brewster's linnet . com – Page 75

WIR 4/18-4/24

Wednesday 4/18: Flowed Meadow didn’t have a whole lot different.

Thursday 4/19: Nine species of butterfly at BBN, not much for birds.

Friday 4/20: Savannah Sparrow along the river walk.

Saturday 4/21: Mt. Auburn in the morning: Prairie Warbler, BH Vireo. Stopped at the duck ponds and added House Wren. Got home and saw a report of a Bonaparte’s Gull at Great Meadows. Ran over even though it was obviously long gone. Did finally get the raven and heard an interesting rail call. Also first Pearl Crescents of the year.

Sunday 4/22: Added a county and city bird among other things.

Monday 4/23: 1 Bonaparte’s still(?) at the res, plus 2 Common Loons.

Tuesday 4/24: Not much at Prospect Hill (1 call from a towhee). Gate still closed…

Florida Day 6 and 7

Monday 3/12:

Today’s goals were Florida Scrub-Jay and Purple Gallinule. Up at dawn (quite easy down there), I headed to the nearby Jupiter Ridge area. There were two trails, a short one and a long one. I figured I’d start with the short and then do the long if necessary. Halfway around I found a couple Mottled Ducks but no jays. Fortunately, almost back to the car I heard an odd call that sounded vaguely familiar and I very quickly had 2 Scrub-Jays flying around. In and out in 25 minutes.

From here, it wasn’t too long a ride to Loxahatchee. After checking the visitor center, I did the cypress trail. Not much for birds but I had a Phantom Darner on the trail and lots of saddlebags and stuff behind the building.

I then headed to the Marsh Trail and worked my way to the far corner, stopping as I found things (including a posing Limpkin, a Florida Baskettail, and various things I’d seen earlier on the trip). Finally at the back, I found a couple Purple Gallinule.

Working back out, I had Hyacinth Glider and Scarlet Skimmer, plus more gallinules. Back at the car, I decided to head back to Bill Baggs and give the La Sagra’s another try.

That turned out to not be a great decision. It was hot and pretty birdless. I hung out for about 2 hours with no sign of the flycatcher and a quick walk to the lighthouse didn’t get the cormorant either. And once I returned home, I found out that Smooth-billed Anis were being reported again, which would have been a much better use of my time.

Eventually I gave up and headed out to find food. I plugged Subway into the gps and found one that was in downtown with no obvious parking. Instead, I headed up to Fort Lauderdale and figured I’d find something along Las Olas. There were places, all of which were way fancier and costlier than I wanted. I gave up and found a Five Guys nearby. Good but no Larkburger.

I then found the hotel (Rodeway Inn, a dump). I cleaned up the car and went to return it. The hotel offered a shuttle back, but I was too tired to figure out where to call and get it, so I just grabbed a taxi and got back to do all the packing.

Tuesday 3/13:

Up early for a 6:00 shuttle. Breezed through checkin and security, easy flight to Atlanta. Enough time in Atlanta to grab some snacks, and then an easy flight back to Boston (other than a long delay on the runway taking off, apparently a plane had driven into a ditch or something and we had to go to the further end possible). Back home midafternoon.

277/198

I missed a Bonaparte’s Gull at Great Meadows yesterday (see WIR eventually). However, one of the eBird comments mentioned something about it possibly having been around for a few days, so I figured I’d head over this morning before the rain started.

I decided to bird my way over, checking the Cambridge Res and Flint’s Pond on the way. The southern end of the Cambridge Res was busy (although I initially drove by and decided to double back) with a couple Common Mergansers and some Wood Ducks. Rounding the bend, I pulled over to scan in the usual spot and saw enough to get out the scope (it had starting spitting a bit, so I did hesitate). First thing in the scope were four birds together. Three were quite dark and one showed some white. The odd one out stopped rolling over and looked like the rest. Yellowy ‘horns’ were also visible, a group of Horned Grebe! This is among the high counts for Middlesex county (ties the highest in eBird).

