brewster's linnet . com – Page 70

WIRs 12/5-12/18

Well the hosting move took a bit longer than I had hoped. Catching up…

Wednesday 12/5: Nothing at the duck ponds.

Thursday 12/6: Nothing different at Hardy Pond, good numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches at the back side of Prospect Hill.

Friday 12/7: Paine Estate list was about the same as Prospect Hill.

Saturday 12/8: Huge flock of stuff on the Cambridge Res including 12 scaup (both species), 200 Ring-necks, 50 Ruddy, a Loon, 25 wigeon, and 20 coots. Nothing at Flint’s. Finally made the Fresh Pond run for Canvasback for the year.

Sunday 12/9: Waltham St. was quiet. Ran into Marj and Renee at Dunback where we had Barred and Great Horned Owls in the pines (plus I had a Rusty Blackbird before joining them). Went and twitched the Hammond Pond Redheads after, 5 Aythya within 24 hours. Gave the Res another look after and had a few more scaup, about the same of the rest plus a Bufflehead.

Monday 12/10: On the Charles by Purgatory Cove: 31 Coots, several Ring-necks, a few Hoodies, and then it got fogged in. Red-breasted Nuthatches in the trees and redpoll flew over. Drove around to Charlesbank where there were a few coots (and some ducks along Norumbega Rd that I didn’t stop for…)

Tuesday 12/11: Nothing much at Hardy or BBN.

Wednesday 12/12: Iceland Gull was very obvious off Cronin’s. Got about halfway down the path to Prospect St and heard and odd call. Looked up and watched a Pine Grosbeak fly over my head. Ran back and found it in one of the fruit trees, where it posed a bit.

Wasn’t unexpected but still a big shock and a nice bird for Waltham.

Thursday 12/13: Nothing at Hardy or Gore. Double-crested Cormorant was visible at Prospect St. as I drove by.

Friday 12/14: Decent number of Tree Sparrows at BBN and West Meadow but not much else.

Saturday 12/15: Checked Lot 1 and West Meadow in some last minute CBC scouting without much (flyover redpolls and Common Mergansers were nice). Prospect Hill was quiet in a very short check. Figured I was almost at the res, so went around. A scoter was a surprise in the middle. Female-type unfortunately, but I think I got enough to call it a White-winged.

Front spot is fairly rounded and (not visible here) the bill seemed to extend under it.

Picked up parents and we walked Moody to Prospect without much of anything. Continued up Woerd Ave where the Iceland Gull was sitting on the boat ramp.

Opposite Purgatory Cove were a few scaup, a Gadwall, and a few of the more usual stuff. We continued around to Norumbega where I easily found the Eurasian Teal John Hines had found earlier in the week (see Monday to see why I’m kicking myself).

Based on some correspondence via Massbrd, it appears to be the Newton City Hall bird (which means it moved outside the CBC circle).

Sunday 12/16: Greater Boston CBC. Started owling, first walking to Graverson, then driving to BBN (and skipping as there was a police car parked) and Paine. No response anywhere. Met the group and we were at Dunback by 7:30. No luck in the pines. We decided to check the gardens quickly but some screaming crows sent us down the back side where Eric quickly picked up the Barred Owl (I’d learn later that it was actively hunting). After enjoying that, we worked our way out. Most of the way back, someone picked up a big flock of small birds flying back and forth. I was pretty sure I saw enough of a white flash to say Snow Buntings, but we hurried to Waltham St. to be sure. A quick pass didn’t find them (and we figured 50 birds couldn’t hide so didn’t walk every bit of field), but just as we got ready to leave, they started circling again and eventually landed. Didn’t get much in photos, but I used this one to actually count them (and almost doubled the 50 I guessed with 86):

We split up and I took the Metropolitan Parkway, UMass Field Station, Paine, and Lyman Pond bit. Weather was getting a bit worse and it was pretty quiet at most of those. Only highlight (other than 4 blackbirds that got away but were probably Rusties) was a Sharp-shinned at Lyman and hearing a couple people working at the field station talk about people looking for Blue Grosbeak.

