Category: nature

Wednesday 12/24: Wandered the river and Cambridge Res without anything.

Thursday 12/25: Stayed in.

Friday 12/26: Great Meadows was quiet. Pair of Lesser Scaup at Hardy.

Saturday 12/27: Nothing at Dunback. Nothing much at Sandy Beach. Nothing at all at the North Reservoir.

Sunday 12/28: Tried for scaup at Fresh Pond but only managed creepers, Canvasback, and Ring-necks. Usual at Cambridge Res.

Monday 12/29: Went to Cape Ann for the day. Razorbills and stuff at Andrew’s and Halibut, one white-winged gull at Jodrey, then I decided it was too cool and windy, so went to Marblehead Neck and found the Townsend’s Warbler easily.

Tuesday 12/30: Worked the river a bit. Winter Wren in Watertown was nice, as were 3 Fish Crows over Moody St. A few ducks finally coming in too.

Wednesday 12/17: Hardy Pond had nothing exciting, Heard Pond had nothing, and there was nothing more than a few geese and Mallards at the town building.

Thursday 12/18: Res had tons of ducks including more scaup and 3 Gadwall.

Friday 12/19: Cackling Goose and Ruddy at Great Meadows.

Saturday 12/20: 5 Purple Finches and a Winter Wren at Dunback.

Sunday 12/21: Nothing exciting along the river. More gulls but nothing good among them.

Monday 12/22: Sapsucker was still around at BBN but not much else.

Tuesday 12/23: Hunting for goldeneye without any luck from Prospect St to Norumbega.

Wednesday 12/10: Too dark to really see but about the same at the res, nothing much at Flint’s, Heard, or Pelham Island Rd.

Thursday 12/11: Few mergansers and a Bufflehead at Hardy. Hermit Thrush and nothing else at the riverwalk. Very quick buzz of Purgatory Cove had an Iceland Gull.

Friday 12/12: Dunback pretty quiet.

Saturday 12/13: Started at BBN. Sapsucker along the parkway was nice, as was a Winter Wren while trying to get from Dawes to the West Meadow (which was under a foot of water). Not much else there, nothing at the field station or Moody St. No Iceland Gull near Forest Grove or in the Shaw’s lot. Same big flock at the res which I didn’t feel like scoping. Goldeneye at Hardy Pond among the usuals.

Sunday 12/14: CBC. Not going to bother with a full report, but Barred Owl and Red-winged Blackbirds at Dunback, Bluebird at Lot 1, Savannah Sparrow (new for the sector) at the field station, and the usual ducks.

Monday 12/15: Pintail at Forest Grove, not too much else.

Tuesday 12/16: Checked the Mackerel Hill bit of BBN for a change. Yellow-rump was yet another bird that would have been nice on Sunday but nothing overly exciting otherwise.

Wednesday 12/3: Usual at the ponds (other than big numbers of American Black Ducks). Stupidly drove past an eagle on Pelham Island Rd figuring it would stay for the 5 minutes it would take to check Heard Pond.

Thursday 12/4: Siskin and 2 Red-wings at Dunback but still no redpolls.

Friday 12/5: An hour on the platform at Great Meadows had very little (60 coots, 1 bunting/lark call overhead, a few bluebirds, a probable Red-shoulder).

Saturday 12/6: Finally got up the energy to get out late afternoon. Nothing at Norumbega down to Edgewater. Tons of ducks at the Cambridge Res. Nothing new, but 225+ Ring-neck, 120+ Hooded Merganser, 65+ wigeon, 120ish coot, and 2 eagles.

Sunday 12/7: Walked from BBN to Lot 1. Purple Finch at Lot 1, GH Owl at the West Meadow (assist to the Red-tail taking a swipe at it), and lots and lots of American Tree Sparrows. Also another interesting Red-tail (and poor views of the one from last week again).

Monday 12/8: Nothing at Purgatory Cove or Norumbega. Still had a bit of time, so checked Pelham Island Rd and had 2 shovelers and a Gadwall among the mass of Mallards and geese.

Tuesday 12/9: Nothing exciting at Heard.

Wednesday 11/26: 160+ Coots on the res and a flyover pipit.

Thursday 11/27: Walked over to Hardy Pond: Gadwall, coots, kingfisher, a few other ducks.

Friday 11/28: Nothing much at the res or Flint’s, but School St was worth the drive.

Saturday 11/29: Nothing of note at Spy Pond or Dunback. Huge numbers at Cambridge Res but couldn’t find anything good.

Sunday 11/30: Great Meadows for the morning. Little bit moving early (probable redpoll, few Herring Gulls, and 10 Snow Buntings). Not much after, male harrier and 5 pintail about it.

