weekinreview – Page 76 – brewster's linnet . com

WIR 2/15-2/21

There’s a gap from Texas.

Monday 2/15: Important guests for breakfast then finally caught up with the easy Saw-whet in Burlington that all my friends have seen already. In the afternoon, got the Tufted Duck on the Wayland/Sudbury line, very glad that he hung around until I got back.

Tuesday 2/16: Went to the duck ponds at lunch but the sleet and snow picked up, so didn’t get out of the car and didn’t find anything driving around a bit.

Wednesday 2/17: Charles at lunch. Scaup still around with 15 ring-necks spread out. Two Common Mergansers. First Wood Ducks of the year hiding on the other side. Both Sharpie and Cooper’s in the yard.

Thursday 2/18: Moody St at lunch, nothing of note. Sharpie over Kingston and the same Cooper’s in the yard again.

Friday 2/19: Lot 1 at lunch. A total of 5 individual birds but one was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet so I was fairly happy.

Saturday 2/20: Looking for the Tufted Duck found on the Charles yesterday (why didn’t I go at lunch). No luck with that, but Turkey Vulture, 3 Bufflehead, 2 Grackles, and many Red-winged Blackbirds weren’t bad.

Sunday 2/21: Checked the Charles again without much of anything.

WIR 1/26/-2/5

A week and a half this time as next week will be very different.

Tuesday 1/26: Beaver Brook ponds were flooded but had 2 Hooded Mergansers and a few American Black Ducks.

Wednesday 1/27: Charles, refound the Lesser Scaup and finally had a goldeneye for the year but very quiet otherwise. Not a single gull! Also had at least 25 Mallards buzzing around the neighborhood after sunset.

Thursday 1/28: Nothing of note.

Friday 1/29: Freezing cold but hit Lyman Pond quickly. It was frozen.

Saturday 1/30: Still freezing but checked Dunback briefly. Creeper and not much else.

Sunday 1/31: Plum with MBC. Snowy Owl (even further than last time), Rough-legged Hawk, Horned Lark, Bald Eagle, and lots and lots of ice and wind.

Monday 2/1: Beaver Brook North, nothing of real note.

Tuesday 2/2: Purgatory Cove: Lesser Black-backed Gull (last year’s bird back?) but no eagles.

Wednesday 2/3: Paine: creeper and not much else.

Thursday 2/4: Moody St, nothing much (no dark-mantled gulls at all)

Friday 2/5: Charles: scaup still around, 1 fish crow calling, fairly quiet otherwise.

WIR 1/19

Tuesday 1/19: Still snowing, stayed in at work.

Wednesday 1/20: Figured the only place with open trails would be Beaver Brook. Nothing other than Mallards that wouldn’t be in the yard right now (and not the 50 red-wings that flew over the yard in the morning).

Thursday 1/21: Charles by Moody St. Few Common Mergansers, nothing interesting among the gulls.

Friday 1/22: Duck ponds, 4 hoodies in with the mallards.

Saturday 1/23: Went to Cape Ann with my parents and a friend. Most of the usual stuff, missed King Eider and a few of the gulls. Did get 2 Peregrines on the tower, many Harlequins, and 2 Iceland Gulls including this adult:

Sunday 1/24: Stayed in. Great Black-backed Gull was yard bird #26 for the year, lots and lots of the usual stuff in very quick waves.

Monday 1/25: Raining. Quick check of Hardy Pond had a few gulls and some mallards flying around. Did have 6 Red-wings fly over at work.

WIR 1/12-1/18

Tuesday 1/12: Checked the duck pond. Bunch of mallards, 1 hairy, not much else in 15 minutes.

Wednesday 1/13: Charles, more of the same plus 5 Fish Crows.

Thursday 1/14: Paine, nothing different.

Friday 1/15: Beaver Brook North, nothing different.

Saturday 1/16: Took a long walk to Lot 1 and then the West Meadow. Two red-wings at Lot 1 were the highlight, although lots of regular stuff.

Sunday 1/17: Checked Rock Meadow in the morning, 2 bluebirds, 2 Carolina Wrens, lots of regular stuff. Led the Waltham Land Trust duck walk along the Charles in the afternoon. All the regular stuff (minus the goldeneye) were there and a Lesser Scaup was a very nice surprise. A big crowd as well.

Monday 1/18: Snowed, stayed in taking photos (see next post).

WIR 1/5-1/11

Tuesday 1/5: Kestrel on the way to work. Charles again at lunch. Carolina Wren and Hairy were about the only things different.

Wednesday 1/6: Cooper’s keeping everything down in the yard before work. Paine at lunch: red-belly, creeper. Sharpie in one of the trees in the courtyard at work.

Thursday 1/7: Charles at Moody St: one tagged gull. Charles at Elm St: nothing different.

Friday 1/8: Waverly Oaks Marsh had nothing so did a quick Screech-Owl run.