Lunch at Burger King beat Wendy’s. We headed to Moody St where it was quite nasty out and didn’t see much beyond the cormorant.

And a leucistic robin

Went to check the boat ramp for the gull only to find a boat being launched, so on to Purgatory Cove. Lots of gulls but no Iceland and not much else (but a second DC Cormorant was on one of the docks as we drove off). Back to the river walk, starting at Elm St. where there was a Red-tail, a Great Blue, and a few Hoodies. We moved on to Shaw’s, got out to the bridge and decided not to bother. Got back to the cars and thanked everyone. A few gulls were flying over and Christine said “there’s your Iceland” (jokingly I think). And there it was. It circled a couple times and then landed on one of the light poles, so everyone got good views.

That pretty much ended the count, although I took a quick walk down Hardy Pond Rd and added a kingfisher and another heron. And a Great Horned flew in front of the car on the way to Habitat.

Monday 12/17: Raining and tired, didn’t bother going out.

Tuesday 12/18: Usual at Hardy. Tons of Hoodies in the middle of the res, nothing else good though.

WIR 11/29-12/4

Wednesday 11/28: Didn’t get out other than a brief stop at Hardy Pond which appeared to have the same Ruddy/Hooded Merganser flock (scope still packed).

Thursday 11/29: Prospect Hill: Pileated and a bunch of redpolls.

Friday 11/30: Common Mergansers at Hardy. Hermit Thrush at BBN, Red-wing at West Meadow.

Saturday 12/1: Cambridge Res: 4 Greater Scaup, 1 Wigeon, various mergansers, Ring-necks, etc. Eagle nice and close. Dunback was quiet. A few larks but not many geese at School St (they were all in the unscanable side field at the prison). More geese along Sudbury Rd and Nine Acre Corner but nothing good. No chat at Drumlin. More of the same ducks at Flint’s.

Sunday 12/2: Walked to BBN. Winter Wren at Lot 1 and a Swamp Sparrow at the West Meadow was it for the first couple hours. Walked up to Gaebler, mostly hoping for finches on the way but no luck with that. However, a Yellow-rump near the Blue-wing spot was a nice start. Reaching field itself, I found it loaded with birds. Mostly juncos and goldfinches but several flickers, tree sparrows, and a Fox Sparrow. Back down to the parkway, where I stopped for a Red-breasted Nuthatch and immediately heard a catbird behind me. After doubling back for that, I found 2 Rusty Blackbirds a few feet further. No sign of the Hermit Thrush but another big flock of juncos and tree sparrows at the basketball court.

Rest of the loop back was pretty slow. Afternoon walk over to Hardy Pond found the usual mergansers and stuff plus a nice Cooper’s.

Monday 12/3: Moody to Prospect St was pretty quiet. One bird in the fruit trees: a robin. A cormorant on the concrete blocks looked interesting but it was just a Double-crested.

Tuesday 12/4: River walk was dead.

WIR 11/21-11/27

Wednesday 11/21: New Mexico: Rio Grande Nature Center, Alameda Bridge

Thursday 11/22: Thanksgiving

Friday 11/23: Didn’t do much

Saturday 11/24: Elena Garregos Picnic Area and Embudo Canyon

Sunday 11/25: Sick

Monday 11/26: Sandia Crest

Tuesday 11/27: Travel day

WIR 11/14-11/20

Wednesday 11/14: River walk was dead. Hardy Pond had the same Ruddy and Hoodies that have been there but not much else.

Thursday 11/15: Redpoll at Gore.

Friday 11/16: Redpolls at Prospect Hill.

Saturday 11/17-Tuesday 11/20: New Mexico – Report later. (Sat: travel, Sun: ballooning, Mon: Bosque del Apache, Tue: not much)

(Meant to schedule this but saved as a draft instead)

WIR 11/7-11/13

Wednesday 11/7: Nasty out. Coot at Hardy Pond and 5 more at Cambridge Res but not much else.

Thursday 11/8: Repeat of yesterday except 2 Horned Grebes and some wigeon at the res (and no coots).

