desert NWR—Corn Creek), American Dipper and California Condor (7/13, Zion NP), Franklin’s Gull and California Quail (7/16, Utah Lake), Harris’s Sparrow (10/27, Westboro WMA), Gray Kingbird (10/29, Hyannis)
Additional MA birds (12): Mountain Bluebird (1/2, Crane WMA), Hammond’s Flycatcher (1/2, Fairhaven), Atlantic Puffin (1/31, Andrew’s Point), Northern Fulmar (2/7, offshore), Western Grebe (3/12, Winthrop), Yellow-billed Loon (3/19, Race Point), Clapper Rail (6/25, Fairhaven), South Polar Skua (9/24, offshore), Harris’s Sparrow (10/27, Westboro WMA), Gray Kingbird (10/29, Hyannis), Seaside Sparrow (10/29, Fort Hill), Western Tanager (11/13, Dunback)
Additional Middlesex birds (3): Black Vulture (5/14, Carlisle), Hammond’s Flycatcher (11/11, Fells), Western Tanager (11/13, Dunback)
Additional Waltham birds (3): Semipalmated Plover (10/10, Cambridge Res), Vesper Sparrow (10/13, BBN), Pink-footed Goose (12/4, Cambridge Res)
Additional BBN/Rock Meadow birds: Yellow-throated Vireo (8/24)
Additional Charles birds: Orange-crowned Warbler (12/4)
Additional Cambridge Res birds (11): Hermit Thrush (4/10), Willow Flycatcher (5/22), Little Blue Heron and Glossy Ibis (7/20), Brown Thrasher (8/31), Stilt Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper (9/7), Rusty Blackbird (10/15), Long-billed Dowitcher and Sharp-shinned Hawk (10/23), Pink-footed Goose (12/4)
Odes: 111 overall, 75 MA/Middlesex
New Odes: 23 overall, 2 MA, 4 Middlesex
Butterflies: 50 overall, 42 MA, 41 Middlesex
New Butterflies 3 overall, 2 MA/Middlesex
Bug numbers probably pending a few photos that I haven’t checked.
Goals for next year: patch lists to 170 each, county list to 300, state list to 390, 175 new county ticks statewide, 300 new town ticks in Middlesex, life list to 600, clear out the wanted lists for odes and butterflies.