Panning around, things got much better when two small gulls came into view. An adult and a young Bonaparte’s! Much better to find my own. Called home, sent out a quick email, and then spent 10 minutes attempting to get photos. They were too far out, but this video is almost passable (believe you have to click through to play):

Note that they all lined up. My parents pulled up and the birds all drifted off to the right, which made for a tense minute or two before I refound them.

On to Flint’s where a Common Loon was among the swallows (and almost nothing else).

Walking in at Great Meadows, I ran into Linda Ferraresso who immediately said that there was a Bonaparte’s Gull on one of the boxes. Third of the day, not bad for a county bird. Also not the one seen the day before (which was an immature).

Not exactly a high quality photo, but you do better with a phone in the rain.

I walked down to the river and heard a couple rails. Being patient, I waited around until one actually stepped into the open (if I figure out how to trim video I may post eventually). On the way back, my first Warbling Vireo of the year was singing.

From here, I headed off for a quick run through some of the other local ponds. Red-necked Grebe continued at Horn Pond but no fallout birds there or at the Mystic Lakes, Spy Pond, or Hardy Pond. And Arlington Res was as dead as I’ve seen it, not even a swallow flock.

Florida Day 5

Sunday 3/11:

Today was a very good, although very long day. I woke up early and realized that with daylight savings time starting, it would be dark until at least 7:30. After lounging around, I got moving and started for Tigertail Beach, stopping to buy breakfast on the way.

At Tigertail, I enjoyed a few of the close herons and egrets and then started working my down the beach. It quickly became too wet, so I found a gap in the bushes and then a trail through the vegetation (picking up my only Rambur’s Forktail of the trip on the way). Back on the beach, a few Regal Darners were flying around.

Most of the birds were on the opposite shore, easily scopable but not great for pictures. Plovers were abundant and I quickly had my fill of Wilson’s. Snowy took more effort, but I eventually found two (which were flushed before I could even attempt pictures). At one point, I had almost every Charadrius possible in one pan of the scope. Also lots of dowitchers, Willet, Dunlin, Western Sandpipers, etc.

After Tigertail, I headed back north towards Corkscrew Swamp. Not a whole lot on the way (couple interesting hawks where I couldn’t stop, a few Wood Storks just outside the sanctuary entrance). I did a full loop here, which took two hours (in the middle of the day). Overall, I didn’t see a whole lot, Swallow-tailed Kites and Yellow-crowned Night-Herons being the highlights of the birds, Ruddy Daggerwing among the insects.

I found a Burger King for lunch (and got White-winged Dove in the parking lot) before deciding to head to Miami for a recently reported Black-throated Gray Warbler. The ride across Alligator Alley was easy. I made one stop on the way, pulling into one of the rest areas and checking the water (getting Florida Bluet).

Reaching Greynolds Park, I discovered my GPS directions went to a different entrance from the directions to the bird. I bumbled around a bit and after checking a map, took a guess at the spot. Nothing was immediately obvious, so I wandered a trail through the trees a bit. Returning, I found someone standing around looking like a birder. I quickly asked if I was in the right spot and not only was I, but this was Smith, the finder of the bird. We poked around for a couple minutes and Smith picked the bird up a short distance away. Views were a bit tough as it was way up, but satisfactory, especially after missing the Everglades one.

I then got a short tour of the park, adding Louisiana Waterthrush and Indigo Bunting to the trip list, along with another Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Conditions were deteriorating, so we both headed out. I got back on the highway and started north, aiming to reach the Jupiter area. Check out Smith’s photos (he has much better ones of the BT Gray back a ways).

Traffic wasn’t great and I eventually pulled off to find food, settling on a Pollo Tropico, which is a fast food chicken and salad chain. Not too bad. Back on the way, I found a La Quinta in Jupiter, which was a bit on the high side but I wasn’t about to start looking around.

WIR 4/11-4/17

Wednesday 4/11: Didn’t get out and nothing exciting around home.

Thursday 4/12: Went to Purgatory Cove and intended to walk Forest Grove but it started raining and hailing. Swallows on the river.

Friday 4/13: Palm Warblers at Prospect Hill.

