Tag: townbirds

Wednesday 11/14: 2 Fox Sparrows, 2-3 Yellow-rumps at BBN. Also got confirmation of the grosbeaks from last Monday, Waltham #216 and BBN/RM #174!

Thursday 11/15: Yellow-rump, Palm, Gadwall at Forest Grove/Purgator. Waxwings and a teal at Norumbega.

Friday 11/16: Too snowy/rainy but lots of Ruddies at Hardy.

Saturday 11/17: Did a Boston swing (after a quick check of the res, Horned Grebe and Hooded Mergansers). Started at Deer Island. No passerines of note on the hill, nothing much on the water either. Did finally get my Suffolk Snow Buntings, unfortunately a person walking flushed them to the other side of the fence before I got up for good photos. Winthrop Greenway next. Suffolk Winter Wren plus an Orange-crown and Purple Finch. Castle Island after, the trees I liked last month weren’t as good without leaves. Did have a creeper but little else. Tried to get to Jamaica Pond but parking was a pain (coot and Ruddy while looking), so pulled in at Leverett instead (Ring-necks). Decided I really should go for the Blue-winged found this morning at Habitat and it was right there as I walked up. Flew off immediately and I couldn’t find it again in an hour’s wandering.

Sunday 11/18: Started at Alewife which was pretty quiet. Thorndike Field was also quiet but Cooper’s was responsible for some of that. Fresh Pond didn’t have much in interesting ducks but Fox and White-crowned Sparrows were nice as were 1-2 Blackpolls. Continued towards the Mystic Lakes, stopping at Blair Pond (kingfisher, heron, zero ducks) and Spy Pond (lots of cormorants still). Sandy Beach was birdy, tons of robins, juncos, jays, etc. Another Blackpoll or two plus a sapsucker as well. Pied-billed Grebe at the dam, nothing much at the lower end. Did get enough town year birds to top last year’s 17-town total of 1575. I think 1600 will be doable this year, not sure if my original goal of 1700 is truly reachable.

Monday 11/19: Nothing in the rain at Arlington Res. Snow Goose and Snow Bunting at Nine Acre.

Tuesday 11/20: Harrier over Hardy (and probably the house). Nothing but Common Mergansers at Flint’s. Geese at Nine Acre had moved to Verrill, so were somewhat scannable. Snow was still there and a nice White-fronted too.

Wednesday 12/6: Nothing at the res, Flint’s, or Nine Acre. Probably had the Osprey at Heard but bad angle.

Thursday 12/7: Scouting Lot 1. A flash of yellow about 50 feet from the parking lot turned out to be a Yellow-breasted Chat, #215 in Waltham. I barely saw the head, but Bob got a decent performance later. Usual the rest of the loop.

Friday 12/8: Not much at Purgatory or Forest Grove.

Saturday 12/9: Did a bit of CBC scouting. Nothing exciting at the West Meadow or BBN proper, usual sparrows at the field station, tons of mergs at the res but nothing much else, a Red-wing at Waltham St, and  nothing at Hardy (at least that I could see through the snow).

Sunday 12/10: Walked to Lot 1, no chat or much of anything. Nothing at Hardy either.

Monday 12/11: Weather balloon or something being inflated at School St, nothing at Nine Acre, lots of Canadas at Farrar, nothing at Heard.

Tuesday 12/12: Red-wing in the yard then nothing at Hardy, Cambridge Res, or Heard.

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!

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.

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.

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.

Wednesday 10/14: BW Teal, 40-70 Killdeer, and little else at Great Meadows.

Thursday 10/15: First Hermit Thrush of the fall at BBN.

Friday 10/16: 2 egrets, 2 Semipalmated Plovers, 2 Greater Yellowlegs, tons of Yellow-rumps at Hobbs Brook.

Saturday 10/17: Led an MBC walk at Waltham St. Slow start but 2 snipe, a Rusty Blackbird, and a flyover pipit made it worthwhile. Most of us continued to Dunback with a raven, BH Vireo, and Merlin. I went on to BBN to thrash around in the dry marsh but couldn’t kick up anything good.

Sunday 10/18: Went to Nahanton for something different. Orange-crowned and probably 2 Nashvilles plus 2 Field Sparrows. Went to Millennium briefly after, too many dogs and too windy to do a full loop but an egret was on the water. Hobbs Brook had 3 yellowlegs and 55 Wood Duck. The res had 3 Bufflehead, 2 Ruddy, and about 40 wigeon plus a Greater Yellowlegs, finally in Waltham (ignoring that that end of the res is Lincoln).

Monday 10/19: Few Ring-necks and a Pied-billed Grebe at Purgatory. Had a few minutes to kill in the evening, so quick stops at Heard Pond and the town building added Osprey and a coot.

Tuesday 10/20: Nothing terribly exciting at the West Meadow or nearby part of BBN.

Wednesday 4/15: College Pond had a gnatcatcher, calling Barred Owl, and first Mourning Cloak of the year.

Thursday 4/16: Harrier and not a whole lot else at Kaveski.

Friday 4/17: Nothing but scaup at the res on a pond check (rather nasty for the few minutes I was out).

Saturday 4/18: Started with the MBC trip at Horn Pond. First of spring Yellow-rumps were a good beginning. As the group approached the phoebe bridge, I backtracked a bit to scan for hidden teal. No ducks, but something moved in the leaves. Bright white undertail, bright yellow bill. Sora! I ran back and, amazingly, it stayed more or less visible for the entire group. Rest of the walk had more of the typical stuff.

Stopped at Arlington Res on the way back, lots of Yellow-rumps, a few Palms, Bufflehead, a Ruddy, not much else. Duck ponds were quiet other than a Cabbage White. Stopped at BBN to check water levels by Dawes (too high) and flushed a snipe on the way back (Waltham #210!). While trying to get another look at that, the first Common Green Darner of the year flew by. Checked Cambridge Res quickly, 8 Greater Scaup, 7 Ring-neck.

Sunday 4/19: Led the MBC walk at BBN. Flyover loon, lots of Palms, Hermit Thrushes, sparrows, not a whole lot else. Scaup still at Cambridge Res, goldeneye and Ring-necks at Flint’s. Got home to see that the Yellow-throated Warbler I expected yesterday at Arlington Res had showed up, wandered over midafternoon and got it easily. Checked duck ponds again just in case but nothing at all there.

Monday 4/20: Nothing at Farm Meadow/Codman. Barn Swallows at Heard Pond and the town marsh (missed the kingbird though).

Tuesday 4/21: Chimney Swift, 2 Ravens, and a bunch of Yellow-rumps at Purgatory Cove.