Tag: weekinreview

Wednesday 1/13: Bit too cold and windy. Started to buzz Pelham Island Rd but too much traffic on the way meant no time.

Thursday 1/14: River walk was quite dead.

Friday 1/15: Headed towards Lincoln. Planned on just Lindentree but figured a quick stop at Flint’s was worthwhile. Fifteen minutes later, I was still completely puzzled by scaup. Gave up and went to Lindentree where bluebirds and a Purple Finch flyby were highlights.

Found an email with pictures from Norm later while at work and I’m still puzzled although one seems pretty clearly a Lesser.

Saturday 1/16: Midafternoon loop of the res was fairly quiet (eagle, scaup, Ring-necks). Scaup were still at Flint’s and very obvious Lessers today. Nine Acre in between had tons of geese, but right in the sun.

Sunday 1/17: Started at BBN. Creeper, big flock of crows mobbing a raven, bluebird, and a few waxwings were the limited highlights. Would have been nice to see if the Red-shoulderish call was a hawk or jay. Continued to Moody St, which had the usual gulls and ducks. Quick stop at Purgatory finally got Great Black-backed Gulls and the geese were slightly better positioned at Nine Acre (just couldn’t find anything but Canadas).

Monday 1/18: Yard birding, moderate variety but nothing unusual.

Tuesday 1/19: Two minutes on Pelham Island Rd had geese and mallards.

Wednesday 1/6: Drove through Nine Acre and Pelham Island Rd without anything worthwhile.

Thursday 1/7: River walk was fairly quiet. 3 Bufflehead, 2 Ring-necks, 7 Hoodies and nothing much else. Upriver was frozen.

Friday 1/8: Nothing exciting at Kaveski or Meriam’s.

Saturday 1/9: Cambridge Res had 16(!) species of waterfowl including Wood Duck, Pintail, Ruddy, and 4 Redhead. Nothing terribly exciting at Spy Pond (50+ Ruddy) or the Mystic Lakes. A few Red-breasted Mergs at Earhart and Bufflehead made it 18 and the GW Teal and shovelers at Arlington Res made it 20 waterfowl on the day.

Sunday 1/10: Too wet.

Monday 1/11: Basically nothing at Dunback. Would have had some nice kinglet shots if they landed on the sunny side.

Tuesday 1/12: Forest Grove had a Fox Sparrow, eagle, and a coot in the stream.

Wednesday 12/30: Wandered to the riverwalk eventually. Icy walking and nothing of note all the way to Prospect St. Quick circle around the res was also fairly quiet, couldn’t find the Aythya flock.

Thursday 12/31: Tried for the Chestnut-sided again with no luck. Stopped at Great Meadows and scanned a bit from the tower, picking up the survey crew’s shovelers. Flock was visible at the res but tightly packed and hard to scan. Afternoon loop of Dunback was dead, quick stop at the duck ponds found the sapsucker and got a black duck for the year patch list.

Friday 1/1: Did the BBC trip as usual, but started at the res. Hoodie got in the way of an eagle for bird 1, but got all the ducks. The trip had the usual stuff highlighted by a Snowy at Plum and the GWF Goose and Red-headed Woodpecker in Ipswich.

Saturday 1/2: Twitches.

Sunday 1/3: Finally started on the local stuff. Yellow-rump was fairly easy at BBN along with 2 ravens. Sapsucker still at the duck ponds was about the only other bird of note, couldn’t find anything good at the res (Canvasback photographed Saturday, pintail Sunday morning).

Monday 1/4: Did a Nine Acre/Pelham Island Rd loop but it was too cold to get out of the car and everything was on the river which was hard to scan.

Tuesday 1/5: Too cold and had errands to run, but managed 5 minutes along the Charles which had 4 coots and little else.

Wednesday 12/23: Last day of work for the year, so I was trying to squeeze a couple more birds onto the commute list. Figured Arlington Res would be the best shot but no luck with either shoveler or the Clay-colored. The Palm Warbler cooperated, which was nice (and new for December).