Saturday 4/14: Started with a Red-belly in the yard. Joined the MBC trip at Horn Pond where we had a Rusty Blackbird, Pine, Palm, and Yellow-rumped Warblers, a raven or two, and quick views of what was probably a bittern. I hung around for a while hoping for that to pop up again and added a snipe but never got a better view. Checking the path to the West Meadow boardwalk on the way home, I had my first Chipping Sparrows of the year. Also an interesting hawk that will get a post of its own eventually.

Sunday 4/15: Led an MBC walk through Lot 1 and the West Meadow. Fairly quiet, but 2 Hermit Thrushes and a bunch of Chipping and Savannah Sparrows were nice. Afternoon walk around Lindentree and Mt. Misery turned up a singing Winter Wren and a Pileated. Plus a beaver, first Common Green Darners of the year and a couple teneral damsels (forktails presumably).

Monday 4/16: Sapsucker at Arlington Res but not much else. Green-winged Teal at the north end of the Cambridge Res. About the same in Lincoln (trading a snipe for the wren). And more of the same in Hayden Woods.

Tuesday 4/17: Two Killdeer, 8 Wood Duck, 1 Yellow-rump, lots of Green Darners at the duck ponds.

Florida Day 4

Saturday 3/10:

Today wasn’t a great day. I started with an early run to Little Hamaca Park in Key West. It was pretty quiet along the trail and I ended up getting lost on a side trail and having to crawl and bushwhack my way back. I walked the road a bit and had a cooperative White Ibis and a neat spider.

After going back to the hotel to finish packing, get breakfast, and check out, I realized my plans were a bit off. I was hoping to hit the Botanical Gardens for odes but they didn’t open for a good hour and a half, so I decided to just head out and work my way off the Keys.

The first stop was at the Blue Hole, where I had Antillean Saddlebags, Florida Duskywing, and a few other things.

The next stop was at Grassy Key, where I pulled in quickly and found a Red-breasted Merganser and not much else. Theere were a few festivals going on and traffic was pretty bad, so I kept going (making a quick stop for a muffin and drink) before reaching Dagny Johnson State Park.

The park had an admissions box, but no envelopes (and I didn’t have correct change), so I skipped in. There had been another La Sagra’s here a few weeks ago, but it hadn’t been reported recently and it was midday and very hot. I saw very few birds, but did get some nice butterflies (Giant Swallowtail, Mangrove Skipper, etc) and some Great Pondhawks. At the water, an iguana was running around (too deep into the vegetation for photos though).

From here, I headed onto the Tamiami Trail and towards Naples. Most of the way through, I did a quick loop through some of the Big Cypress preserve (adding meadowlark and Eastern Bluebird to the trip list but not a whole lot else). Reaching Naples, I found a hotel and then a Mexican restaurant (shrimp dish was not bad, the chips and stuff before were spectacular but I have no idea what the place was at this point).

WIR 4/4-4/10

Wednesday 4/4: Swamp Sparrow singing at the end of the street in the morning, kestrel flyover in the afternoon. West Meadow at lunch added Turkey Vulture to the patch year list (finally) along with Clouded Sulphur and Eastern Comma.

Thursday 4/5: Nothing much at Prospect Hill.

Friday 4/6: Great Meadows on the day off: Rough-winged and Barn Swallows, 4 shoveler, etc.

Saturday 4/7: Joined the MBC trip at Arlington Res. More Rough-wings and otherwise similar to last week.

Sunday 4/8: Great Meadows, just missed the Sandhill Crane. On to Horn Pond where the Red-necked Grebe was present but sleeping.

Mostly

Monday 4/9: BBN was pretty quiet.

Tuesday 4/10: Kestrel at Rock Meadow.

WIR 3/28-4/3

Wednesday 3/28: Pouring when I went out at lunch, so stopped at Hardy Pond and it immediately got nice. First Double-crested Cormorant of the year, 25 Great Black-backs, the usual.

Thursday 3/29: Purgatory Cove had a Green-winged Teal (or pair) in with about 10 Wood Duck. Tree Swallows over the river and a phoebe along the edge.

Friday 3/30: Prospect Hill was pretty much as Paine was earlier in the week.

