WIR 3/12-3/18

Wednesday 3/12: First Tree Swallows of the year at Great Meadows, plus a few ducks and another Rusty. Also turkeys by Hanscom.

Tree Swallow

Thursday 3/13: Cold, snowy, and windy.

Friday 3/14: Riverwalk late afternoon had more Greater Scaup (plus 1 Lesser). Pulled in at the field station on the way home and got my first of year Killdeer.

Saturday 3/15: Started at Norumbega where there were lots of ducks, nothing overly exciting. On to Forest Grove. First thing on the river was a Great Cormorant attempting to swallow a giant fish.

Cormorant

Two more cormorants were sitting on the ice and the Red-breasted Merganser was swimming around. Nothing much on the trails. Quick stop at the boat ramp added 2 American Wigeon. Next stop was the Wayland Town Building, nothing much different. Cruised Water Row and Nine Acre Corner without anything. School St had a few larks and a Sharpie buzzed over Rt. 2. Sloshed around Waltham St. a bit and had a couple bluebirds. Back home, the yard was overrun with grackles with a decent number of red-wings and cowbirds mixed in.

Sunday 3/16: Rock Meadow and BBN were quiet.

Monday 3/17: River walk had the scaup continuing and a Hairy (first in about 3 years along here). Tons of Herring Gulls at Moody St but nothing else of note. Quick drive to Purgatory Cove and Norumbega didn’t have anything new (and nothing unusual continuing in a quick scan).

Tuesday 3/18: Wandered Lindentree and Mt. Misery a bit. Reasonably sure I had a northern-type Red-tail but never got a close view. Otherwise blackbirds and bluebirds. Continued to Nine Acre Corner where there were lots of geese, all 3 mergansers, and a few Ring-necks on the river plus a big flock of blackbirds and a Killdeer or two in the fields.

Red-tail