WIR 10/26-11/1

Wednesday 10/26: Forest Grove for a change. Late-ish Pine Warbler and Purple Finch about it.

Thursday 10/27: Twitch

Friday 10/28: Nothing at the res or Flint’s. Also nothing at Heard Pond, except as I started to pack up 3 otters decided to swim by. Rusty, teal, wigeon, etc at the marsh in a half second scan.

Saturday 10/29: Another twitch or two. Evening stop at the res had 40 wigeon among other ducks.

Sunday 10/30: Rock Meadow had a BT Green and a White-crowned. Wandered the marsh at BBN without anything exciting. Waltham St was also quiet. Dunback had a Nashville or two and an Orange-crowned but no interesting sparrows. A couple minutes on Old County had 70ish GW Teal and zero shorebirds.

Monday 10/31: College Pond had both Accipiters, a few Purple Finches, and the usual other stuff.

Tuesday 11/1: Red-shoulder at Meriam’s/Kaveski.

WIR 10/19-10/25

Wednesday 10/19: Lots of Purple Finches and grackles at West Meadow.

Thursday 10/20: Sun dog was the most interesting thing at Dunback.

Friday 10/21: Too foggy, eventually made it to School St where I could see most of the geese. Nothing terribly exciting, 4 Pecs overhead and a big flock of cowbirds.

Saturday 10/22: Res had the usual, first Ring-necks in a few weeks and a Greater Yellowlegs were about the best. Old County had 2 Common Mergansers but no shorebirds. Hobbs Brook looked flooded, so I just walked a few feet by the overpass to confirm and promptly found several ticks crawling up my pants.

Sunday 10/23: A few new arrivals at the res included 4 Greater Scaup and 3 Gadwall. Checked Old County again and found a bunch of shorebirds, one of which was a Long-billed Dowitcher. Also a few Pecs, and late Semipalmated Plover and Least Sandpiper. Sharpie at Hobbs Brook was surprisingly the second new bird for the res today. Gave a few other ponds a quick check then went to the greenhouse side of Waltham St. Circled around without much but dug through the House Sparrows before leaving and found a Dickcissel.

Monday 10/24: Blackbirds, bluebirds, and sparrows all over Great Meadows plus a flyover Snow Bunting.

Tuesday 10/25: Orange-crowned and BT Green at West Meadow.

WIR 10/12-10/18

Wednesday 10/12: Home all day, very little in the yard.

Thursday 10/13: West Meadow had a nice male Purple Finch, a slightly odd Red-tail, and the usual sparrows. Still don’t understand why the abandoned area by the parking lot is better, but practically the first bird out of the car was a Vesper Sparrow, Waltham #213!

Vesper

Friday 10/14: Field and 2 White-crowns at Great Meadows but no Nelson’s.

Saturday 10/15: Led the MBC walk at Waltham St. Sparrows generally didn’t cooperate for the group but we had most of the regulars plus a few Rusties. Arlington Res after had a late Green Heron and Hobbs Brook had lingering Leasts and Semipalmated Plovers plus another Rusty (my first for the res!).

Sunday 10/16: Tried heading a bit south for a change. Nahanton was pretty dead, couldn’t find any sparrows beyond Song and White-throat (and junco, keeping the warbler count from topping the sparrow count). Only thing of interest at Millennium was a DeKay’s Brownsnake. Well, that and a call from Norm about a Black-bellied Plover at Flint’s. Plover was apparently gone by the time I got there, but an early Common Merganser was nice.

DeKay's

Monday 10/17: Rock Meadow was quiet for most of the time, but Field and Lincoln’s Sparrows in quick succession were quite nice. Since they were mowing or something, I only checked the gardens and then ran over to the duck ponds. Nice little pocket at the bridge included 2 BH and a Red-eyed Vireo, a Blackpoll, and a few Yellow-rumps.

Tuesday 10/18: Little tough getting around. Nothing new at Hardy, Pileated and both kinglets at Flint’s, Ruddies at Heard.

WIR 10/5-10/11

Wednesday 10/5: First of fall Ruby-crowned Kinglets and the usual at BBN. Quick scan of the res on the way home had 50ish GW Teal.

Thursday 10/6: Kaveski had a harrier, a late oriole, lots of Red-wings, and lots of the normal sparrows.

Friday 10/7: 50+ GW Teal and the usual at Lindentree.

Saturday 10/8: Started with 400+ grackles flying through the yard. First actual stop was at Waltham St with a White-crowned, Lincoln’s, and couple of Rusties. Other end had a late tanager and BH Vireo. On to Dunback, which had a Winter Wren, another Lincoln’s, and a few other things of mild interest. Hobbs Brook had 1 Semi, 4 Leasts, and 4 Pectorals. Peregrine and the usual at the res, and nothing on Old County.

Sunday 10/9: Thought the rain wasn’t going to be so bad so went to Great Meadows. Nothing there and getting soaked, so a quick drive out to School St (400 geese, 100 cowbirds), then a loop of some of the ponds without anything.

