On Saturday, I went on the BBC’s deep water pelagic. A bit on the slow side on the whole, no exciting birds and very few cetaceans. Fortunately the sharks made up for it.
Some photos:
Leach’s and Wilson’s Storm-Petrels
Wilson’s
Shearwaters (mostly real)
Basking Shark
Whale Shark!
Whale Shark!
Check out Scott Spangenberg’s video!
Tiger Shark
Long-tailed Jaeger
Moon over the harbor. Apparently didn’t pick up the clouds around it.
Back from a little over a week in Colorado. Lots of things to post about, but still working through photos and stuff so it’ll be a little while before I get things up.
In the meantime, here’s a photo that I almost deleted straight off the camera. What was I taking?
Extending a bit to fit the travel schedule.
Thursday 6/23: Didn’t do much.
Friday 6/24: Still not much.
Saturday 6/25: Red-bellied in the yard.
Sunday 6/26: Walked around the Cambridge Res and office parks without much. Prospect Hill for a bit after. Highlight was a Leptogaster robber fly.
Monday 6/27: Cat Rock Park in Weston, need to go there more. Nothing particularly of note though.
Tuesday 6/28: BBN was too buggy but a Cooper’s was nice. McLean was mowed, had what looked like a Mocha Emerald or two but couldn’t get a good enough view.
Wednesday 6/29: Horn Pond Mountain in the afternoon. Eventually turned up all the expected hairstreaks beyond Acadian but very little else.
Thursday 6/30: Nothing really.
Friday 7/1: Actually worked a full day. Charles at lunch was quiet beyond the first Blue-fronted Dancers of the year.
Thursday 6/16: Final Rock Meadow survey had the usual stuff. Stopped at BBN to check for cuckoos and Black-and-white without luck but did have a family of turkeys on the parkway (unfortunately they were too small to climb the curb, hopefully they eventually got around it but I didn’t want to watch in the traffic). Finally saw the Hairy that’s been calling off and on in the yard.
Friday 6/17: Lazy day. Hairy was around off and on, may have a nice size comparison video to post at some point.
Saturday 6/18: Repeat of Friday.
Sunday 6/19: Tried for rails along Concord Ave and at BBN early. No luck with those or cuckoos but did have a Blue-winged in a new spot and an Orchard Oriole. Great Meadows later: nice views of the Least Bittern, a Peregrine and kestrel, and some cooperative gnatcatchers. Also a bunch of first of year odes including Powdered Dancer, Marsh Bluet, Swamp and Slender Spreadwing, Blue Dasher, Eastern Amberwing, and Black Saddlebags.
Monday 6/20: Paine in the morning. Found something.
Tuesday 6/21: Bugs
Wednesday 6/22: Went to hmm looking for huhr without luck. Probable Purple Finch and nesting Cooper’s Hawks weren’t bad.
I spent today poking around a few areas mostly in northern Middlesex county, mostly looking for bugs. Some highlights below:
Lancet Clubtail with Slender Spreadwing snack
Presumed Laphria sp Robber Fly, also with snack.
Elegant Spreadwing
Common Buckeye (1 of 4!)
Brook Snaketail, the main highlight of the day, waiting for confirmation on some of the details but likely the northeasternmost for Mass. Also thought that spot should have a snaketail. Update: confirmed as first for the Merrimack watershed in MA.
Moustached Clubtail
Why it’s named
Also American Kestrel and a chickadee nest I could peer into, a very nice day.
Couple shots of an interesting nest at the Paine Estate today. Owner ID appreciated.
Thursday 6/9: Rock Meadow survey. Rained heavily.
Friday 6/10: Habitat survey, about the same. Stopped at BBN on the way home. No luck with cuckoos but a Black-and-white was singing.
Saturday 6/11: Started at AGM where it was raining too heavily. Moved on to the Mary Cummings estate where I got the Alder Flycatcher that’s been around with relative ease (other than walking through thigh-high soaking wet grass). Also several Blue-wings here. Stopped at Paine on the way home, lots of young robins and Chipping Sparrows but not much else.
