WIR 9/13-9/19

Wednesday 9/13: Quiet along the river and at Cookson.

Thursday 9/14: A few warblers at Dunback including Prairie, Palm, and Canada, plus a good 100 Bobolinks.

Friday 9/15: Looked like the big flight mostly was overhead, Rock Meadow had minimal warblers (Palm, Parula, Blackpoll, couple more) and an Empid but that was about it.

Saturday 9/16: Decided to mostly ignore the storm and head west a bit. Nothing new on the res. Westborough was a bit drizzly and windy but not unbirdable. Fairly quiet though, found a few warblers which included a Bay-breasted (199 for Worcester if pheasant counts) and a Lincoln’s Sparrow plus a couple kestrels. Continued to Wachusett gate 40, where I had 3 loons and 2 cormorants. Stopped at School St. where there were 2 more kestrels. Nothing at all at Flint’s.

Sunday 9/17: Went for the annual hawkwatch trip. Nothing much at Fitchburg Res beyond a swimming deer. The hike up Watatic had a few warblers including Blackburnian and a Lincoln’s Sparrow. Several thousand Broad-wings plus a scattering of other birds made for a nice day at the peak. On the way down, I hit a nice mixed flock which included 2 Tennessee. If a 2005 pheasant is countable, that makes 200 in Worcester county! Not much on the Middlesex side, although I wasn’t working the chips much.

Monday 9/18: Too rainy, nothing at the res. Killdeer at Nine Acre, loon at Flint’s, eagle and otter at Hardy.

Tuesday 9/19: Arlington Res had a good 20 yellowlegs, 3 Palms (including a Yellow), a Sharpie going over, and a couple other warblers. Little short on time to really sort through the ducks and take a second pass at the shorebirds in better light.