WIR 5/26-6/1

Thursday 5/26: Forest Grove was pretty quiet, the Flowed Meadow trails are a bit tight for birding and not much was singing. Blackpoll near the yard this morning.

Friday 5/27: Helped with a survey at Habitat in the morning. It was pretty quiet (Black-billed Cuckoo was the most interesting) and it turns out the hummingbird nest in the parking lot is nowhere near my block. Lunch at Prospect Hill greeted me with a really loud Hooded Warbler.

Saturday 5/28: Walked through Lot 1, West Meadow, BBN. Pair of cuckoos below Avalon and lots of butterflies but not much else.

Sunday 5/29: New Salem for the day. No time to look for stuff but heard BT Blue, BT Green, etc and had a Chalk-fronted Corporal. Red-shoulder perched on the side of Rt. 2 was nice.

Monday 5/30: Dunback was too buggy. Arlington Great Meadows was quiet.

Tuesday 5/31: Prospect Hill was quiet. No warbler, no ravens. First Spicebush Swallowtail of the year was it.

Wednesday 6/1: See yesterday but substitute River Walk for Prospect Hill, White-fronted Goose for birds, and Stream Bluet for the bugs.

WIR 5/19-5/25

Thursday 5/19: Home and away.

Friday 5/20: Travel day.

Saturday 5/21: Cousin’s graduation. Kingfisher flew over mid-ceremony. Afternoon walk around the FDR estate had first Spot-winged Glider of the year.

Sunday 5/22:

Black

Stopped at Bartholomew’s Cobble on the way home. Now 1 for 1 on Black Vulture. Also heard a Bay-breasted and a few other warblers. Plus got Black Vulture in New York on the way as well, would have been nice to get a Connecticut one too.

Monday 5/23: Paine, forgot about the science field trips so ended up working down the hill. BT Green, yb cuckoo, sharpie, etc. Swamp Sparrow was probably the oddest bird.

Tuesday 5/24: BBN had the usual summer birds. Those include Blue-winged Warbler, turkey, many grosbeaks, Indigo Bunting, etc. Plus Cherry Gall Azure, American Lady, and a few other butterflies.

Wednesday 5/25: BBN again before work. Same as yesterday minus the turkey plus site tick Red-breasted Nuthatch along with Chestnut-sided, Blackpoll, Magnolia, Ovenbird, and Solitary Sandpiper, and a Question Mark. Duck ponds at lunch added Orchard Oriole and first patch odes of the year (many forktails, 1 baskettail, and a tandem pair of green darners).

WIR 5/12-5/18

Thursday 5/12: BBN: BT Blue, Parula, nothing too exciting.

Friday 5/13: Paine: YB Cuckoo, Nashville, probable Springtime Darner.

Saturday 5/14: Combined Birdathon/Menotomy Century Run. Ended up with 105 species ranging from Vine Brook Marsh to the Brooks Estate, Fells, Horn Pond, Horn Pond Mountain, Hanscom, Great Meadows, Lindentree Farms, Nine Acre Corner, White Pond, and the Charles.

Sunday 5/15: Led the BBC Mt. Auburn trip. It was raining for most of the time and no one showed, which didn’t bother me much. Ended up with 11 warblers and a few other things in an hour.

Monday 5/16: Duck ponds: swan was back, parula and yellowthroat were it otherwise.

Tuesday 5/17: Nothing much at Hardy Pond. Spotted Sandpiper flying across Cambridge Res. No storm-blown birds.

Wednesday 5/18: Great Meadows before work: 2 Hooded Merganser, lots of swallows including a few Cliff. Ravens at Prospect Hill (and a Fish Crow).

WIR 5/5-5/11

Thursday 5/5: Duck ponds had a few warblers, a grosbeak, and a Green Heron.

Friday 5/6: White-fronted still along the Charles, pretty quiet otherwise.

Saturday 5/7: Complete loop at Prospect Hill. Good number of warblers including Blackburnian and Northern Waterthrush. Also a sapsucker, 3 deer, Field Sparrow, many Indigo Buntings and tanagers, etc.

Sunday 5/8: Oxbow with Josh Rose and Tom Murray. Successfully found a couple Ringed Boghaunters, plus a few baskettails and a whiteface. Also a nice mix of Spring and Cherry Gall Azures, a Question Mark, and 40ish species of birds including Yellow-throated Vireo and drumming Ruffed Grouse.

Monday 5/9: Beaver Brook was very quiet (too windy?). BT Green, couple Yellow-rumps, and a Savannah Sparrow were about it.

Tuesday 5/10: Hardy Pond had 2 Ruddy and lots of swallows but they were all Tree and Barn.

Wednesday 5/11: Purgatory Cove was quiet.

