Tag: weekinreview

Wednesday 11/28: Didn’t get out other than a brief stop at Hardy Pond which appeared to have the same Ruddy/Hooded Merganser flock (scope still packed).

Thursday 11/29: Prospect Hill: Pileated and a bunch of redpolls.

Friday 11/30: Common Mergansers at Hardy. Hermit Thrush at BBN, Red-wing at West Meadow.

Saturday 12/1: Cambridge Res: 4 Greater Scaup, 1 Wigeon, various mergansers, Ring-necks, etc. Eagle nice and close. Dunback was quiet. A few larks but not many geese at School St (they were all in the unscanable side field at the prison). More geese along Sudbury Rd and Nine Acre Corner but nothing good. No chat at Drumlin. More of the same ducks at Flint’s. 

Sunday 12/2: Walked to BBN. Winter Wren at Lot 1 and a Swamp Sparrow at the West Meadow was it for the first couple hours. Walked up to Gaebler, mostly hoping for finches on the way but no luck with that. However, a Yellow-rump near the Blue-wing spot was a nice start. Reaching field itself, I found it loaded with birds. Mostly juncos and goldfinches but several flickers, tree sparrows, and a Fox Sparrow. Back down to the parkway, where I stopped for a Red-breasted Nuthatch and immediately heard a catbird behind me. After doubling back for that, I found 2 Rusty Blackbirds a few feet further. No sign of the Hermit Thrush but another big flock of juncos and tree sparrows at the basketball court.

Rest of the loop back was pretty slow. Afternoon walk over to Hardy Pond found the usual mergansers and stuff plus a nice Cooper’s.

Monday 12/3: Moody to Prospect St was pretty quiet. One bird in the fruit trees: a robin. A cormorant on the concrete blocks looked interesting but it was just a Double-crested.

Tuesday 12/4: River walk was dead.

Wednesday 11/21: New Mexico: Rio Grande Nature Center, Alameda Bridge

Thursday 11/22: Thanksgiving

Friday 11/23: Didn’t do much

Saturday 11/24: Elena Garregos Picnic Area and Embudo Canyon

Sunday 11/25: Sick

Monday 11/26: Sandia Crest

Tuesday 11/27: Travel day

Wednesday 11/14: River walk was dead. Hardy Pond had the same Ruddy and Hoodies that have been there but not much else.

Thursday 11/15: Redpoll at Gore.

Friday 11/16: Redpolls at Prospect Hill.

Saturday 11/17-Tuesday 11/20: New Mexico – Report later. (Sat: travel, Sun: ballooning, Mon: Bosque del Apache, Tue: not much)

(Meant to schedule this but saved as a draft instead)

Wednesday 11/7: Nasty out. Coot at Hardy Pond and 5 more at Cambridge Res but not much else.

Thursday 11/8: Repeat of yesterday except 2 Horned Grebes and some wigeon at the res (and no coots).

Friday 11/9: Canon decided to ship my lens back without requiring a signature, so ran home to get that off the front step, but had enough time to hit Lot 1 quickly, although nothing of note.

Saturday 11/10: Waltham St: 10 pipits, 3 Killdeer. Then joined the MBC trip at Dunback where there were 10-15 Fox Sparrows (minimum), although not too much else. A few of us continued to Winning Farm where we picked up a Field Sparrow, sapsucker, and noisy Winter Wren. Headed towards School St. fields after that with a brief stop at the north end of the Cambridge Res (mergansers, a Bufflehead, etc). Lots of pipits and probably some larks plus a Cooper’s grabbing one of the pigeon flock.

Sunday 11/11: Started at the field station where there were pipits but no lapwing. BBN had bluebirds and a couple Fox Sparrows. Nothing at Waltham St. School St. was busy with pipits and Horned Larks, but the real surprise was a bittern that flew over. A Peregrine Falcon was pretty good too. Nine Acre Corner, Lindentree, and the Cambridge Res had very little.

Monday 11/12: Chased lapwing. Saw 2. Went looking for my own later and saw 3 redpolls in Concord. Also had a meadowhawk or two.

Tuesday 11/13: Checked out the Moody St section of the Charles where a Cackling Goose had been reported. No luck with that but an Iceland Gull was a good surprise.

Wednesday 10/24: Ruddy Duck count down to about 10 at Hardy Pond. Wandered the wooded middle of Prospect Hill at lunch and saw just above nothing.

Thursday 10/25: Ran to Cambridge Res after seeing scoter reports everywhere. Found nothing of note. Took a quick trip to the north end too, but ended up talking to the watershed protection guys instead of really birding.

Friday 10/26: Purgatory Cove: 28 Wood Duck, 9 American Wigeon, 2 Pintail, 1 GW Teal, 4 Coot between the cove and river. Walking back along the river, a Great Egret flew by! My latest in the county by 4 days. Checked the boat ramp and a quick look at Prospect St for it as I drove to Stanley. Heading back to the office, I pulled in at Mt. Feake for another quick scan. No egret, but a Great Cormorant was a good surprise. Lovely phone to bins photo from the running car below.

