Category: nature

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).

Wednesday 11/4: Late Nashville and lots of expected stuff at BBN.

Thursday 11/5: Lots of blackbirds and doves at Dunback.

Friday 11/6: Chased the MacGillivray’s at Arlington Res. Went for camera before views so mostly heard only.

Saturday 11/7: Looped the res quickly (yellowlegs still, not much else) then went back for the warbler. Decent views today. Continued to McClellen with Karsten which was a waste in the wind and then went for Sandy Beach for the Lark Sparrow and warblers.

Sunday 11/8: Joined the MBC walk at Dunback: Purple Finches, 1 Fox Sparrow, sapsucker, GH Owl. Waltham St and the res were dead (did have one sulphur flying around).

Monday 11/9: Great Meadows was quiet (female Ring-neck and a few meadowhawks were the only things of note) and driving around a bit didn’t find much else.

Tuesday 11/10: Merlin and a few other things at BBN and Rock Meadow, then Canvasback at Fresh Pond.

Wednesday 10/28: Nothing unusual at Dunback.

Thursday 10/29: PB Grebe at Cambridge Res, goldeneye at Flint’s about the most exciting stuff on a pond circuit.

Friday 10/30: 3 Pied-billed Grebes on the river at Purgatory Cove. Four turkeys, a Rusty Blackbird, and an overdue patch tick White-crowned Sparrow at the landfill plus a Winter Wren at the pumphouse.

Saturday 10/31: Started at Danehy, nothing terribly exciting there or at Alewife. Fresh Pond had no open spots along Huron and none at the duck ponds either(!). More or less the usual at the res, although a Killdeer and GB Heron fishing at the southern end were interesting. Lots of Common Mergansers and Ring-billed Gulls at Hobbs Brook. Nice Vesper Sparrow at Waltham St.

Sunday 11/1: Lots of ducks at the res but too far out. Eagle scared the mergansers at Hobbs Brook. Rusty Blackbirds and little else at Great Meadows. Ruddies at Flint’s and found the yellowlegs along Old County Rd on a second pass. Usual ducks at Arlington Res, work going on a Busa so I didn’t spend much time there. Vesper still at Waltham St with a ton of blackbirds. Great Horned Owl and Winter Wren about it at Dunback.

Monday 11/2: Nothing much at Rock Meadow and nothing at all at the duck ponds.

Tuesday 11/3: Cat Rock Park for a change, wasn’t exciting.

Wednesday 10/21: Great Meadows again. Got out to the platform and eventually noticed a couple shorebirds on the mud. One Dunlin (presumably a continuing bird) and 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers were barely visible and I finally realized there was a Greater Yellowlegs just off the edge. Two coots and a Green-winged Teal walked through. In the middle of a bit of rain, I picked up another shorebird call and eventually picked up an American Golden-Plover going over. Ran out of time after that but a nice hunting Cooper’s and a Kestrel on the way out. And others had Black-bellied Plovers and a White-rumped Sandpiper so my feeling that I was missing stuff was valid.

Thursday 10/22: Started at Hobbs Brook, which was dead (other than Hoodies joining the duck flock), so ran over to Lindentree, which wasn’t that much more exciting.

Friday 10/23: Mostly too windy at Dunback but a big corvid flock going over appeared to be mostly ravens (up to 25!).

Saturday 10/24: 13 species of ducks and 4 shorebirds between Cambridge Res and Hobbs Brook including 250 Ring-necks, both scaup, Common Mergansers, Gadwall, close to 50 wigeon, 10 Pectoral Sandpipers, and 2 Semipalmated Plovers. Nothing much at Flint’s, geese too far out at School St. Besides the longspur, a snipe and Snow Bunting at Great Meadows.

Sunday 10/25: More or less repeated yesterday’s loop. Eight yellowlegs and nothing else at the res, no Ruddies on Flint’s. No longspur at Great Meadows but got better views of the Snow Bunting plus flyover snipe and yellowlegs, a Peregrine, Bald Eagle, and 3 Gadwall. Spent some time on the geese at School St and got the 3 Cackling without too much effort. No shorebirds at Hobbs Brook in a quick scan.

Monday 10/26: 2 Field Sparrows were about it at the Wayland Community Gardens. Just enough light for a quick scan of the res on the way home. Good idea as there were 7 Long-tailed Ducks, which appears to be the high count for the county, along with 2 eagles and a few other things.

Tuesday 10/27: Nothing of note at West Meadow.