Wednesday 5/22: Went to Rock Meadow and BBN. Good numbers of warblers including a Blackburnian, at least two Black-billed Cuckoos, and a few other things but my main highlight was a singing Alder Flycatcher, which is Waltham #204.
Thursday 5/23: Wandered to Mt. Auburn eventually. Worked for thrushes in the Dell with minimal success, then took a short wander where I found 2 Turkey Vultures in trees. Also an Indigo Bunting and late-ish Yellow-rump but struck out on the Mourning. Quick trip around the Cambridge Res had 2 Common Loons.
Well the hosting move took a bit longer than I had hoped. Catching up…
Wednesday 12/5: Nothing at the duck ponds.
Thursday 12/6: Nothing different at Hardy Pond, good numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches at the back side of Prospect Hill.
Friday 12/7: Paine Estate list was about the same as Prospect Hill.
Saturday 12/8: Huge flock of stuff on the Cambridge Res including 12 scaup (both species), 200 Ring-necks, 50 Ruddy, a Loon, 25 wigeon, and 20 coots. Nothing at Flint’s. Finally made the Fresh Pond run for Canvasback for the year.
Wednesday 10/31: Purgatory Cove: Great Cormorant had moved down here. Water level up, one of the docks was by the road, and the path through the woods along the edge was taped off but otherwise not bad. Birds were slow beyond the cormorant. Driving out, I saw some white along the water by Mt. Feake, so pulled in at the boat ramp. Couldn’t see it from there so walked the trail a short distance and found the egret.
Not exactly what I was expecting this morning when I pulled in at Hardy Pond for a quick scan.
Actually saw one (of the two) diving while still driving in. That set off alarm bells but I expected Black Terns so they really started ringing when I took a look and saw how white they were. Mad scramble for the scope and they were obviously Leasts. A bit headless chicken at that point (call someone? send email? take pictures?) but I eventually got the video.
Wednesday 5/23: North end of the Cambridge Res: BT Green, Redstart, Parula, Blackpoll, Spotted Sandpiper, kingfisher, etc. Good number of dragonflies although lots too far to ID.
Thursday 5/24: Habitat survey early had the usual plus a parula and blackpoll. Duck ponds at lunch had first pondhawk and jewelwings of the year.
Friday 5/25: Rock Meadow survey had the usual. Not much at Purgatory Cove or near the landfill.
I missed a Bonaparte’s Gull at Great Meadows yesterday (see WIR eventually). However, one of the eBird comments mentioned something about it possibly having been around for a few days, so I figured I’d head over this morning before the rain started.
I decided to bird my way over, checking the Cambridge Res and Flint’s Pond on the way. The southern end of the Cambridge Res was busy (although I initially drove by and decided to double back) with a couple Common Mergansers and some Wood Ducks. Rounding the bend, I pulled over to scan in the usual spot and saw enough to get out the scope (it had starting spitting a bit, so I did hesitate). First thing in the scope were four birds together. Three were quite dark and one showed some white. The odd one out stopped rolling over and looked like the rest. Yellowy ‘horns’ were also visible, a group of Horned Grebe! This is among the high counts for Middlesex county (ties the highest in eBird).
Based on a discussion from today’s sightings, a couple points that are worth repeating every so often:
Check every bird
Walking around Hardy Pond today (after a 7:30 AM reverse-911 call warning of icy conditions), I watched a medium-sized hawk fly up and land on a pole. Almost certainly a Cooper’s, but I took a closer look. Hmm, Buteo. With a lot of streaking on the front. It flew into the yard across the road. Crows saw it and chased it off, but not before I got a good look at the tail, enough to say Red-shouldered. Waltham bird #190!