Thursday 12/24: Tried for the Mountain Bluebird finally. Didn’t expect 30mph winds, which made birding at Crane just short of impossible. The one bluebird that flew by disappeared. Also tried the Audubon sanctuary nearby (nothing) and then went to Fairhaven, where is was slightly less windy but cloudier. Merlin was nice but nothing else of interest. Went to Great Meadows for sunset, over 800 geese and a couple pintail but nothing else noteworthy.

Friday 12/25: Wandered to the Acton Arboretum to look for the Chestnut-sided Warbler photographed yesterday. No luck but a few of the moderately common stuff was new for my Acton list. Buzzed School St (nothing) and Knox Trail (3 Killdeer continuing) on the way to the res. The duck flock was in moderately close and in really good light, so I could through the scaup and all the other stuff. Looked outside later and there was a grackle on the feeder.

Saturday 12/26: Started at Dunback. Quiet to start, but out Bacon St. I heard the towhee, then 2 grackles, 2 ravens, and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in fairly quick succession. Did a full loop and added 2 Rusties off Blossomcrest. Stopped at the duck ponds (still need black duck for the patch yearlist) and had a nice adult sapsucker.

Sunday 12/27: Chased the 3 Redheads ebirded yesterday at Cambridge Res and found a 4th with them (plus all the other stuff). Continued to the Earhart Dam, which was dead, and then went to Winthrop. Ocean didn’t look too exciting, so headed to Belle isle for the Little Blue. Found that at the furthest point possible and ran into Karsten. We walked the rest of the loop. I picked up a chip I couldn’t place right as we got back to the parking lot. Chasing it down to the entrance, we finally coaxed it into sight and it turned out to be a Pine Warbler, which surprisingly appears to be a first for the reservation. Pulled in very quickly at Assembly Square on the way home and finally got a Red-breasted Merganser for the county yearlist but didn’t see parking close enough to stop for the Redheads.

Monday 12/28: Rather cold and windy. Tried Mt. Auburn, found next to nothing, ran down Norumbega without anything but Mallards, geese, and Ring-billed Gulls. Got home, looked at email, saw Ash-throated Danehy, was out the door again. Got stuck in a bit of traffic, but ran into Sam almost immdiately. He wasn’t on the bird, so we wandered around a bit and eventually refound it back near the original spot. Four minutes later, it vanished and that was the last anyone saw of it.

Tuesday 12/29: Too wet.

Wednesday 12/16: Yellow-rump and nothing else of note at BBN.

Thursday 12/17: Moody St was a waste of time and nothing exciting further along the river in a quick drive.

Friday 12/18: Raven at Dunback.

Saturday 12/19: Bit of CBC scouting had a raven at West Meadow and not much else.

Sunday 12/20: CBC was a slowish day. We added Fox Sparrow and raven to the sector cumulative list but barely managed 40 species overall.

Monday 12/21: Quick stop at Nine Acre found the Cackling Geese again.

Tuesday 12/22: Too rainy at Great Meadows and too foggy in Wayland. Almost managed to get to the res before dark but couldn’t quite make anything out beyond the geese and swans.

Wednesday 12/9: A few coots and the rest of the regulars at Purgatory/Forest Grove.

Thursday 12/10: Ran into the Our Lady’s morning traffic so went to BBN instead of Lot 1. Good decision as it turned out, starting with a flyover grackle. Took some effort but one of the Yellow-rumps eventually turned up and a siskin was calling overhead.

Friday 12/11: Made it to Lot 1. Yet another catbird by the pond and a singing Hermit Thrush.

Saturday 12/12: Waltham St had 4 grackles, Dunback had a Red-wing, the greenhouse side of Waltham St had a Red-wing, and the res had the usual.

Sunday 12/13: Pair of eagles plus more ducks at the res. Checked the field station for the first time in ages. Cooper’s in the gardens limited things, but a probable northern Red-tail was nice, hopefully it’ll stick and I can study further in better light. Arlington Res was quiet for ducks but a Clay-colored Sparrow was a good surprise by Busa.

Monday 12/14: Quick pond loop had an eagle at Heard plus a pintail at the town building but little else.

Tuesday 12/15: Got nicer than I expected after the downpour when I woke up. Started for the res eventually but traffic was bad enough that I went to the river instead. Gadwall or 3 at Norumbega was about it in some very quick stops.

