Wednesday 5/21: Forest Grove, started by walking up to Lyons. BT Blue was somehow new for me in Newton, but otherwise fairly quiet. Cove and Flowed Meadow weren’t much busier. Wanted to stop at the res on the way home but traffic was bad.
Thursday 5/22: Quick stop at Minuteman for Kathy’s possibly interesting warbler had redstarts and not too much else. Continued with my plan of Nine Acre but the wet spot had dried a bit and the rain hadn’t started early enough so there wasn’t much there. Two loons on Flint’s, nothing but swallows at the res, and not much at Hardy.
Friday 5/23: Storm seemed to move on too early. Res was quiet, no birds in the corner at Nine Acre, so on to Great Meadows. Good number of swallows around including a few Cliff and Bank. No luck with the Prothonotary (which was heard by others) but a nighthawk flew over, which was the most overdue ‘commute’ bird I had yet to see (#258!).
Saturday 5/24: Decided on a coastal run, although it was a bit nicer than I would have liked. Got to Deer Island just after 8. Intended to focus on the water first, but went over the hill and heard a Blackpoll, so I stopped and poked around. Also Least Flycatcher, Wilson’s, Magnolia, redstarts, and a bit more. Went back down instead of across the top. Lots of gulls at the corner, which seemed like an odd spot. Quite a few Bonaparte’s further out. By the tanks, there were more warblers in the bushes along with an oriole. Tip was quiet, lot of terns but way out. Nothing particularly noteworthy on the walk back. Least, Blackpoll, and a Night Heron were all new for me here.
Next stop was Pico to see if the martins were still around. One possible as I walked up but didn’t get on it fast enough and no further sign in 10 minutes. Saw Tim had a pile of warblers on the Winthrop Greenway, so headed there instead of Belle Isle proper. Started at the cemetery but went right for the greenway which had a lot of song. More Magnolias, Wilson’s, and redstarts. Also BT Blue, Ovenbird, a hummingbird, and more. A flycatcher popped up briefly, which looked pretty bright and photos seemed to prove Yellow-bellied. Eventually, it started raining just heavily enough to move on. Walked the lower loop at the cemetery and it stopped, although nothing much. Just before the car there was a very busy tree with Parula, another Wilson’s, 3 Magnolia, a Blackpoll, Black-and-white, and redstarts. Thought about a quick check of Belle Isle from here but it started pouring as I got to Bennington St, so home it was.
Sunday 5/25: Led the Great Meadows BBC walk. Willows all over, Virginia Rail to the left, heard only waterthrush and Wilson’s, brief Least Bittern, Cliff Swallows, gnatcatcher on a nest, a Broad-wing, and more. Unfortunately the wind picked way up as we entered the woods and basically ended the ability to hear anything. Did a loop of Two Rod Rd and the side trails after, nothing much of note.
Monday 5/26: Did an ode trip out west. Before meeting up to carpool from Dunback, I walked Hayden Woods. Green Heron, 2 Kingfishers, 2 Parula, not a ton else. We drove out to Bertozzi and assembled only to find it clouding over. Couple things buzzed by when we reached the river but it was pretty quiet. We walked around a bit, not seeing much, but just as we were ready to give up it started to clear and things came out. A Mustached Clubtail or two, some Springtimer Darners, and a few other things before we started looking at the stuff on the river. I eventually managed enough of a photo to say one was a Uhler’s Sundragon, one of our targets (and a county ode for me). Walking around a bit, one flew past me then perched in the open, which was much nicer than poor flight views. Meanwhile Zack found a nighthawk and a hummingbird nest.
Eventually we moved on to the Elm Circle entrance of the Squannacook WMA. The sand pits had Beaverpond Baskettail and 3 species of tiger beetle. We walked down the trail a bit, but it eventually looked flooded, so we did a loop through the other sandy area adding a mating pair of sundragons, more tiger beetles, and a few other things. Excellent day out.
Tuesday 5/27: Wasn’t up for much of any driving, so went to BBN. Couple warblers up the hill, then an Alder singing at the cemetery. Started to move on and heard a very thin thrush song. Got some recordings, the bird popped up for poor photos and some video, and then double checked that Gray-cheeked seemed right. Sent off a quick message then moved on. Blackburnian on the far side, then Canada near where the trail drops down. Saw Lily heading towards the thrush and I had time to double back, adding Wilson’s and another Blackburnian on the way. No luck for me, but she had it a bit later and got better views than I did.