WIR 4/28-5/4

Thursday 4/28: Purgatory Cove and Forest Grove were pretty quiet.

Friday 4/29: Prospect Hill was shockingly quiet but did manage first of year catbird.

Saturday 4/30: Saw something at Mt. Auburn. Plus 11 warblers and various other spring birds and an American Lady or two.

Sunday 5/1: Arlington Res: 5 Least Sandpiper, Warbler Vireos, no new warblers. Afternoon around the Charles: gnatcatcher on nest, Great Crested Flycatcher, patch tick Red-breasted Nuthatch, and returning Yellow-throated Vireo.

YT Vireo

Gnatcatcher at nest

Monday 5/2: Dodged science field trips at Paine and then even more people at Beaver Brook for a couple Yellow-rumps and a Clouded Sulphur.

Tuesday 5/3: BBN before work: Chestnut-sided, Ovenbird, 2 Parula, 2 Yellowthroat, Wood Thrush, more of the regular stuff. Prospect Hill at lunch: 3 Ovenbird, BT Green, Coyote (‘following’ me up the slope a bit).

Wednesday 5/4: Took the GPS to the gnatcatcher nest to confirm that it is in Boston South 1. Vireo was cooperative and warblers all over although I didn’t have time to sift through. Great Meadows in the evening to try for the whistling-ducks. Wet and quiet.

WIR 4/21-4/27

Thursday 4/21: Prospect Hill was windy and not very exciting. Two Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Comma were about it.

Friday 4/22: Day off, so started with Lot 1 hoping to confirm Great Horned Owl. Could only find an old pellet. Did have a House Wren and a few Palms and a Pine. Ticks all over. Arlington Res after, Yellow-rumps and Palms all over plus a Yellow and a Pine. Spotted Sandpipers were in and the Pectoral remained. Couldn’t find any snipe though even knowing there were 4 there.

Saturday 4/23: Rained out

Sunday 4/24: Photos cover it.

Monday 4/25: Duck ponds had the usual. Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the yard.

Tuesday 4/26: Decided it was too foggy before work, not sure if that was a good idea or not. Yellow-rumps all over the yard. Beaver Brook at lunch was pretty slow, thrasher and flyover Osprey were about it. Rusty Blackbird at Hardy Pond in the afternoon.

Wednesday 4/27: Rock Meadow before work. Virginia Rail didn’t cooperate but kingbird, kestrel, heard-only Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Black-and-white Warbler, along with a Field Sparrow. BBN at lunch had another Black-and-white along with a Black-throated Green and a Baltimore Oriole, plus a Juvenal’s Duskywing and several Six-spotted Tiger Beetles. Savannah Sparrows apparently in the yard while I was at work, that’s #97 for the yard list.

 

WIR 4/13-4/20

Wednesday 4/13: Hardy Pond in the rain was pretty quiet. Nothing at all on the Cambridge Res.

Thursday 4/14: Lots of woodpeckers and Pine Warblers at Paine along with my first Chipping Sparrow of the year.

Friday 4/15: West Meadow was very quiet.

Saturday 4/16: Fells where we didn’t see Louisiana Waterthrush. I continued to Prospect Hill and the Cambridge Res without much.

Sunday 4/17: Led an MBC trip to Rock Meadow and BBN. Highlights: Sapsucker, Fox Sparrow, first of year Swamp Sparrows, Brown Thrasher, and a raccoon. Also first Cabbage White of the year. Arlington Res in the afternoon had a Pectoral Sandpiper among the usual stuff.

Pec

Monday 4/18: Went down to Hyannis for Yellow-legged Gull. Very strong winds didn’t help, hard to tell if they kept the gulls away or if they’ve moved on. Lots of Bonaparte’s (and possibly a Black-headed) plus first of year Laughing Gull and Piping Plover.

Piper

Tuesday 4/19: Duck ponds had lots of Yellow-rumps, a few Palms, and 4 Wood Ducks.

Wednesday 4/20 (changing the starting day again): Purgatory Cove had lots of swallows including several Rough-winged and a Bank, along with a very noisy pair of kingfishers, tons of Palms and Yellow-rumps, 3 Ring-necks, and 2 Lesser Scaup (at least the male was, presumably the female was too).

WIR 4/6-4/12

Wednesday 4/6: Hit Hardy Pond for a couple minutes on the way to work: 5 Ruddy, few mergansers, bufflehead, etc. Paine at lunch had the expected Pine Warbler along with a Hermit Thrush but not much else (half surprised no butterflies). Frogs were going strong.

Thursday 4/7: Long walk around BBN. Phoebes all over (minimum of 5) and at least one Rusty Blackbird singing from the vernal pool was an overdue patch tick. Turkey ran across the road on the way out.

