weekinreview – Page 72 – brewster's linnet . com

WIR 12/2-12/11

Adjusting dates again as I got lazy.

Thursday 12/2-Monday 12/6: New Jersey and Delaware. Trip report in prep but highlights included thousands of geese, a few Tundra Swans, many eagles, good numbers of shorebirds, etc.

Tuesday 12/7: Prospect Hill was quiet.

Wednesday 12/8: Paine was even quieter.

Thursday 12/9: Didn’t get out.

Friday 12/10: Mother found a warbler at Government Center, I couldn’t find it. Quick run along the Charles had 5 Ring-necks, 3 Common Mergansers, a few Hoodies, and a Great Blue Heron.

Saturday 12/11: Started CBC scouting by walking through BBN. Not a whole lot but 2 Cedar Waxwings in Lot 1, many robins at the West Meadow, and about 10 Tree Sparrows at the McLaughlin building weren’t bad. Back to Government Center (no warbler), then on to the Charles. Seemed quieter than yesterday (more hoodies, a second heron, but only 1 Ring-neck and no Commons). Kingfisher was good though. On to Woerd Ave (frozen), then back to the Moody to Prospect St loop. Another ring-neck but otherwise common stuff. Attempted to go for geese but none of the flocks were in a spot that was suited for stopped, so on to Flint’s Pond (couple goldeneye, bunch of ruddy) and then the Cambridge Res. Mostly frozen but one puddle had about 25 swans, another had 8 goldeneye, and the third had several hundred ducks including 20 Wood, 20 Hooded Merganser, 7 Common Merganser, 2 Gadwall, 1 American Wigeon, and many Mallard and Black.

WIR 11/24-12/1

Day late but it works better going forward.

Wednesday 11/24: Out of work early so checked Dunback and Waltham St with pretty much nothing.

Thursday 11/25: Out to Ethan’s but nothing good on the way or at his feeders.

Friday 11/26: Too foggy and rainy to do anything outside at Ethan’s, nothing on the ride home.

Saturday 11/27: Long walk through Lot 1 to BBN. Flock of waxwings and 2 deer at the boardwalk, handful of red-wings elsewhere was about it. Afternoon walk over to Hardy Pond added Gadwall to the on-foot list, #100 for the year without much effort. Adult Cooper’s in the yard was the 3rd Accipiter of the week (Sharpie earlier, juv Cooper’s yesterday).

Sunday 11/28: Went hunting for longspurs. No luck (Meriam’s Corner, School St, Nine Acre Corner side fields). Did have a big flock of pipits and a few Horned Lark at School St and heard a Pileated at the land trust fields behind NAC. Afternoon walk around the Arlington Res was pretty quiet, one teal, 12ish ruddy.

Monday 11/29: Checked the field station briefly. Saw more rodents than birds and the rodent count was 2.

Tuesday 11/30: Lyman Pond was pretty quiet (geese and mallards).

Wednesday 12/1: Purgatory Cove: 6 scaup (Lesser I think), 1 Gadwall, 1 Double-crested Cormorant.

WIR 11/17-11/23

Wednesday 11/17: Cambridge Res. Also Gadwall at Hardy Pond.

Thursday 11/18: Rock Meadow: zip.

Friday 11/19: Winter Wren was singing at the end of the street. Paine had a robin, 2 chickadees, and a bunch of juncos.

Saturday 11/20: Pink

Sunday 11/21: Wandered around Lincoln for a bit. Good number of Tree Sparrows and Bluebirds at Lindentree, not much else.

Monday 11/22: Duck ponds were fairly quiet.

Tuesday 11/23: BBN was on the quiet side. One sulphur(?) was good.

WIR 11/10-11/16

Wednesday 11/10: BBN was quiet, juncos must have moved on.

Thursday 11/11: Started the day off at Dunback, where we had 2 Fox Sparrows and a Yellow-rump. On to Fresh Pond with 5 Canvasbacks, many Ring-necks and Ruddies, and a Lesser Scaup.

Friday 11/12: Charlesbank had tons of coots (35 or so) but not much else.

Saturday 11/13: Started at Cambridge Res with a big flock of Ring-necks and other stuff in awful light. Flint’s was pretty quiet, Great Meadows was very quiet beyond a Common Yellowthroat. In the afternoon, we went back around the res and succeeded in finding the Red-throated Loon that had been around (189 for Waltham) and then found a big flock of coots and wigeon with some Gadwall instead of the Ring-necks. Arlington Res was quiet.