Saturday 3/31: Quick buzz of Cambridge Res (1 Bufflehead, a few geese, 2 mallard) and Flint’s Pond (Common Mergansers, Ring-necks, Ruddy, Tree Swallows) in the morning. Out to New Salem, where 2 Purple Finches showed up at Ethan’s feeders. Walking around the center of town midafternoon, we had a Pine Warbler, Hermit Thrush, and Bald Eagle.

Sunday 4/1: About the same at Ethan’s feeders but a sapsucker was new and nice. A quick drive around added 2 turkeys. Seven more on the way home. Arlington Res in the afternoon: 5 GW Teal, 1 Gadwall, 1 Ruddy, 5 snipe, 1 Tree Swallow. Interesting Cooper’s in the yard:

Monday 4/2: Pretty sure I was hearing a Virginia Rail down the street this morning (plus a heron dropped in). Nothing much at the duck ponds.

Tuesday 4/3: Nothing exciting at BBN. Rail was much more obvious today, got a minimal recording in the evening.

WIR 3/21-3/27

Wednesday 3/21: Pine Warblers were in at Paine (and presumably had been). Also first Six-spotted Tiger Beetle and Cabbage Whites of the year.

Thursday 3/22: Prospect Hill: 2 phoebes, a sulphur, 4 Mourning Cloaks.

Friday 3/23: Purgatory Cove had nesting swans and there were 5 Wood Ducks split between there and the river.

Saturday 3/24: Walked Lot 1 to Met State. Ten turkeys and a singing Winter Wren at Lot 1, 3 phoebes and a Tree Swallow at Met State, not much at the West Meadow.

Sunday 3/25: Nothing on the Cambridge Res. Usual ducks (ruddy, mergansers, ring-necks) on Flint’s Pond. Nothing at School St or the prison fields. Hundreds of Tree Swallows at Great Meadows but nothing else new. Calling muskrats were interesting, not sure I’ve heard them before.

Monday 3/26: Nothing exciting in the wind at the duck ponds.

Tuesday 3/27: Eagle over Hardy Pond (and the house) in the morning (plus 2 Bufflehead, 1 Ruddy, 12 Common Mergansers, etc). Minimum of 5 Pine Warblers at Paine at lunch but not much else.

Florida Day 3

Friday 3/9:

Today I was day-tripping to Dry Tortugas. Birders should know all about it, site of the only Sooty Tern and Bridled Noddy colony in the US (ignoring Hawaii) plus a regular spot for boobies and a great spot for migration. I was a bit early for migrants, but otherwise got the full experience.

The day began with an early start and a short drive to the parking garage near the dock. A two minute walk later and I was checked in, so I settled down to relax for a few minutes and check out the harbor. A bunch of pelicans and a Great Egret were right in front and I’m moderately sure I was hearing a Chimney Swift or two overhead.

Pelican

Egret

Around 7:30, we got the introductory lecture and boarded the boat. I wandered around a bit and then decided to get breakfast before finding a seat for the trip out. The cereal and juice were fine but I’m fairly sure that the grapes had dried spiders among them. After quickly eating, I worked my way to the outside and settled in to scan.

It wasn’t a particularly birdy trip on the way out. A few gulls and terns, some pelicans, an Osprey, and a couple others were about it. The others were fairly good, being a Blue-winged Teal about 30 minutes out and a full adult Pomarine Jaeger a little later.

Frigatebirds and something??

Masked Boobies (probably want to click through and go to a larger size)

The island’s well described in books, so I’ll skip writing about it and just show some photos.

Fort Jefferson

Ruddy Turnstone

Frigatebird

The colony

Frigatebird

Barred Yellow

Royal Tern and friends

Noddies

Peregrine

Sooty Tern

Frigatebird with stick

The ride back was quieter (other than one close pass of a Masked Booby). We arrived around 5:30 and I walked over to Mallory Square. I intended to wait for sunset, but it was overly tacky and I was getting hungry. I wandered around a bit looking for a sandwich shop or something but eventually settled for a couple slices of pizza.

Masked Booby