Friday 4/8: Charles at lunch. WF Goose was still around. Palm and Pine Warblers by the telephone worker training area. Great Meadows after work. Finally caught up with one of the Horned Grebes and also had first of year Barn Swallow.

Horned Grebe

Saturday 4/9: Mostly in New Salem. Also had first comma of the year and a quick glimpse of the Osprey on nest at the Littleton rookery.

Sunday 4/10: Walked through Lot 1, West Meadow, and BBN. Great Horned at Lot 1, 2 Fox Sparrows and a Field Sparrow at BBN were about it for birds. Two Mourning Cloaks and several commas as well.

Monday 4/11: Forest Grove had a few Palm Warblers. Fairly quiet otherwise, but a Virginia Rail called very distantly as I was heading out.

Tuesday 4/12: Kinglets all over the base of Prospect Hill, not too much up the ski slope. Went back to Forest Grove after work and explored Flowed Meadow a bit. Lots of Palms, along with a few Yellow-rumps and a couple Palms. A rail was very loud below the bench near the landfill. At Purgatory Cove, a couple jays, titmice, and a nuthatch were going bonkers over a couple holes but I couldn’t find anything in them (go in at the gate on the right just beyond the cove, down the path that’s immediately to right are two pines on the left, the tree was next to those, easier to check from climbing up the hill a bit).

 

WIR 3/30-4/5

Wednesday 3/30: Purgatory Cove: 1 Common Merganser, 2 Wood Duck, 5 Ring-neck, 1 Rusty Blackbird (river tick!), 1 turtle.

Thursday 3/31: Paine: Red-breasted Nuthatch was about it.

Friday 4/1: Common Loon at the Cambridge Res but no sign of the Long-tailed Ducks and Horned Grebe that had been seen yesterday.

Saturday 4/2: Nothing much on the Cambridge Res, Flint’s Pond, or Nine Acre Corner. Pied-billed Grebe at the res was the best.

Sunday 4/3: MBC Walk at Arlington Res was highlighted by a calling snipe. Cowbirds in the yard.

Monday 4/4: Purgatory Cove: 16 Ring-necks, 2 Wood Duck. Charlesbank: 10 more Ring-neck, coot.

Tuesday 4/5: Back end of Prospect Hill: lots of trilling. Think at least one was a Pine Warbler but between the wind and Sharpie that buzzed through I couldn’t confirm. Also a phoebe way in the back.

WIR 3/23-3/29

Wednesday 3/23: John Crookes reported a Greater White-fronted Goose along the Charles yesterday, guess where I went. First bird as I pulled in was the Lesser Black-backed Gull, nice to finally get some good views. The goose was present as well (I’m not so sure it’s a wild one but #192 in Waltham for now). Bob Stymeist pulled in at the same time and we watched both for a few minutes (and Bob got some shots of them together). Merlin was nice as well as were the 2 tagged Ring-billed Gulls (one was a returning bird).

You can (barely) hear the goose squawking at the gulls in this recording, it’s the lower, faster clucking.

Update: Still waiting on Bob, but Christopher got some photos.

Thursday 3/24: Prospect Hill had nothing and halfway up I realized I should have gone to the back side.

Friday 3/25: BBN was pretty quiet. Thought I was hearing Wood Frogs but didn’t get close enough to be sure.

Saturday 3/26: Started at Great Meadows hoping for Horned Grebe. No luck with that, but Bald Eagle, 45 goldeneye, 75 Ring-necks, and a Tree Swallow weren’t too bad. Prison fields and School St fields didn’t have much so on to Nine Acre Corner for another Horned Grebe. No luck with that one either but first Pied-billed of the year was there. Also picked out the Eurasian Teal and at least one of the intergrades among the Green-wings and had a Northern Harrier drop in and sit for a few minutes. Cambridge Res was quiet. Arlington Res in the afternoon was pretty quiet, few Killdeer and wigeon was about it. Groundhog ran through the neighbor’s yard.

Goldeneye

Sunday 3/27: Started at Dunback with 2 Fox Sparrows. Crossed to Waltham St Fields (3 American Tree Sparrows at the corner of Brookside) where there were at least 6 Wilson’s Snipe flying around. Walked through Hayden Woods as well, hearing a Rusty Blackbird and then had a Red-breasted Nuthatch in one of the spruces on Valleyfield St.

Red-breast

Monday 3/28: Duck ponds: Fox Sparrow and 3 Wood Duck.

Tuesday 3/29: Lot 1: Hermit Thrush in almost the same location as the one on the CBC. Flushed a woodcock as well. Wood Frogs were out in force and some early bees were out (Colletes or Andrena).