week in review 8/10-8/16

Monday 8/10: Met State in the morning, fairly quiet. Did have a brief look at an interesting Somatochlora but no net or camera, so it got away. Lunch at Lyman Pond: Spotted Sandpipers and the usual odes. Great Meadows after work, Virginia Rail, many Bobolink, no YH Blackbird.

Tuesday 8/11: Great Meadows in the morning, got the blackbird. Great Egrets overhead on the way over. Vulture down the street at lunch.

Wednesday 8/12: Paine at lunch. Big flock of stuff but couldn’t pick out anything beyond Warbling Vireo.

Thursday 8/13: Back to Paine to see if the flock was around, didn’t seem to be. First Red-winged Blackbirds actually in the yard in a few weeks.

Friday 8/14: Dunback in the morning, 1 Prairie Warbler and the usual summer birds. Prospect Hill at lunch, very quiet. Bunch of darners and emeralds over the yard at night, but the interesting ones were too high to ID.

Prairie Warbler

Saturday 8/15: Went to the Charles and walked along the Watertown stretch without seeing anything really. Good swarm again at night, with a Wandering Glider and Black Saddlebags added among the others. Also watched a kingbird chase off a Cooper’s. Bat over the yard while attempting to mow the lawn at 8:15 at night.

Sunday 8/16: Great Meadows, Virginia Rail young, several shorebirds including Pectoral Sandpiper, and a Blue-winged Teal. Then up to Lowell for Yellow-crowned Night-Heron but we ended up searching the wrong stretch of canal. Hope it sticks around another week.