Friday 11/9: Canon decided to ship my lens back without requiring a signature, so ran home to get that off the front step, but had enough time to hit Lot 1 quickly, although nothing of note.

Saturday 11/10: Waltham St: 10 pipits, 3 Killdeer. Then joined the MBC trip at Dunback where there were 10-15 Fox Sparrows (minimum), although not too much else. A few of us continued to Winning Farm where we picked up a Field Sparrow, sapsucker, and noisy Winter Wren. Headed towards School St. fields after that with a brief stop at the north end of the Cambridge Res (mergansers, a Bufflehead, etc). Lots of pipits and probably some larks plus a Cooper’s grabbing one of the pigeon flock.

Sunday 11/11: Started at the field station where there were pipits but no lapwing. BBN had bluebirds and a couple Fox Sparrows. Nothing at Waltham St. School St. was busy with pipits and Horned Larks, but the real surprise was a bittern that flew over. A Peregrine Falcon was pretty good too. Nine Acre Corner, Lindentree, and the Cambridge Res had very little.

Monday 11/12: Chased lapwing. Saw 2. Went looking for my own later and saw 3 redpolls in Concord. Also had a meadowhawk or two.

Tuesday 11/13: Checked out the Moody St section of the Charles where a Cackling Goose had been reported. No luck with that but an Iceland Gull was a good surprise.

543

Easy chase Monday made better when a second was found 15 minutes away. Both distant and I didn’t get the flight views I wanted but no complaints.

Which photo was taken with the phone and scope and which came from the dslr?

WIR 10/31-11/6

Wednesday 10/31: Purgatory Cove: Great Cormorant had moved down here. Water level up, one of the docks was by the road, and the path through the woods along the edge was taped off but otherwise not bad. Birds were slow beyond the cormorant. Driving out, I saw some white along the water by Mt. Feake, so pulled in at the boat ramp. Couldn’t see it from there so walked the trail a short distance and found the egret.

Thursday 11/1: Went to Purgatory Cove before work. One of the cormorants was roosting on the island (and a second swimming around, possibly a third too). Osprey overhead and a calling winter finch were about it otherwise. Coot count at Charlesbank was up to 45. Quick scan of Mt. Feake on the way back to the office didn’t turn up the egret, but one of the cormorants was sitting on the dock at the boat ramp.

Friday 11/2: Rock Meadow was pretty quiet.

Saturday 11/3: Started at Waltham St. One Tree Sparrow, a good number of Red-wings, and not much else. Moved on to Dunback, where I met up with Marj and Renee. We had 3 Fox Sparrows, about 15 Purple Finches, 7 Pine Siskin, and a Gray Catbird. I continued on to the West Meadow where a Marsh Wren was chattering (second patch record!). Walked back through BBN, where one of the first birds I found was an Orange-crowned Warbler (#202 for Waltham!).

Sunday 11/4: Went to Plum Island for the first time in months. Eurasian Wigeon was obvious, usual sea stuff (tons of scoter) and good numbers of Snow Buntings. Missed crossbills here, along with Purple Sandpiper and probably some other stuff. Went over to Salisbury where the White-winged Crossbills put on a good show. A quick scan of the ocean had more of the same as Plum plus a flock of Green-winged Teal (on the water). Horned Larks over the parking lot made for a good finish. Also a few Monarchs at both places and an Autumn Meadowhawk at Salisbury.

Monday 11/5: Prospect Hill: no hoped for winter finches but 5 Hermit Thrushes and a few waxwings were nice.

Tuesday 11/6: Light enough to bird in the morning again, so went to Dunback before work. Five Fox Sparrows (including a sining one) were the highlight. Rock Meadow later had 2 more. A quick stop at Hardy Pond on the way to vote added a Gadwall and a good number of Hooded Mergansers.

WIR 10/24-10/30

Wednesday 10/24: Ruddy Duck count down to about 10 at Hardy Pond. Wandered the wooded middle of Prospect Hill at lunch and saw just above nothing.

Thursday 10/25: Ran to Cambridge Res after seeing scoter reports everywhere. Found nothing of note. Took a quick trip to the north end too, but ended up talking to the watershed protection guys instead of really birding.

