weekinreview – Page 77 – brewster's linnet . com

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.

WIR 11/24-11/30

Tuesday 11/24: Lyman Pond at lunch: 1 heron, 2 hoodies, 2 cormorants, 100+ regular geese.

Wednesday 11/25: Had to run to the mechanic before work, so made a couple stops along the Charles. About 9 Wood Ducks along Charles River Rd and Edgewater Dr along with a Pied-billed Grebe and 3 coots. One grebe at Forest Grove (just on the Waltham side of the line). Stopped at Hardy Pond at noon, about 10 hoodies, one ruddy, and a ton of juncos.

Thursday 11/26: Out to New Salem for Thanksgiving. Odd goose at the rotary caused a detour but it appeared to be a domestic. One moth in the house was about the only thing of note, appears to be Grote’s Pinion.

Friday 11/27: Rain canceled plans to head to Otis, nothing interesting on the ride home from New Salem. Big flock of robins over the yard and starlings over Leitha late in the afternoon. Red-wing and Red-belly calling from the end of the street.

Saturday 11/28: Charles midmorning, absolutely nothing (45 minutes and I had 8 species). Heron flying down the street below the houses was interesting in the neighborhood as was this sharpie in the yard for over an hour:

Sunday 11/29: Another MacGillivray’s and a big milestone. Also 2 meadowhawks still around.

Monday 11/30: Lunch at Hardy Pond: 2 Common Mergansers, many Hooded, 1 Ruddy.