Saturday 10/27: Started in the fog at Great Meadows. Not a whole lot there (that I could see). White-crownd was about the best. Once it cleared I headed to the School St. fields, which were loaded with geese. Over 650 of them were Canada, and the one that wasn’t was still part Canada. The other part appeared to be a Greater White-fronted (11/5: more likely domestic Greylag). Also in the flock was a Canada that was very dilute, a pale brown all over. Further checks of different fields, Flint’s Pond, and the Cambridge Res had nothing. Got home, scanned through recent emails and saw that this was the exact goose flock Willy Hutcheson reported Wednesday (about the same count and the same 2 oddballs).

Went back to Mt. Feake with my parents in the afternoon, hoping the cormorant was still there. I probably wasn’t thorough enough yesterday as there were 2 Greats there today (you’ll probably want to click through to the larger image below). Purgatory Cove was about the same (fewer Wood Ducks and Wigeon but a Ring-necked on the cove and 3 Pied-billed Grebe on the river).

Sunday 10/28: Cambridge Res: 7 Greater Scaup. Fernald: 75 Canada Geese. Rock Meadow: patch tick Red-shouldered Hawk. BBN: 3 Hermit Thrush, Sharp-shinned Hawk. West Meadow: Catbird.

Monday 10/29: Stayed in for the storm. Bufflehead and Ruddy swam into the visible corner of Hardy Pond.

Tuesday 10/30: Ran to Cambridge Res early. Five White-winged and two Black Scoters and a Horned Grebe. Trapelo end was blocked off so couldn’t check out the Ring-necks.  Hardy Pond later was pretty dull, Ruddy, a Pied-billed Grebe, and a couple Hoodies.

Wednesday 10/17: Purgatory Cove had fewer Wood Ducks and GW Teal but about the same of other stuff. Good number of coot starting to build at Charlesban.

Thursday 10/18: Prospect Hill was fairly quiet. Flyover siskin, Cooper’s or three, 3+ Hermit Thrush.

Friday 10/19: Hardy Pond: coot, 47 Ruddy. Cambridge Res: eagle, Ruddy, Hooded Merganser.

Saturday 10/20: Went to check Cambridge Res ahead of the road race, pretty much nothing there. Continued to the north end where there was a peep visible from the road. Almost positive it was a White-rump but a little too far. While watching that, a raven and 4 Pine Siskins flew over. After it disappeared, I walked to the other section to check there. Stopped at the driveway by the powerlines on the way and a Clay-colored Sparrow was sitting up. Spotted Sandpiper and 2 Greater Yellowlegs but no peep. Continued on to Arlington Res where there were 2 Solitaries and a Lesser Yellowlegs along with a few Gadwall. Busa was loaded with sparrows but they were almost all Song and White-throated.

Sunday 10/21: Twitch. Quick pass of Cambridge Res on the way home had 2 Pied-billed Grebes and not much else.

Monday 10/22: Rock Meadow: another Orange-crowned.

Tuesday 10/23: Went to West Meadow before work. Checked along the parkway first, tons of juncos and not much else. At the meadow, an adult White-crowned and first of fall American Tree Sparrow. Lots of blackbirds too. Duck ponds were pretty quiet later.

Wednesday 10/10: Purgatory Cove was about the same, but a couple more teal, and a Ring-neck and PB Grebe on the river replacing the pintails. Three Pied-billed Grebes at Hardy Pond on the way to work.

Thursday 10/11: Duck ponds: 5 Wood Duck, 1 kingfisher, many Yellow-rumps, 2 Blackpoll. Red-tail sitting in a neighbor’s yard in the afternoon was a bit odd.

Friday 10/12: Rock Meadow before work: cuckoo (apparently a Black-billed), more of the usual. Cambridge Res: eagle, 4 coot.

Saturday 10/13: Led a trip to Waltham St. About 30 Rusty Blackbirds, several Purple Finches, and a White-crowned Sparrow were the main highlights. Went to the Cambridge Res after and was rather surprised by 3 Red-necked Grebes and a White-winged Scoter (plus a Greater Scaup). Continued to Flint’s expecting something good but 2 black ducks were it.

Sunday 10/14: Eventually went out in the rain late morning. Cambridge Res again: different scaup, 50+ Ring-necks, 3 Hooded Merganser. North end: Greater Yellowlegs. Meriam’s Corner/Kaveski Farm: 150+ pipits, adult White-crowned, Field Sparrow, etc. Rain finally stopped so Great Meadows too: 5 Pectoral Sandpiper, 1 snipe, 1 Blue-winged Teal, 50+ Green-winged Teal, 4 Pintail, 6 pipits on the ground, harrier, Merlin.

Monday 10/15: Paine was too windy for anything.

Tuesday 10/16: Almost too dark to go out in the morning, but went to Rock Meadow anyway. Lincoln’s Sparrow, 2 Indigo Buntings, and (finally) patch tick Orange-crowned Warbler. West Meadow was too windy later (still an Orange Sulphur and some darners flying around).

