Wednesday 10/7: Siskin walking to the West Meadow. Meadow had a Red-shoulder and lots of common sparrows. Continued to the field behind Wellington House which had a Red-tail that caught a walnut. Walked the streets up to the path and added a Parula and Black-and-white before heading back. Two Blue-headed Vireos on the return trip but not much else.
Thursday 10/8: Snipe, not too much else at Kaveski/Meriam’s.
Friday 10/9: Ended up at Ricci, which had a kestrel, a pile of bluebirds, and a few sparrows and warblers. Not much at Flint’s on the way home.
Saturday 10/10: Started with a phoebe in the yard, which somehow was a new yard bird. First stop Millennium, which was covered in robins and Yellow-rumps. GW Teal with Mallards on the river, then another pocket of Yellow-rumps which appeared to have another bird or two but stayed buried. Got to the Sora spot and a Virginia Rail was squealing. While waiting to see if anything joined it, I scanned through the sparrows and picked up an odd color. Lost it, but found it again a minute later and it looked good for a Nelson’s from the rear. Unfortunately it flew and that’s all I got. Moved on and stared at the pictures a bit while adding a pile of Wood Duck. Ran into Mary and tipped her off, then finally sent out a text. Middle level was fairly quiet other than an eagle and Merlin but I could see people photographing something down below, so was relieved to see it came back and was quite clearly a Nelson’s. Glad I don’t have to tromp around the Key for them now.
Cow Island Pond was quiet, so on to Nahanton. Towhee called as I got out but it was pretty quiet after that around the gardens and river. Green Darner and a meadowhawk, which surprised me as being Cherry-faced, were in the meadow. Started towards home, traffic was bad so pulled off and stopped at Norumbega. Walked around a bit with a ton of Yellow-rumps but not too much else. Later check of the res didn’t have anything obvious.
Sunday 10/11: Worked on town lists a bit. Started at Vietnam Veteran’s Park. Rusty was singing and quickly added Swamp Sparrow (and Yellow-rump). The brush by the soccer field was loaded and a flock of geese went over with one small bird. Walked down to the road and around instead of going through the woods. Got up to the back side of the pond and scanned the one bare tree and thought the bird up there looked odd, so snapped a couple photos and it was a meadowlark! Sent a few messages and continued on. Couldn’t find it from the other side but did have a couple pipits flying around. Rechecked the pond without anything new, so moved on. That got me to 11 new for Billerica for the year. Later update: I had snapped a few shots of the geese as one looked small and feedback is good for Cackling, so 12.
Next stop was Sherburne Nature Center in Tyngsboro. Field was busy, but only Swamp was new. Wandered the woods a bit, finally getting a Yellow-rump and RC Kinglet. On the way out, checked the field again and got a Palm and Lincoln’s. Rain was starting, so continued to Lake Mascuppic. Just cruised the neighborhood but got swan and DC Cormorant. Still fairly early, so went to Hunter. A sapsucker and more sparrows at the entrance. Back field was also busy although nothing new. Walked the river trail to the end of the farm fields and had a ton of White-throats and at least five kinglets plus Savannah. Nothing new on the walk back out, but think that was nine additions and 17 on the year. Two more in Townsend and goal accomplished.
Monday 10/12: Great Meadows had a pile of snipe flying around but probably got too nice for much other storm birds. Did have a White-crowned and while following that found a Clay-colored and a flock of Pecs going over.
Tuesday 10/13: Still a decent number of shorebirds at Arlington Res (25ish Semi Plovers, 4 Semi Sands, 1 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Least, a snipe, a bunch of Killdeer) and a few warblers including a Tennessee. Quick check of the res didn’t have much in scannable spots but an Osprey was flying around on the way home.