Wednesday 5/7: Weston Station Pond was pretty busy, topped 60 species (first time on a workday, although the extra half hour helps). FOY Orchard Orioles and Indigo Buntings plus Broad-wing, waterthrush with an ode, 3-4 Osprey, etc.
Thursday 5/8: Fought traffic to Mt. Auburn. Slowish day but 2 Cape May, Magnolia, Blackpoll, a few other warblers. Finally caught up with the Barred Owl too.
Friday 5/9: Loon at the res. Foggy at Great Meadows but northeast winds. Lot of swallows included a Cliff. Also YT Vireo, Marsh Wrens, a few warblers, a Virginia Rail finally, etc.
Saturday 5/10: Swallows at the res by the hundreds. Nothing at Flint’s or Nine Acre. Or Heard. Was thinking about continuing south where the rain may have been stopping but saw the Brant report at Magazine Beach and went that way. No Brant, a few mostly common things before heading to Earhart. Didn’t realize Draw Seven is completely closed, so walked a bit at Sylvester Baxter since I was already parked. Finally a Rough-wing for Somerville, nothing much else. Circled around to the Everett side. Walked down to the new wet spot at Gateway, where there were two Solitary Sandpipers (too much rain lately?). Small flock of warblers on the way back had a BT Blue, couple Parulas, Black-and-white, Yellow-rumps, and Yellow plus a RB Grosbeak, which brings my patch list to 140. Casino side had a loon, a few sparrows, and not too much else (no Willet unsurprisingly).
Sunday 5/11: Had a group outing for dragonflies, which meant we didn’t meet until 11, so I made a stop at the Pinnacle Trail in Tewksbury. Only needed 4 to get that list over 50 and almost could have done it if I was starting from zero. Nothing terribly exciting but a few warblers, FOY Bobolink, a very angry Solitary Sandpiper, and other stuff. An eagle, Broad-wing, and a few other raptors on the drive up to Fremont.
We gathered and began the boghaunter hunt. Springtime Darner got attention for a second, then a Stream Cruiser and a few Lancet Clubtails. We were getting ready to split up when one was found, but it took off before Dennis got the views he wanted. So we split and went down the rail trail. Something small flew past my head and I ran after to find a boghaunter perched fairly high on a tree trunk. Fortunately it stayed and then we found several more on the ground, which meant everyone had the views and photos they wanted. Only problem of the day was the first two ice cream shops were closed, but we eventually found one open.
Monday 5/12: Started at Hobbs Brook. Stayed roadside and had a few warblers, a Wood Thrush, Osprey, and more, ending at 45 species. Continued to Hayden Woods. Still like the boardwalk for boghaunter potential but I’ve been looking long enough to say they’re probably not here. More of the same here, FOY (presumed) Cherry Gaul Azures among them.
Tuesday 5/13: Supposed to be a big night so BBN was the plan. A few warblers were singing right at the parking lot, so I hustled down to the trails along the edge of Mackerel (stopping for a Solitary in the small roadside wetland). Wasn’t too busy here but I had 2 Pileated, a hummingbird, and a few more warblers including decent numbers of Blue-wings. A Bay-breasted heading downhill was nice. Went around the big marsh and there was an Alder Flycatcher singing and calling on the back side along with a Canada Warbler, then a pewee a bit further along.