Monday 12/1: BBN and West Meadow were fairly quiet (well, lots of juncos, sparrows, and goldfinches but nothing exciting). Red-tail was intriguing, maybe more later.

Tuesday 12/2: River walk had 6 Hoodies, 1 Ring-neck and nothing else. Very quick scan from Purgatory Cove had a few Bufflehead, 2 Ruddy, and lots of geese, mallards, Ring-billed Gulls, and swans.

Wednesday 11/19: Dunback had lots of robins, Purple Finches, and waxwings.

Thursday 11/20: Ruddy, Bufflehead, and a Mink at Purgatory Cove.

Friday 11/21: Only a quick stop at Heard Pond where there was a kingfisher and 1 gull.

Saturday 11/22: Nothing exciting at Alewife or Spy Pond.

Sunday 11/23: Rusty Blackbird, Savannah Sparrow, Yellow-rump or two between Rock Meadow and BBN. Stopped by Clay Pit Pond for the Cackling Geese later.

Monday 11/24: Nothing at Flint’s, hunter at Heard, GW Teal on the river.

Tuesday 11/25: Wandered Heard Farm. Didn’t find the Ash-throated I almost expected but settled for a bunch of Rusty Blackbirds and a pintail. Quick check of the town building marsh had a couple wigeon and a coot.

Wednesday 11/12: Wandered around Lindentree in the fog. Siskins and a beaver. Opossum running around the yard when I got home.

Thursday 11/13: Great Meadows was pretty dead. Got the jets flying over and added pipit and Marsh Wren to the commute list.

Friday 11/14: Nothing obvious at any of the ponds, although sun and traffic made for tough viewing.

Saturday 11/15: Started at Nahanton, which was quiet beyond a Hermit Thrush and Purple Finch. One shoveler at Purgatory Cove and lots of Hoodies but not much else. Nothing obvious at the res or Hardy. Something for later in the afternoon.

Sunday 11/16: Wanted to check School St for longspurs and geese, so worked my way out stopping at Kaveski first. Driving down Shadyside, an adult male Northern Harrier crossed the road twice (unfortunately it was then chased off by crows before I could park and jump out with the camera). Sparrows galore along the road and hedgerow including at least one White-crowned. Walking way out towards Elm Brook, I heard an check-type note that I wanted to call a Marsh Wren but didn’t seem quite right. Bushwhacked in a bit and a female Common Yellowthroat popped up for a second.

School St was fairly dead (no geese and the lark/pipit flock was barely visible at 60x in the scope), so I checked Warner’s Pond (nothing) and the prison fields (moderate number of geese, nothing obvious among them but not easy to see and I didn’t linger). Debated Nine Acre Corner or Waltham St from there and picked Waltham St (checking on the heron and 3 crows at Hobbs Brook on the way). Totally dead there, just about circled all four fields with nothing more than cardinals and Song Sparrows. And then in the last couple feet, something a bit different popped up. Fortunately it landed in the open and stayed long enough for a couple shots: Grasshopper Sparrow!

Cambridge Res was about the same, except the Ring-neck and most of the Ruddy flock was out by 128 and couldn’t be scanned carefully. Also 3 turkeys would have caused a good traffic jam had it been a weekday.

Monday 11/7: Quick check of Heard Pond in the rain: 10 Ring-billed Gulls, 1 Great Black-backed, and 7 Common Mergansers. Exciting stuff.

Tuesday 11/8: Cat Rock Park was quiet. Winter Wren plus a flicker in the middle of a low bush and lots of gulls overhead.

Wednesday 11/5: Red-shoulder over the middle of Lincoln and Fox Sparrow at Cow Common.

Thursday 11/6: Went to Forest Grove for a change. Very little for ducks and not much more for land birds.

Friday 11/7: Tons of Ring-necks and coots at Cambridge Res, Killdeer at Hobbs Brook.

Saturday 11/8: Started at Rock Meadow and BBN, which were mostly quiet (couple Tree Sparrows, lots of Purple Finches, couple flyover siskins). Tried Fresh Pond but didn’t see easy parking so went to Cambridge Res instead. A good 350 Ring-necks and lots of the same but nothing really good. Check of Hobbs Brook had the Killdeer and 25 Snow Buntings.

Sunday 11/9: Joined the MBC trip to Dunback, which was fairly quiet (lots of Purple Finches, one flock of siskins, a couple Yellow-rumps, 2-3 Fox Sparrows). Savannahs and nothing else at Waltham St. Got the Canvasback at Fresh Pond but apparently walked past the Surf Scoter.

Monday 11/10: Absolutely nothing at Wayland CG.

Tuesday 11/11: Rusty Blackbirds, a few Yellow-rumps, and not much else beyond juncos at BBN.