Sunday 11/14: Horn Pond was on the quiet side. Highlights were a Great Blue Heron sitting at eye level, a White-throated Sparrow chasing a moth around almost at our feet, and a Great Horned Owl (in the open, yet I still walked by it repeatedly even knowing it was around).

Monday 11/15: Out doing chaperone duty at Harvard in Kenmore Square, so ran through the Victory Gardens while I waited. Probably 3 individual Blackpolls, an Orange-crowned, and a Baltimore Oriole made for a decent hour.

Tuesday 11/16: Back end of Prospect Hill. Didn’t stumble across any owls or Pileated but a raven flew over calling, first I’ve had there in quite some time. Also pretty sure a couple peepers were calling by the vernal pool.

WIR 11/3-11/9

Wednesday 11/3: Tried Cambridge Res and Flint’s in the morning. Barely light and they had a layer of fog which made it really hard to see. Four goldeneye at the res were the only things I picked out. With extra time, stopped at Hardy Pond as well with 1 Bufflehead, many Ruddy, and a cormorant that appeared to be in the process of getting pulled underwater by something.

Thursday 11/4: Went to the riverwalk at lunch but the rain picked up, so I saw 15 Ring-billed Gulls.

Friday 11/5: Tried Cambridge Res again in the morning, too dark and not much. Went back to the riverwalk which was pretty quiet.

Saturday 11/6: Started with a Cambridge Res/Flint’s Pond loop. A female-type Black Scoter and an adult Bald Eagle at the res got my Waltham yearlist to 150. Flint’s had a female Surf or White-winged Scoter that was way too far out. On to Meriam’s corner which was pretty quiet (few pipits, lots of flyover robins and stuff but nothing of real interest). After lunch, I went back to Flint’s and spent 30 minutes wandering the woods before I found the scoter slightly closer and confirmed it as a Surf. Also had 9 Bufflehead, 7 Common Goldeneye, 6 Common Merganser, and 15 Hooded Merganser. Then went around the Arlington Res. Five shovelers and four coots were the only interesting things on the water. Busa was loaded with juncos and I managed a Fox (res bird #140) and White-crowned Sparrow among them.

Sunday 11/7: Went on the BBC trip to the NH coast. Stopped at Plum on the way home to finally get Cattle Egret onto my state list (not exciting enough a bird to chase and I’ve never been in the area of one until now somehow).

Monday 11/8: Somehow got out during the sunny break. Ran over to Purgatory Cove. Not much in the cove, but scanning across the river towards Edgewater Drive, I found 4 Gadwall, 3 Pied-billed Grebe, and about 5 each Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks. John Hines had seen those and much more over the last week mostly further up the river, so it was nice to get them in Waltham.

Tuesday 11/9: Prospect Hill was pretty quiet beyond a Hairy Woodpecker destroying a tree (the falling pieces looked like they’d hurt if someone got hit). Not sure why they close the road on 10/29 for the winter.

WIR 10/27-11/2

Wednesday 10/27: Tried Great Meadows again before work for Le Conte’s and Nelson’s Sparrows. No luck with those but 2 Rusty Blackbirds and another bittern were good. Hardy Pond had over 55 Ruddies at lunch.

Thursday 10/28: Beaver Brook and Waverly Oaks Marsh for a change. Not a whole lot.

Friday 10/29: Flint’s Pond before work: Blackpoll, Hooded Merganser. BBN at lunch: nothing.

Saturday 10/30: Great Meadows in the morning. No luck with any Ammodramus but a meadowlark flew over (#171 for the refuge) along with a Horned Lark (flyover, only realized after another birder asked if that’s what it was) and a Rusty Blackbird. Purgatory Cove in the afternoon was fairly quiet.

Sunday 10/31: Rock Meadow and BBN. Highlights were a flyover pipit and a BT Blue at Rock Meadow and a Peregrine at the West Meadow. Quick check of the north end of the Cambridge Res after (1 Song Sparrow, 1 Blue Jay) and then Waltham St. Fields (1 snipe, 6 flyover siskins).

Monday 11/1: Paine was quiet beyond a couple meadowhawks still around.

Tuesday 11/2: Duck Ponds were quiet. Rusty Blackbird at the end of Leitha, 2 away from 150 in Waltham for the year.

WIR 10/20-10/26

Wednesday 10/20: Started the day at Great Meadows hoping for yesterday’s martin sp without luck. Tons of sparrows and ducks. Purgatory Cove at lunch: 2 Pied-billed Grebe, 1 wigeon, 1 Blackpoll. Back to Great Meadows again: Rough-winged Swallow, Bittern, Peregrine putting on a good show, and a Greater White-fronted Goose that flew in as light disappeared (luckily it was calling and drew attention). Also had a mink running around at our feet.