Sunday 6/12: Went to Great Meadows eventually. Good view of the moorhen but not much else.
Monday 6/13: Prospect Hill, bumped BT Green to Probable for Maynard 12 and added it as Possible for Boston North 3.
Tuesday 6/14: Hardy Pond had very little (but I looked very little).
Wednesday 6/15: Moody St to Prospect St was pretty quiet. Still 3 species of gulls hanging around but not much else.
Thursday 6/2: Rock Meadow survey: BB Cuckoo, BW Warbler, first hummingbird of the year finally. Monarch while mowing the lawn.
Friday 6/3: Habitat survey was pretty quiet but GH Owl and bluebird between points. Went to Great Meadows with Bob after. Got a couple second view of the Least Bittern flying and an Orchard Oriole was new for Great Meadows. Also a cooperative Marsh Wren:
Saturday 6/4: Ended up with a long walk around Prospect Hill. Tracked down John Hines’s Canada and Mourning Warblers (Mourning #194) and had several redstarts, a black-throated green (in my block?), 2 Black-billed Cuckoos, and a nice variety of butterflies and dragonflies including Dusted Skipper and presumed Swamp Darner.
Sunday 6/5: Great Meadows
Monday 6/6: Paine: Hummer, Hairy carrying food, most of the expected summer stuff. Lots of butterflies.
Tuesday 6/7: Minuteman survey. Turkey and I think Yellow-billed Cuckoo were new, the rest was hampered by loud traffic (at 5:30AM!) and then crows mobbing me.
Wednesday 6/8: Charles was pretty quiet. Lots of Prince Baskettails and a few Orange Bluets.
Thursday 5/26: Forest Grove was pretty quiet, the Flowed Meadow trails are a bit tight for birding and not much was singing. Blackpoll near the yard this morning.
Friday 5/27: Helped with a survey at Habitat in the morning. It was pretty quiet (Black-billed Cuckoo was the most interesting) and it turns out the hummingbird nest in the parking lot is nowhere near my block. Lunch at Prospect Hill greeted me with a really loud Hooded Warbler.
Saturday 5/28: Walked through Lot 1, West Meadow, BBN. Pair of cuckoos below Avalon and lots of butterflies but not much else.
Sunday 5/29: New Salem for the day. No time to look for stuff but heard BT Blue, BT Green, etc and had a Chalk-fronted Corporal. Red-shoulder perched on the side of Rt. 2 was nice.
Monday 5/30: Dunback was too buggy. Arlington Great Meadows was quiet.
Tuesday 5/31: Prospect Hill was quiet. No warbler, no ravens. First Spicebush Swallowtail of the year was it.
Wednesday 6/1: See yesterday but substitute River Walk for Prospect Hill, White-fronted Goose for birds, and Stream Bluet for the bugs.
Friday 5/20: Travel day.
Saturday 5/21: Cousin’s graduation. Kingfisher flew over mid-ceremony. Afternoon walk around the FDR estate had first Spot-winged Glider of the year.
Sunday 5/22:
Stopped at Bartholomew’s Cobble on the way home. Now 1 for 1 on Black Vulture. Also heard a Bay-breasted and a few other warblers. Plus got Black Vulture in New York on the way as well, would have been nice to get a Connecticut one too.
Monday 5/23: Paine, forgot about the science field trips so ended up working down the hill. BT Green, yb cuckoo, sharpie, etc. Swamp Sparrow was probably the oddest bird.
Tuesday 5/24: BBN had the usual summer birds. Those include Blue-winged Warbler, turkey, many grosbeaks, Indigo Bunting, etc. Plus Cherry Gall Azure, American Lady, and a few other butterflies.
Wednesday 5/25: BBN again before work. Same as yesterday minus the turkey plus site tick Red-breasted Nuthatch along with Chestnut-sided, Blackpoll, Magnolia, Ovenbird, and Solitary Sandpiper, and a Question Mark. Duck ponds at lunch added Orchard Oriole and first patch odes of the year (many forktails, 1 baskettail, and a tandem pair of green darners).