Monday 10/10: Started at Danehy. Bit windy, but a Rose-breasted Grosbeak was calling. Seemed to be little else around but Karsten and I turned up a towhee and a raven, so not a bad trip. Spy Pond was quiet. Hanscom Trails were fairly quiet, flyover Rusty was good. Fawn Lake was also quiet and there was nothing at Flint’s. Afternoon loop of the res had 4 Pecs and a late Semipalmated Plover, which surprisingly turned out to be new for Waltham (212).

Tuesday 10/11: Wayland Community Gardens had the usual, 1-5 Rusties being the highlight.

WIR 9/28-10/4

Wednesday 9/28: One flock of Palm Warblers and nothing else at Great Meadows in lousy conditions.

Thursday 9/29: Lincoln’s Sparrow, BT Blue, and not a whole lot else at the Wayland gardens.

Friday 9/30: Nothing too exciting at the West Meadow.

Saturday 10/1: Thought the rain had started so did a res loop. Very few shorebirds at Hobbs Brook but a lot of Palms and Yellow-rumps plus a bunch of Savannahs. About 10 wigeon and one of the egrets at the main bit of the res. Ten Semipalmated Plovers, a few peep, and 3 pipits along Old County.

Sunday 10/2: Started in the mist on Marj’s walk at Waltham St. Wet and fairly quiet, but a bright Dickcissel eventually showed up. Probably shouldn’t have checked the rest of the fields as there was absolutely nothing and I got soaked. Continued to Horn Pond where the Golden-Plover was putting on a good show and another White-rump was nearby. Gardens were busy too, although nothing too interesting. On to Winter Pond to work on the Winchester list. No luck with the egret but a group of shorebirds leaving included a few Semipalmated Plovers and Greater Yellowlegs. Final stop along Old County had 4 Pecs and more pipits.

White-rump

American Golden-PloverDickcissel

Monday 10/3: Pileated at College Pond.

Tuesday 10/4: 3 Pecs and a few other things at Hobbs Brook. Interesting evening too.

WIR 9/21-9/27

Wednesday 9/21: Late GC Flycatcher, early OC Warbler, first of fall junco and White-throat at BBN.

Thursday 9/22: Handful of warblers and a Purple Finch at Prospect Hill.

Friday 9/23: More Purple Finches but little else at Rock Meadow.

Saturday 9/24-Sunday 9/25: Pelagic

Monday 9/26: Too tired.

Tuesday 9/27: 3 Ruddy at Hardy Pond, 25 GW Teal and a couple Greater Yellowlegs at Flint’s.

WIR 9/14-9/20

Wednesday 9/14: Green Heron and nothing else at Forest Grove/Purgatory.

Thursday 9/15: Good start with 5 species of warbler at BBN and then nothing for the remaining 50 minutes.

Friday 9/16: Wilson’s and BT Green at Dunback. Also woken up by a screech-owl.

Saturday 9/17: Started at Alewife. Pretty quiet, a couple Purple Finches by the ponds and then a long walk in the wooded section for a redstart. Continued to Waltham St. Main section was dead (1 Palm, 1 Indigo, 10 Song Sparrows, 6 goldfinches, and that was about it). Tried the greenhouse side and a Connecticut popped up. Unfortunately right as Marj walked in, so I waved instead of photographing and it disappeared before she caught up. Very few birds at Hobbs Brook but a Familiar Bluet finally along with a decent number of other odes and butterflies. Twelve+ Ring-necks and an Osprey at the res, people walking around on Old County so didn’t check.

Sunday 9/18: MBC walk at BBN was dead. Little bit more at the duck ponds after, then a few plovers, peep, and teal at the Old County end of the res. Main section of the res had some ducks including 10ish Wigeon and 20ish Ring-necks plus an early coot. Egret by Trapelo was the first that’s made it to that side.

Monday 9/19: Old County Rd had the same and then it rained too hard to see anything.

Tuesday 9/20: Usual at Hobbs Brook.

WIR 9/7-9/13

Wednesday 9/7: Too much traffic to make it around the res, so went down Old County instead. Picked a White-rump out of the peeps and then a Stilt Sandpiper in closer, both new for my res list! Egret at Heard Pond too.

Thursday 9/8: Hobbs Brook had a/the White-rump.

Friday 9/9: More or less the same along Old County minus the Stilt.

Saturday 9/10: BBN had 2 migrants: a Chestnut-sided and a Philadelphia Vireo. Single Solitary at the duck ponds. Couldn’t find the Ring-necks at the res and nothing else too interesting there. One White-rump on Old County and 2 more at Hobbs Brook. Evening visit to Great Meadows was quiet.

Sunday 9/11: Plum for the first time in ages. Seems a lot of the good shorebirds had moved on but a few things still around. After almost getting caught in the downpour, I did have a bit of success on the Hellcat trails. Short stop at the harbor after had a decent number of terns.

Monday 9/12: Blackpoll and Nashville at Prospect Hill.

Tuesday 9/13: Nashville, 2 Redstarts, and a heard only Dickcissel at Round Hill.