WIR 2/1-2/7

Wednesday 2/1: Duck ponds were fairly quiet, six hoodies were about it (although 2 Ring-billed Gulls on the ice were unusual for the spot).

Thursday 2/2: Morning stop at Hardy Pond: 4 Common Merganser. Nothing much at Prospect Hill at lunch, big flock of robins was about it. Eagle showed up at Hardy Pond, got a half second look on the way home but it took off before I was able to walk over. Did find 2 wigeon at least.

Friday 2/3: Nothing at Rock Meadow.

Saturday 2/4: Took a wander through Wayland. One Common Merganser at Horn Pond. Both kinglets were at the community gardens along with 5 bluebirds and good numbers of sparrows. At the Old Rt. 27 Bridge, I had 2 Bald Eagles and a harrier pass over in 5 minutes, probably should have sat around for a while to see what else came by. Wigeon continued on Hardy pond, GBBG up to 10.

Sunday 2/5: Dunback was quiet, did almost every bit anyway. Charles in the afternoon had one each of most of the expected ducks (few more hoodies) plus 3 herons. Just missed a kingfisher.

Monday 2/6: Supposed to be very mild, so took a long walk around the marsh at BBN and found absolutely nothing.

Tuesday 2/7: Duck ponds were quiet at lunch. Good stuff in the neighborhood early though, including a flicker, first of year Red-winged Blackbird, and a flyover Pine Siskin (3rd? yard record).

WIR 1/25-1/31

Wednesday 1/25: Forest Grove and Flowed Meadow: picked out the Lesser Black-back on the ice and there were a few coots around. Walking to the landfill and around was a waste though.

Thursday 1/26: Paine was quiet.

Friday 1/27: Rainy.

Saturday 1/28: Planned to go scan the Middlesex county portion of the Merrimack and then wander through Dunstable a bit. Had a hard time finding anywhere to scan the river (did get a Great Cormorant in Dracut) and Amos Kendall was a sheet of ice. Got into Arched Bridge and wandered around a bit, but nothing of note. Took a quick run through Great Meadows on the way home (1 coot, 3 goldeneye, 1 distant flock of interesting looking bunting-type things) and the Cambridge Res (nothing).

Sunday 1/29: Got lazy, so eventually just wandered to Moody St. Nothing much there. Quick check of Woerd Ave (9 swans, nothing else) and then on to the Cambridge Res where there were 2 Bald Eagles circling. One came in nice and close and then disappeared into thin air before I got the camera out.

Monday 1/30: River walk was pretty quiet. Two goldeneye, 1 bufflehead, no Ring-necks or Common Mergansers.

Tuesday 1/31: BBN was very quiet.

WIR 1/18-1/24

Wednesday 1/18: River walk had first of year Bufflehead and a female had joined the male goldeneye.

Thursday 1/19: Nothing at Beaver Brook.

Friday 1/20: Iceland Gull was almost a driveby at Moody St. Nothing else good among the gulls (although the Lesser was apparently around later). Two Ring-necks at the Woerd Ave boat ramp and no interesting gulls in that area.

Saturday 1/21: Stayed in with the snow. Song, White-throat, and goldfinches finally at the feeder.

Sunday 1/22: Interesting day.

Monday 1/23: Rock Meadow had very little, and about 70% of that was Mourning Doves.

Tuesday 1/24: Fairly quiet at Lot 1, also too muddy to check thoroughly.

Winter Wood Thrush!

The duck walk meant that I was unable to join the BBC gull workshop field trip Sunday. That turned out to be a very good thing (in addition to all the stuff on the walk) as I headed out midafternoon to poke around the Waltham St. Fields and check on the Lark Sparrow. Parking at the tennis courts by Dunback, I walked down the street and spent a few minutes checking the flock of robins and other stuff near the corner.

The robins started crossing over, so I followed and started down the path. Lots of sparrows were flying back and forth and I slowed down to work through them. Above the water on the right, some movement caught my attention. Probably a cardinal but I put the bins on it and ooh that’s a rusty looking head and er that’s a lot of spots on the chest. Grab the camera quickly.

Wood Thrush

January Wood Thrush

Wood Thrush was not exactly on the list of birds I expected. I knew it was very rare, but had no clue as to how rare.

The bird moved, so I continued on. I picked it up again on the ground and almost managed another shot:

Wood Thrush

After it disappeared, I finally reached the fields. Walking around, I found next to nothing and on the way out, there were no birds along the edge. Right place, right time.

After a quick, almost birdless walk through Dunback, I went home and immediately grabbed Birds of Massachusetts. Somewhere in the Concord CBC circle from December 26, 1971-January 6, 1972 was the only January record (and only 2 other December records). The book is almost 20 years old at this point, so I figured there may be another one or two, but went to watch the football game before digging through Bird Observers. Fortunately, I didn’t have to make the effort as within 10 minutes of posting it, Marj replied that there was only one more. It was from the 2007 Superbowl of Birding at Halibut Point (and happened to be found by my friends Mark, Laura, and Christopher).

