Wednesday 10/29: Rather dark so started a pond loop. Two grebes out in the middle of the res turned out to be Pied-billed. Five GW Teal and a bunch of Hoodies at the speed bump. Nothing at Flint’s. Continued to Wetherbee (nothing) and School St. where the Cackling Geese were around. Also a bunch of pipits, a few larks, etc.
Thursday 10/30: Another pond loop. Res had just about zero, as did Spy Pond. Quick scan at the dam at the Mystic Lakes had an eagle up close but not much else. Sandy Beach had the egret (thanks Janet) and a Red-necked Grebe (‘commute’ #189) plus a warbler that looked a bit interesting and what was probably a swallow go over. Ran back to the dam to tell Janet about the grebe and heard about a loon there but didn’t have time to wait for it to reappear.
Friday 10/31: Tried for the Dickcissels and Clay-colored at Mt. Auburn. No luck with either. Eagle, sharpie, 26+ Purple Finches weren’t bad. Lots of common sparrows too.
Saturday 11/1: Tried to get Maynard to 50 in the wind. Started on Rockland Ave where I quickly got junco and White-throat. Worked the conservation trails and added Winter Wren and Red-winged Blackbird but couldn’t dig up anything else. Continued to Mill Pond where there was a Hoodie. Checked the ponds along the rail trail and walked the woods just off it but only managed to add Golden-crowned Kinglet, so only got 5 additions and still have 4 to go.
Saw that the White-winged Scoters were still being seen at Wachusett, so headed out there. Found them at a distance but the sun and wind made looking at the water pretty tough. Walked down a ways and had a buckeye flying around. Got almost to gate 36 without much more, so doubled back and the Ipswich Sparrow soon appeared. Got some nice views and a couple decent photos. Went down to 25 and had no birds on the water at all, then gave a quick run down towards the rail trail without anything else.
Sunday 11/2: Started at Squantum Point Park. Purple Finch, tons of robins, ton of goldfinches, first Tree Sparrow of the fall. Walked down to Fedex and had a scaup on the river. Continued to Commander Shea. No luck with sparrows but an egret flew over and there was a Ring-neck, first of fall Bufflehead, and a few sparrows. Got some messages about another Nelson’s at Millennium so went there instead of elsewhere in Squantum. Arrived to find the bird hadn’t been seen for a bit and a lot of waiting didn’t reveal it or much else. Did walk up to the top lot a couple times and eventually got the Clay-colored at least.
Monday 11/3: Tried for the Mt. Auburn Dickcissel again. Odd sound on the way over proved to be a flat tire, so didn’t have too long. Looped the general area a few times and found lots of White-throats and juncos but no target bird. Did get the Nashville and a Hairy at least before crawling to the mechanic across the street.
Tuesday 11/4: Tire was bad, so only had a chance for a quick trip of the res (4 Ruddy, 35 Hoodies) and Hardy (20 Ruddy).