Category: nature

Wednesday 4/17: Up to 24 Ruddies at Hardy Pond. Hermit Thrush and Chipping Sparrow at BBN. Very quick evening walk at Purgatory Cove had more Chipping Sparrows and a Yellow-rump (hope the Yellow-throated came in overnight).

Thursday 4/18: Gnatcatcher and lots of Swamp Sparrows at Dunback before work. Noisy breeding birds at Prospect Hill plus first tiger beetle of the year and a few Mourning Cloaks.

Friday 4/19: Cooper’s was the best of the yard birds.

Saturday 4/20: Nothing at Cambridge Res or Flint’s Pond. Arlington Res had something of a waterbird fallout, but it was all Mute Swans. Caught up with the Yellow-throated Warbler at Forest Grove after a bit of effort.

Sunday 4/21: Blue-headed Vireo and a bunch of gnatcatchers at Dunback plus first Spring Azure of the year.

Monday 4/22: Tried Purgatory Cove to see if the warbler was still around (and hiding along the river). No luck with that but my earliest Chimney Swifts and a nice Sharpie were around.

Tuesday 4/23: Swallows but nothing interesting at Hardy and nothing at the res.

Wednesday 4/10: Purgatory Cove again, although only briefly as I had to get a tire fixed. About the same as Monday, Palms were up to 4 and there were more Wood Ducks and swallows. Great Meadows in the evening added first of year Barn Swallow and Marsh Wren (finally) plus a harrier.

Thursday 4/11: Duck ponds were fairly quiet beyond odd molting Hooded Mergansers.

Friday 4/12: Shovelers and GW Teal at Norumbega, nothing at the res.

Saturday 4/13: No one (more or less) showed for my walk at Rock Meadow, so after a quick check of the bluebirds I headed to the Cambridge Res. Nothing storm-related and smaller numbers of Aythya. Flint’s Pond was similar. Great Meadows too, although I had a few more swallows, heard a Virginia Rail, and an Osprey.

Sunday 4/14: Walked over to Graverson and Hardy Pond before breakfast, with Lesser Scaup and Ruddies continuing. Arlington Res after that, which had lots of Palm and a couple Yellow-rumps plus another Osprey and first of year Greater Yellowlegs and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Moved on to Danehy, where I didn’t expect yesterday’s good sparrow given that it was crowded and windy and midday. Had my first Savannah of the year plus a Brown Creeper on the hill, which was rather out of place. Marj called and let me know about a Surf Scoter Norm Levey found on Flint’s Pond, so I headed there instead of the Cambridge Res. It wasn’t obvious from the pull out, so I decided to walk the trails. Got a few ticks but also got the scoter and a Pileated, along with a couple scaup (both species), Wood Duck, and Green-winged Teal. Palms everywhere (if anyone needs a DNA sample, one landed on my hand) plus a singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet too.

Monday 4/15: Purgatory Cove and Forest Grove: more Palms, a Pine or two, a Yellow-rump, singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush (finally), very crested cormorants, etc.

Tuesday 4/16: Cabbage Whites and not much else at the duck ponds.

Wednesday 4/3: Coot and Tree Swallow at the river walk and nothing else. 

Thursday 4/4: Hardy Pond had 5+ Lesser Scaup, 2 Gadwall, and a Pied-billed Grebe in the morning. Wood Frogs at Paine.

Friday 4/5: Looped the parkway at BBN without much of anything.

Saturday 4/6: Freezing in the wind at Great Meadows but had a Rough-winged Swallow in with a hundred Trees (no martin though), a snipe land on the path, both teal, and a few other good things. Nothing at Waltham St. after.

Sunday 4/7: Joined the MBC walk to Arlington Res where we had a pipit, 8 snipe, and 2 Fish Crow. Continued with Karsten to Dunback where a harrier was the only thing of note. An afternoon check of Cambridge Res found Adam Dudley’s Redhead.

Monday 4/8: Purgatory Cove: Pine and 2 Palm Warblers, Phoebe, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Merganser, bunch of Ring-necks, coots, Bufflehead, etc. Morning walk down the street had Waltham first of year Swamp Sparrow and flicker(!).

Tuesday 4/9: Mourning Cloaks and surprisingly little else at BBN. Hardy Pond earlier had 20+ Ruddy and 3 Lesser Scaup (which were visible from the house) but no swallows.