So do I set my sights lower on Varied Thrush or higher on Redwing next?

Duck Walk 2012

Sunday morning was the Waltham Land Trust’s annual duck walk. It was a bit on the cool side, but not brutal. The sun was out and there was no wind. The recent freeze had finally pushed some birds onto the Charles and the 25 or so people that joined me had a great time.

Some quick photo highlights:

Hoodie

Male Hooded Merganser

First year male Goldeneye

Young male Common Goldeneye

Parade

Two male Common Goldeneye, female Bufflehead, male Ring-necked Duck on parade.

Also lots of Common Mergansers plus more of all of the above. The big highlight was an almost mature Bald Eagle that cruised up the river. Too quick for any pictures, but just about everyone got on it.

WIR 1/11-1/17

Wednesday 1/11: Charles had all the usual stuff.

Thursday 1/12: Too rainy.

Friday 1/13: Too windy (and possibly rainy) at Purgatory Cove, couldn’t find anything good. Coots were just down from Norumbega, nothing at Charlesbank.

Saturday 1/14: Poked around the Charles a bit. Iceland Gull, 2 goldeneye, 3 Ring-necks were about it.

Sunday 1/15: Too cold.

Monday 1/16: Midafternoon buzz around Cambridge Res wasn’t worth it as it was totally frozen.

Tuesday 1/17: Duck ponds had nothing new.

WIR 1/4-1/10

Wednesday 1/4: Hardy Pond: few mergansers, swans, geese, gulls. Not much still open.

Thursday 1/5: Lot 1 had 6 waxwings and 19 turkeys.

Friday 1/6: Duck ponds were mostly frozen but had the usual Mallard, Black, and Hooded Merganser. Also 10 turkeys and a Winter Wren (#84 for the site).

Saturday 1/7: Walked from home to Rock Meadow. Highlights along the way: 1 Winter Wren and a Great Horned Owl at Lot 1, Swamp Sparrow at West Meadow, and a Rusty Blackbird at Met State. Couldn’t dig up any bluebirds or tree sparrows though and a single Red-tail was it for raptors.

Owl

Sunday 1/8: Drove around checking some ponds. Gadwall and 40 Hooded Mergansers at Cambridge Res, not much at Flint’s Pond, coots and a Bufflehead at Spy Pond, and more coots and some banded geese at Horn Pond. Also stopped to see if anything was among the pipits at the School St fields but the pipits were flying off as I arrived.

Monday 1/9: Moody St had another increase in gulls. The Iceland was still around and I eventually picked out the (presumably) returning Lesser Black-backed finally.

Lesser Black-back

Tuesday 1/10: Nothing at BBN.

 

WIR 12/28-1/3

Wednesday 12/28: BBN: coyote, 7 Song Sparrows in one bush, lots of juncos, not much else.

Thursday 12/29: Paine, nothing exciting.

Friday 12/30: Purgatory Cove was frozen. The river was still somewhat open. Lots of mallards and black ducks, plus many gulls on the ice. Twelve or so coots visible (and a few more from Charlesbank, not sure how many overlapped).

Saturday 12/31: Chased stuff.

Sunday 1/1: BBC trip as usual (link soon). Almost 60 species including the continuing Cassin’s Kingbird and Barnacle Goose plus a Snowy Owl and other good stuff.

Monday 1/2: Cambridge Res had the coot flock (where’d they spend December?). Flint’s Pond had a few ducks, nothing exceptional. Lark Sparrow was up and about at Waltham St. Claypit Pond in Belmont had geese. Arlington Res had most of the continuing birds (no snipe) plus a Peregrine. Waldorf Pond had mallards and Hardy Pond had mergansers.

Tuesday 1/3: Charles: 3 Hoodies, 1 Common Merganser, 2 Common Goldeneye.

2011

Overall birds: 300 even, 13 new (all in CO)

Massachusetts: 252 (5 new)

Middlesex County: 198 (2 new)

Waltham: 157 (new high, 7 new)

Yard: 57 (2 new: Common Redpoll, Wild Turkey)

Western Greenway: 114 (4 new: Rusty Blackbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, Common Nighthawk, Clay-colored Sparrow)

Charles: 97 (9 new: Great Horned Owl, Greater White-fronted Goose, Rusty BlackbirdVirginia Rail, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Swamp Sparrow, Pectoral Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Common Raven)

Butterflies:  59+ several from Colorado, 47 MA, 43 Middlesex, 38 Waltham (10+ ,0, 0, 0 new respectively,)

Odes: 83, 64 MA, 58 Middlesex, 35 Waltham (15, 5, 3, 4 new)

Plus a bunch of new mammals and various other cool things.

Best bird: White-tailed Ptarmigan

Best bird in MA: Cassin’s Sparrow

Best bird in Middlesex County: Mt. Auburn Cranes

Best bird in Waltham: the second Long-tailed Duck

Best bug: Ridings’s Satyr and Rainbow Bluet

Best bug locally: Brook Snaketail