Wednesday 10/3: Purgatory Cove started with the typical teal and Wood Ducks. Checked the river and found 6 wigeon and first of fall coot. Back at the car, there was a flock moving through so I gave it a couple minutes. First of fall Golden-crowned Kinglet was followed by a Charles River tick Black-throated Green Warbler, a Parula, and a Blackpoll among the many Yellow-rumps. Then the jays squawked a bit. I looked up and something slim and fairly large flew over. Took a second to go from gull to falcon, which turned into an even better surprise when I got bins on it and saw white wing patches. Nighthawk! Way late, new for the Charles, and my 180th lunch hour bird (or not, forgot to mark down Semipalmated Plover and Pectoral Sandpiper at least)!

Thursday 10/4: Shoveler at Hardy Pond in the morning. North end of the Cambridge Res had a Spotted, 2 Pectoral, and 4 Least Sandpipers, plus an egret, bunches of Yellow-rumps, and at least 7 pipits.

Friday 10/5: Add a Dickcissel to the grosbeak. West Meadow at lunch had 3 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and a Scarlet Tanager. Probably a siskin but a little too far to feel confident of the call. Something in the afternoon too.

Saturday 10/6: Joined the MBC trip to Waltham St, which was on the quiet side beyond Purple Finches and a snipe. We continued to the Cambridge Res, where a White-crowned Sparrow was my first of the year and a siskin flew over. Pipits, egret, and Least Sandpipers continued. Then back to Dunback for more Purple Finches. I stopped at BBN and the West Meadow again on the way home. Birds were pretty minimal but butterflies included a Wild Indigo Duskywing and a Buckeye.

Sunday 10/7: Morning walk around Rock Meadow: Sapsucker, White-crowned Sparrow, many Pine Siskins (which were a patch tick, not sure how after the invasion a few years ago). Stopped at Waltham St. for a few minutes and flushed the snipe from the exact same spot and then (re)found a Clay-colored Sparrow. Chased the pintails John Hines had found at Purgatory Cove a little later, with success (3rd Charles tick in a week!). Also up to 23 Green-winged Teal and 6 coot, plus more of the same.

Monday 10/8: Attempted to take advantage of the holiday by twitching the Purple Gallinule found in Norfolk yesterday. Decided to stop at Millenium Park in West Roxbury on the way. After a bit of a construction/gps detour, I had a pretty good time at Millenium with 2 Great Egret, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Rusty Blackbird, 2 Nashville Warblers, and a bunch of siskins among the common stuff. Unfortunately then reached Stony Brook a couple hours too late for the gallinule. Two hours looking did turn up a bunch of both teal, some Tree Swallows, and other regular stuff. Finished the day with 10 Suffolk county and 19 Norfolk county ticks.

Tuesday 10/9: Prospect Hill was pretty birdy. Started with a flock of siskins as I rounded the curve by the tanks. They had moved on by the time I ate and got back down there (and scoped the res), but a flock of warblers was moving through including a Parula, Nashville, Blackpoll, a bunch of Yellow-rumps, and a Blue-headed Vireo. Three Hermit Thrushes further on and then down to the end of Whitney. Palm and BT Blue on the way. Heading back, I found probably the same flock, which also included a couple Pines and a BT Green.

Wednesday 9/26: Nothing doing.

Thursday 9/27: BBN and West Meadow before work, nothing too interesting. Same teal and not much else at Purgatory Cove later. BBC/MBC trip to Great Meadows in the evening had a nice duck flight plus good numbers of herons and shorebirds.

Friday 9/28: Hardy Pond: 2 Ring-necks, 6 Ruddy. Very surprising Horned Grebe at the Cambridge Res. Not up for searching Bird Observer records, but only one other inland September record in eBird (from the Quabbin earlier this year). Lovely phone-scoped photo in the rain:

Saturday 9/29: No Horned Grebe, but 2 Pied-billeds on the res, another at Hardy Pond, and a Common Loon at Flint’s. Great Cormorant at Arlington Res. Also some sparrows.

Sunday 9/30: Original plan was to check School St fields in Acton and then Meriam’s Corner and nearby areas. It started raining on the way, so after seeing nothing at the fields, I went to Great Meadows instead. Wasn’t too much unusual there, but a swift and swallow flock flew in and there was a BT Green down near the river (which was new for me at Great Meadows). Started raining heavily again, so I went home instead of over to the fields.

Monday 10/1: Duck ponds were quiet in the wind. Lots of Wood Ducks and robins but little else. Yellow-rumps and stuff around the neighborhood.

Tuesday 10/2: Joined the MBC trip to Rock Meadow for a few minutes in the morning. Pipits were very nice but I couldn’t stay long enough for the sapsucker. Turkeys, a Gray Hairstreak, and first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the fall at Prospect Hill made for an ok trip but then a spectacular Connecticut Warbler popped up.