Friday 10/26: Purgatory Cove: 28 Wood Duck, 9 American Wigeon, 2 Pintail, 1 GW Teal, 4 Coot between the cove and river. Walking back along the river, a Great Egret flew by! My latest in the county by 4 days. Checked the boat ramp and a quick look at Prospect St for it as I drove to Stanley. Heading back to the office, I pulled in at Mt. Feake for another quick scan. No egret, but a Great Cormorant was a good surprise. Lovely phone to bins photo from the running car below.

Saturday 10/27: Started in the fog at Great Meadows. Not a whole lot there (that I could see). White-crownd was about the best. Once it cleared I headed to the School St. fields, which were loaded with geese. Over 650 of them were Canada, and the one that wasn’t was still part Canada. The other part appeared to be a Greater White-fronted (11/5: more likely domestic Greylag). Also in the flock was a Canada that was very dilute, a pale brown all over. Further checks of different fields, Flint’s Pond, and the Cambridge Res had nothing. Got home, scanned through recent emails and saw that this was the exact goose flock Willy Hutcheson reported Wednesday (about the same count and the same 2 oddballs).

Went back to Mt. Feake with my parents in the afternoon, hoping the cormorant was still there. I probably wasn’t thorough enough yesterday as there were 2 Greats there today (you’ll probably want to click through to the larger image below). Purgatory Cove was about the same (fewer Wood Ducks and Wigeon but a Ring-necked on the cove and 3 Pied-billed Grebe on the river).

Sunday 10/28: Cambridge Res: 7 Greater Scaup. Fernald: 75 Canada Geese. Rock Meadow: patch tick Red-shouldered Hawk. BBN: 3 Hermit Thrush, Sharp-shinned Hawk. West Meadow: Catbird.

Monday 10/29: Stayed in for the storm. Bufflehead and Ruddy swam into the visible corner of Hardy Pond.

Tuesday 10/30: Ran to Cambridge Res early. Five White-winged and two Black Scoters and a Horned Grebe. Trapelo end was blocked off so couldn’t check out the Ring-necks. Hardy Pond later was pretty dull, Ruddy, a Pied-billed Grebe, and a couple Hoodies.

WIR 10/17-10/23

Wednesday 10/17: Purgatory Cove had fewer Wood Ducks and GW Teal but about the same of other stuff. Good number of coot starting to build at Charlesban.

Thursday 10/18: Prospect Hill was fairly quiet. Flyover siskin, Cooper’s or three, 3+ Hermit Thrush.

Friday 10/19: Hardy Pond: coot, 47 Ruddy. Cambridge Res: eagle, Ruddy, Hooded Merganser.

Saturday 10/20: Went to check Cambridge Res ahead of the road race, pretty much nothing there. Continued to the north end where there was a peep visible from the road. Almost positive it was a White-rump but a little too far. While watching that, a raven and 4 Pine Siskins flew over. After it disappeared, I walked to the other section to check there. Stopped at the driveway by the powerlines on the way and a Clay-colored Sparrow was sitting up. Spotted Sandpiper and 2 Greater Yellowlegs but no peep. Continued on to Arlington Res where there were 2 Solitaries and a Lesser Yellowlegs along with a few Gadwall. Busa was loaded with sparrows but they were almost all Song and White-throated.

Sunday 10/21: Twitch. Quick pass of Cambridge Res on the way home had 2 Pied-billed Grebes and not much else.

Monday 10/22: Rock Meadow: another Orange-crowned.

Tuesday 10/23: Went to West Meadow before work. Checked along the parkway first, tons of juncos and not much else. At the meadow, an adult White-crowned and first of fall American Tree Sparrow. Lots of blackbirds too. Duck ponds were pretty quiet later.

Wood Sand

Finally got down to Rhode Island for the Wood Sandpiper today (after thinking about it both days last weekend and yesterday). Ride down was easy, and walk out was easy (although muddy and we started in the wrong direction). The bird couldn’t have been easier to see (50 feet away at most and by itself).