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A few photos from the BBC trip to South Beach yesterday:

Highlight of the day and a state bird, Royal Tern.

Wednesday 8/3: Lyman Pond had kingfishers (maybe 3), lots of Wood Ducks, and not much else. No mud flat yet. Three night-herons flew over the street on an evening walk (would have been a yard bird if I was closer to home, hopefully they’ll repeat that tomorrow).

Thursday 8/4: Charles at lunch. Powdered Dancers were new for there and a surprise. Tons of Blue-fronted and a couple Variable made for a 3 dancer day. Not much else though.

Saturday 7/2: Late morning flight from Boston to Chicago and then on to Denver. Grabbed bags, took shuttle to rental car, got out to car lot and find that the only mid-size SUV they had available had a flat tire. So either I could take a Dodge Journey or take a sedan and exchange it the next day. I took the Journey, which proved to be tolerable.

On the road, it was about 40 minutes to the hotel in Centennial. Since it was late and I’d had enough driving, I walked to the Burger King down the street. Found a Desert Cottontail on the way and then had a Swainson’s Hawk being mobbed by Western Kingbirds on the way back, not quite like home.

Wednesday 7/27: Paine was pretty quiet (other than people).

Thursday 7/28: Purgatory Cove had a bunch of herons including 4+ Green and a Black-crowned Night. A few shorebirds included a Least. Probably more if I had time to go through them properly.

Friday 7/29: Prospect Hill back side had nothing different.

Saturday 7/30: Went to Beaver Brook. Reidentified the waterthrush as a Louisiana! Also Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Sunday 7/31: Started at Great Meadows which was as quiet as I’ve seen it lately (no Least, 1 Solitary). Did have a couple Green Heron and a decent raptor show. Cambridge Res had 1 Least, 1 Spotted, 1 Solitary. Purgatory Cove had some apparent Vesper Bluets but not much else (that I could see, something occasionally popped up from the behind the vegetation for a split second). Quick stop at Moody St added Great Black-backed Gull to the month list.

Wednesday 7/20: Back side of Prospect Hill. Pretty much the usual. First Autumn Meadowhawk of the year.

Thursday 7/21: Duck ponds in the heat. Started with a Green Heron on the left pond. Scan across the right and see what appears to be a merganser. Worked over that way and found 2 juvenal Hooded Mergansers among the Mallards! Although I initially thought they were possible breeders here, I had long given up on the idea. While trying to get a photo of them (not worth showing), a Northern Waterthrush popped up behind me (first southbound one in the state?). After finishing with the mergansers, I scanned a bit more and came up with a Solitary and a Spotted Sandpiper. Not bad at all.

From July 2 – July 12, I was in Colorado. I went for the Dragonfly Society of the Americas’ annual meeting, but I spent a good bit of time exploring before and after the meeting. Daily reports to follow, but for now here’s an itinerary.

Summary:

July 2: Midday flight from Boston to Denver (Southwest, stop in Chicago). Arrived late afternoon, picked up rented Dodge Journey (not quite the mid-size SUV I wanted but it was the only thing available at Dollar), and drove to hotel in Centennial. Night at Candlewood Suites. Dinner was the next door Burger King.

Wednesday 7/13: Prospect Hill at lunch. Just about birdless but a few Dun Skippers and 2 Azure Bluets made up for it. Got all excited over a hairstreak on the way back. Thought it was too big for a Gray and must have been an Oak but pulled up photos on the Mass Butterfly Club’s website and it was obviously a Gray. It then started basking with the wings open which would have eliminated any confusion immediately. Still nice and not one I see at the park a lot.

On Saturday, I went on the BBC’s deep water pelagic. A bit on the slow side on the whole, no exciting birds and very few cetaceans. Fortunately the sharks made up for it.

Some photos:

Leach’s and Wilson’s Storm-Petrels

Back from a little over a week in Colorado. Lots of things to post about, but still working through photos and stuff so it’ll be a little while before I get things up.

In the meantime, here’s a photo that I almost deleted straight off the camera. What was I taking?

Extending a bit to fit the travel schedule.

Thursday 6/23: Didn’t do much.

Friday 6/24: Still not much.

Saturday 6/25: Red-bellied in the yard.

Sunday 6/26: Walked around the Cambridge Res and office parks without much. Prospect Hill for a bit after. Highlight was a Leptogaster robber fly.

Monday 6/27: Cat Rock Park in Weston, need to go there more. Nothing particularly of note though.

Tuesday 6/28: BBN was too buggy but a Cooper’s was nice. McLean was mowed, had what looked like a Mocha Emerald or two but couldn’t get a good enough view.