Thursday 10/21: Duck ponds had nothing.

Friday 10/22: Prospect Hill was too windy but a Hermit Thrush and 7 turkeys were good.

Saturday 10/23: Started with Cambridge Res (nothing) and Flint’s Pond (4 Black Scoter). On through Nine Acre Corner to the School St. Fields in Acton where the Barnacle Goose was very obvious. Lots of pipits as well and a huge flock of grackles went over. Almost everyone there ended up at Great Meadows. Spent 4 hours there with no martin but got the Grasshopper Sparrow and 2 bitterns, including one at very close range. Quick stop at the north end of the Cambridge Res on the way home for lunch (nothing) then back to Great Meadows with parents for another couple hours. A swift and a couple swallows overhead and the mink made another pass but not much else. Pictures coming in another post sooner or later.

Sunday 10/24: Spent 3 hours wandering around Dunback. Highlights: Fox Sparrow (finally one in October), American Tree Sparrow, and another Grasshopper Sparrow. Got home and found siskins on Miriam and then ruddies, ring-necks, and hooded mergansers seeing if they were anywhere near Hardy Pond. Trying for them again later, a Merlin was perched on an antenna.

Monday 10/25: Poked around BBN, tons and tons of juncos and not a whole lot else.

Tuesday 10/26: Prospect Hill had a bluebird or two flying over and nothing else.

WIR 10/13-10/19

Wednesday 10/13: Waltham St. Fields before work had a Vesper Sparrow. BBN at lunch had an Eastern Tailed-Blue and lots of the usual.

Thursday 10/14: Community gardens were quiet. Ran over to the Arlington Res and Busa Farm after work but couldn’t turn up the Blue Grosbeak.

Friday 10/15: Hardy Pond had Ruddies and the Cambridge Res had an Osprey.

Saturday 10/16: Cambridge Res had 2 Common Mergansers, Flint’s Pond had nothing. Caught up with the Blue Grosbeaks at Arlington Res along with an Orange-crowned Warbler (and a very brief view of the Tennessee).

Sunday 10/17: Started at Danehy Park with 5 White-crowns, 2 Blue-headed Vireos, a Merlin, a Dickcissel, and another Orange-crowned. McLennan Park was quiet. Great Meadows had a Chimney Swift, 20 Tree Swallows, and 4 Pectoral Sandpipers.

Monday 10/18: Merlin at BBN.

Tuesday 10/19: Cambridge Res and Flint’s Pond before work. Res was pretty quiet although one of the ravens flew over. Loon and Bufflehead on Flint’s (but no Red-necked Grebe). Lots in the trees, pretty sure I was hearing Pine Siskin but not positive. Paine at lunch: Blue-headed Vireo and Phoebe, but more interesting was a huge flock of grackles noisily moving through the woods.

[audio:http://www.brewsterslinnet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/grackles.mp3]

WIR 10/6-10/12

Wednesday 10/6: Checked various ponds for sea ducks before work. Found a Ruddy at Hardy Pond and not much at the Cambridge Res or Flint’s Pond.

Thursday 10/7: BBN at lunch. Pretty quiet (multiple Accipiter passes and clouds clearing 20 minutes after I got back to work didn’t help). One Red Admiral was nice.

Friday 10/8: Back side of Prospect Hill: 2 Hermit Thrush, Winter Wren.

Saturday 10/9 – Monday 10/11: Separate post

Tuesday 10/12: Purgatory Cove: 2 American Wigeon, 2 Pied-billed Grebe (on the river), only 1 Wood Duck.

WIR 9/29-10/5

Wednesday 9/29: BBN was very quiet along the parkway.

Thursday 9/30: Duck ponds were pretty quiet at lunch time. Final evening Great Meadows walk had a bunch of Chimney Swifts, a Cliff Swallow or two, and a few of the usual raptors.

Friday 10/1: Hardy Pond had more Chimney Swifts, a House Wren, and a couple warblers between rain showers.

Saturday 10/2

Sunday 10/3: Led a walk to BBN. Stayed cool and cloudy. Lots of Chipping Sparrows, robins, and Yellow-rumps and not much else. After the walk, checked Rock Meadow (nothing), McLean (Red-eyed Vireo), Waltham St (White-crowned Sparrow and Purple Finch), and Cambridge Res (Greater Yellowlegs).

Monday 10/4: Purgatory Cove had a few Chimney Swifts and way less Wood Ducks.

Tuesday 10/5: Prospect Hill finally had my first junco of the fall.