Wednesday 12/2: Usual at Purgatory before the rain got too heavy.

Thursday 12/3: Same more or less at BBN (Fox Sparrow, Yellow-rump, etc)

Friday 12/4: College Pond was quiet.

Saturday 12/5: Towhee and catbird at Dunback. No ground-dove and nothing of note at the duck ponds.

Sunday 12/6: West Meadow had another catbird. Bluebirds over the parkway at BBN. Nothing exciting in a goose loop beyond a harrier at School St. Quick walk at Prospect Hill, mostly checking where some trails ended up, had a Pileated.

Monday 12/7: Nothing unusual at Kaveski. Five swans over the 128 rest stop were odd.

Tuesday 12/8: Refound the Cackling Geese at Nine Acre. Nothing different at the res or Flint’s, but a wigeon and 12 GW Teal on Pelham Island Rd were nice.

Wednesday 11/25: Repeated the pond loop without much.

Thursday 11/26: Ponds plus Nine Acre, Great Meadows, School St. A good-sized scaup flock on the res plus the same banded Great Black-backed Gull at Great Meadows that had been there in April.

Friday 11/27: Yellow-rump, Fox Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird, and 3 Hermit Thrushes at BBN.

Saturday 11/28: Forecast was for occasional light showers so I decided to try the Squantum area as something different. Started raining on the way over and never stopped. Wollaston Beach had a few ducks and 2 turnstones, Nut Island had loons and more ducks, and everywhere else was too wet before I gave up. Nothing at any of the local ponds in a quick loop.

Sunday 11/29: 13 Bufflehead at Purgatory. No birds at the Riverwalk or Moody St, but I finally noticed that the new walkway from the museum to under the Elm St. bridge is open, so no need to walk through the parking lots of up Pine St anymore. At the res, 350ish Ring-necks, 80 Hoodies, and 7 Gadwall.

Monday 11/30: Later start, Hardy, Flint’s, Nine Acre, and Heard all had little.

Tuesday 12/1: 5 wigeon on Flint’s, Ruby-crowned Kinglet at Lindentree.

Wednesday 11/11: Pond loop found very little.

Thursday 11/12: Went to Horn Pond and turned up 50 species (and missed a few more) with some effort. Highlights included a catbird, raven, Fox Sparrow, finding a second Great Horned after Marj showed me where she had one earlier and then having a Barred Owl pop up. Stopped at Winter Pond after for the presumed Mallard x Pintail and then looped the res and Flint’s without anything.

Friday 11/13: Fox Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, and Gadwall at Forest Grove plus a meadowhawk before the real excitement.

Saturday 11/14: Started with a quick pass of the res then School St. No Franklin’s Gull there or at Great Meadows but a Pectoral Sandpiper and 6 pintail made the walk out in the wind worthwhile. Wasn’t sure what to do next so started towards the Earhart Dam. Checked email while stopped at a light and saw a gull report from Lynn, so headed that way. No gull but timed the Cave Swallow perfectly. Drove around a bit looking for the gull but too windy to get out and scan for the most part.

Sunday 11/15: Great Meadows was fairly quiet (and frozen), School St, Nagog, Norumbega, and Moody St were dull. The MacGillivray’s was barely cooperative at Arlington Res but a Bald Eagle was a new bird for me there and 11 Lesser Scaup were surprising. Gave Paul a ride to Waltham St with a quick stop at the Waldorf Pond, which had 11 Gadwall.

Monday 11/16: Headed down to the Cape for a couple days. Started by stopping at Millennium where the Red-headed Woodpecker barely cooperated. Continued to Plymouth where a pile of construction meant I only checked Nelson Park. A Common Merganser seemed a bit odd there but nothing else of interesting. Scusset Beach had tons of ducks. Got to Head of the Meadow for the last hour of daylight and had a nice movement of Great Shearwaters plus a few other things.

Tuesday 11/17: Started at Herring Cove Beach, which had a fair number of birds. Corn Hill was quiet, Fort Hill fairly quiet (a raven wasn’t bad), and Morris Island was quiet. Gave up on finding an open fish and chips place and went back to Head of the Meadow. Less around but got on the Little Gull (probably had it last night but was a bit too dark by then).