Wednesday 3/11: Mystic Lakes had a woodcock, 4 Double-crested Cormorants, and the usual mergansers and eagles.
Thursday 3/12: Woodcock was peenting from the yard (#123!) early. Too foggy for Fresh Pond, so just went to Dunback. Another woodcock, a Barred Owl, 20 turkeys, a phoebe, a Turkey Vulture, and more made it fairly good.
Friday 3/13: Fresh Pond was pretty quiet, GC Kinglet and eagle the closest to interesting.
Saturday 3/14: Started at Water Row hoping for some movement before the wind got too strong. Nothing too exciting, lot of blackbirds, lot of Hoodies and a few teal, FOY PB Grebe, etc. Drove down to the other end but it was still frozen, so moved on to Mill Pond in Maynard where there were Fish Crows and bluebirds among the usual stuff. Continued to the rail trail, where Bufflehead were #50 for Maynard (finally, all towns now at least that high). Also added mockingbird and had a few mergansers and common passerines. School St. had pintail and teal among the geese and Mallards. Nine Acre had teal, turkeys, and a couple giant blackbird/starling flocks. Res was just starting to open, couple mergansers have found it.
Wednesday 8/25: Broad-wing was sitting on a flagpole at BBN as I arrived. Not too much else, lots of orioles, an adult male-looking Yellow Warbler, and a restart about it, plus a deer. Finally got a nighthawk at home in the evening plus what was almost certainly my first phoebe for the yard along with a hummingbird.
Thursday 8/26: Nothing much at Cookson or east of the square.
Friday 8/27: Nothing too exciting at Rock Meadow, finally got GC and Willow Flycatchers for the year for Belmont plus a redstart. Water at the duck ponds was still up, kingfisher the only bit of interest.
Wednesday 8/4: Was heading to BBN but a couple odd birds that appeared to drop towards Hardy Pond turned out to be Glossy Ibis! Drove over to the other side to try to find them with no luck, but yard #117 and Waltham #225! Green Herons and a Hooded Merganser were nice at BBN.
Thursday 8/5: Went to Nine Acre for egrets and anything the rain might have put down. Found a Night-Heron flying off and that was it. Headed for a pond loop after but it started pouring again, so didn’t see much of anything.
Wednesday 4/26: Eagle and 20 Ruddy but nothing storm-related at the res. Gadwall at Hardy.
Thursday 4/27: Usual at College Pond plus brief views of an otter.
Friday 4/28: 2-3 beavers at Arlington Res plus FOY Baltimore Orioles, Warbling Vireo, and Chimney Swift.
Saturday 4/29: Started at Nobscot. Grosbeak singing as I got out of the car, then a GC Flycatcher started. Black-and-whites and Ovenbirds all over, and a Least Flycatcher as I was ready to leave. Continued on to Hop Brook, which had a waterthrush, yellowthroat, and freshly emerged baskettail. Fairly quiet at Assabet, Springtime Darner and Broad-wing about it. Desert had 3 species of tiger beetle.
Wednesday 8/20: Least Flycatcher at Rock Meadow. Patch tick Lesser Yellowlegs at the duck ponds on the way home.
Thursday 8/21: Horn Pond and Horn Pond Mountain. Nothing particularly exciting at either.
Friday 8/22: Great Meadows midday was as dead as I’ve seen it. Nothing different at Knox Trail.
Saturday 8/23: BT Green, an Empid, and a towhee were the only new arrivals at BBN (plus a pile more redstarts). Gnatcatcher from the yard was #110 and some nighthawks rounded off the evening.
Wednesday 7/23: Monarchs at Rock Meadow, Least and Solitary Sandpipers at the ponds. Something in the afternoon. Also finally found the area of Townsend State Forest I’ve been to with a group for odes before but haven’t found again myself.
Thursday 7/24: Cat Rock Park and College Pond were both fairly dull (although if I had a view of the sky when the yellowlegs-ish call drifted down…).
Friday 7/25: Wandered a bit in Lincoln midafternoon. Kingfisher and a couple Solitaries were about it.
Wednesday 4/24: Savannah Sparrows and not much else at Rock Meadow, cormorant over the house.
Thursday 4/25: Morning at Beaver Brook was slow enough that I covered the marsh too. Snapping Turtle beat out any of the birds. West Meadow at lunch had a gnatcatcher and nothing else.
Friday 4/26: Tried Purgatory Cove again. No sign of the warbler but first of year Northern Parula.
Saturday 4/27: Finally caught up with the Clay-colored at Arlington Res. Also had a Field Sparrow next to it and Warbling Vireo and Eastern Kingbird around the res. No boghaunter at AGM, but one Brown Elfin and Brown Thrasher and some towhees weren’t bad. Hayden Woods had a singing Winter Wren in a very quick check. Surprise Red-shoulded Hawk flyover late afternoon was a somewhat unexpected yardbird.
Wednesday 2/13: Forest Grove: river almost frozen, little bit open by the pump house had 10 coots and 200+ common waterfowl. Walking down to the playground added several Red-bellied Woodpeckers and not much else of note.
Thursday 2/14: River walk again. Great Cormorant was nice, as were 4 Bufflehead and the continuing Lesser Scaup (no sign of the unidentified one though).
Friday 2/15: Duck ponds looked like no one had walked around since the storm. Very little wildlife too, although two Hooded Mergansers and a muskrat sharing a hole in the ice about the size of a sink was odd.
Better than a new Waltham bird, yard bird #100 was found this afternoon in the spruce tree next door.
Coming back from a walk around the block, barely even needed to look at this Merlin before I ran (first to the yard, then into the house for the camera). Snapped this from the bedroom (through the window and screen). Unfortunately it took off in the time it took to run back down and get outside again.