Wednesday 3/27: Peepers and turkeys at BBN. Turkey from the office window. Lesser Scaup and decent numbers of other ducks at Hardy.

Thursday 3/28: Redpoll at Rock Meadow.

Friday 3/29: Started with a Fish Crow over the yard. Beaver at Arlington Res, nothing much at Waltham St. Junco at Nobscot showed up after about 2 minutes (more photos/video). Not much in a little bit of driving around. Up to 3 scaup walking over to Hardy.

Saturday 3/30: Started at Dunback, which was quiet. Ran into Marj and Renee and we checked Waltham St, which was quieter. Quick buzz of Cambridge Res (both ends) didn’t have anything obvious. Great Meadows midday was also quiet, a Tree Swallow or two about it.

Sunday 3/31: Rock Meadow had lots of Tree Swallows and a bluebird. There was a phoebe at the bridge to BBN and another on the water tower, but nothing else of much interest between there, the West Meadow, and Concord Ave. No larks or pipits at School St and no Osprey at Knox Trail. A midafternoon trip to the Cambridge Res was pretty good with a Red-breasted Merganser, lots of scaup, and first of year Double-crested Cormorants.

Monday 4/1: Purgatory Cove and Flowed Meadow were fairly quiet.

Tuesday 4/2: Turkey Vulture and not much else at the duck ponds, nothing new at Hardy.

Wednesday 3/20: River walk: Great Cormorant still in place, a Turkey Vulture over the Shaw’s lot, and a nice male Red-breasted Merganser by the second overlook.

Thursday 3/21: Rock Meadow was pretty quiet.

Friday 3/22: Forest Grove was fairly quiet. Even though I hadn’t seen anything driving in, a quick check of Purgatory Cove had a good bit including 4 Green-winged Teal, 3+ Wood Duck, and 3 Ring-necks. Common Mergansers and Bufflehead on the river.

Saturday 3/23: Rather cold and windy, so lots of stops weren’t productive. Main highlights were Killdeer at Dunback and Waltham St.

Sunday 3/24: Lindentree was fairly quiet, singing Brown Creeper was nice. Couldn’t find the thing in question in Sudbury again but a nice time. Turkey Vulture over the yard.

Monday 3/25: Wood Ducks at the duck ponds.

Tuesday 3/26: Usual at Purgatory Cove.

Wednesday 3/13: Waded to the West Meadow boardwalk and didn’t see much. Peepers calling when I left work.

Thursday 3/14: Fox Sparrow (or two or four) at Rock Meadow.

Friday 3/15: Too cold and windy to get out of the car at Purgatory Cove, so checked Norumbega and Charlesbank too without seeing much.

Saturday 3/16: Birder’s Meeting all day.

Sunday 3/17: Ravens and Tree Swallows at a variety of stops. Merlin flew and landed in the yard as I got home. Should have a Fieldfare here but…

Monday 3/18: Got it today instead. Lot 1 earlier had nothing of any note.

Tuesday 3/19: Little too stormy. Busy yard, although nothing exciting.

Wednesday 3/6: Too nasty for much at the duck ponds.

Thursday 3/7: If it wasn’t snowing and blasting wind (and if I had my camera), good photo ops of Common Mergansers at Hardy Pond. Not much visible at the res.

Friday 3/8: Yeah right.

Saturday 3/9: Started at Waltham St, which was fairly quiet (GB Heron was about it) to start. On the way out, some movement above the stream caught my attention and after going through a bunch of sparrows and redpoll I realized it was a Yellow-rump! On to Dunback, which was quiet and then the Cambridge Res, which had about the same as last week (no RB Mergansers and fewer Ring-necks and scaup).

Sunday 3/10: Started at Horn Pond where there wasn’t much different (cowbird, Red-bellied, and a kingfisher were probably the only ones that haven’t been yard birds this year). Tried to check Spy Pond, but it was busy and there was nowhere to park. Cambridge Res again finally had the flock in fairly close. More scaup today including a Lesser or two. Hardy Pond was basically frozen. Checked email and after a stop for lunch at home, up to Gloucester.

Monday 3/11: Forest Grove about as normal. Lots of tree sparrows (singing?) were slightly different and grackles (finally) pushed me over 50% of my target for the river this year.

Tuesday 3/12: Killdeer at the river walk along with the 2 scaup.