Saturday 1/9: Charles again and again nothing different. The Common Merganser below did pose nicely at least. Also had 19 species in the yard.

Sunday 1/10: Pretty much stayed in, quick check for the ravens late in the afternoon (mostly to show someone where they are, saw nothing on the ride).

Monday 1/11: Beaver Brook North: Flicker, 2 Tree Sparrows, Red-belly. New Beaver Brook/Rock Meadow Patch page

WIR 12/29-1/4

Tuesday 12/29: Too cold to go out, plus free lunch at work so no reason to go out.

Wednesday 12/30: Beaver Brook Ponds: Kingfisher (don’t understand, the Charles is totally open and there’s no kingfishers but I’ve found two in the last few days in spots that I could leap over the open water).

Thursday 12/31: Took a quick trip over to the Mystic Lakes (for Great Cormorant and eagles). Not a whole lot there, a quick walk at Sandy Beach had 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, a few hoodies, and a red-wing or two. Saw some ducks on the river at the other rotary on the way home, so pulled in and stopped for a minute. More hoodies and a Ring-neck among the mallards and swans. Started snowing then, but decided to stop at Dunback anyway. Snow was much worse there and I gave up after a brief search of the pines. Only thing of note was a big flock of White-throats foraging about 15 feet up in the pines.

Friday 1/1: Goldfinch for bird #1. Did the BBC trip, Laura’s report is up. Highlights: Ipswich Sparrow, Snowy Owl, Glaucous Gull, flock of Razorbills.

Saturday 1/2: Basically snowed in but ran out for a few minutes after hearing that a raven was on the deer carcass at the Cambridge Res. Took a bit of searching to find the carcass, but the bird was still there (no spot to stop though so no pictures).

Sunday 1/3: Snowed in again, nothing different for the yard but enough to be entertaining.

Monday 1/4: Charles at lunch for the Barrow’s Goldeneye that has reappeared. No goldeneye at all but 2 swans, 7 ring-necks, and a few Hooded and Common Mergansers made it a worthwhile trip.

WIR 12/22-12/28

Tuesday 12/22: Charles by Moody St at lunch, almost totally frozen and nothing interesting among the gulls.

Wednesday 12/23: Checked the rest of the Charles: 2 goldeneye, 3 common mergansers, 2 hoodies.

Thursday 12/24: Dunback in the afternoon, nothing exciting other than robins everywhere.

Friday 12/25: Took a quick walk through Lot 1: Winter Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Flicker, several woodpeckers, big flock of juncos.

Saturday 12/26: CBC, separate post sooner or later.

Sunday 12/27: Stayed in.

Monday 12/28: Sick, stayed in.

WIR 12/15-12/21

Tuesday 12/15: Paine at lunch. Lots and lots of common stuff. Most interesting bird was a junco with a hint of white wingbars.

Wednesday 12/16: Lyman Pond, nothing of note. About 110 geese at Fernald.

Thursday 12/17: Too cold to go out even though I had taken the day off for CBC scouting. Fun time at the museum a least.

Friday 12/18: Eagles! Beaver Brook North after, 1 grackle, 2 Great Blue Herons, many Tree Sparrows.

Saturday 12/19: Down the rest of the Charles, not a whole lot. Also a stop at Gore Place where the Chipping Sparrow continued and a walk around Lot 1 with lots of robins and a few red-wings.

Sunday 12/20: CBC postponed because of snowstorm. Tree Sparrow in the yard among other things.

Monday 12/21: Annual holiday lunch, so no birding.

WIR 12/8-12/14

Tuesday 12/8: Charles at lunch: 2 hoodies, very little else.

Wednesday 12/9: Too nasty out for anything.

Thursday 12/10: Lyman Pond: Double-crested Cormorant still around, Great Blue was about it otherwise. Big flock of geese on Warren Field but nothing interesting among them in a quick scan.

Friday 12/11: Paine, lot of the common stuff but nothing of real interest.

Saturday 12/12: Stayed in, 18 species in or around the yard.

Sunday 12/13: Dunback quickly: flicker was about it. Charlesbank had a coot and a ton of ducks just out of sight. Forest Grove and Purgatory Cove had 5 Wood Ducks and a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds. A quick check of the river by Cronin’s Landing found this along with a couple hoodies and many common gulls:

Monday 12/14: Green-winged Teal at the YMCA. Lot 1 had lots of birds including a grackle at the pond and some waxwings mixed in with the many, many robins.

WIR 12/1-12/7

Some things I can mention from the last week:

Golden-crowned Kinglet in the yard, Wednesday 12/2.

A single meadowhawk still flying, Friday 12/4.

Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, many mergansers (both Common and Hooded), and a kingfisher on Hardy Pond, Saturday 12/5 (and everything but the kingfisher Sunday too).

Red-breasted Nuthatch at Paine, Monday 12/7.