Unscheduled Fenway 11/22

From Ida Giriunas and Bill Drummond:

Greetings:

Bill Drummond's impromptu BBC trip to the Fenway Gardens this morning
(11/21) was quite successful.

Species seen:

MacGillivray's Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler,
Yellow-breasted Chat
Mockingbirds
White-throated sparrows,
Morning Doves
American Robins
Etc


Ida Giriunas for WCDrummond

Essex and Beyond, 11/8

From Ida Giriunas:

Folks:

This was an Indian Summer-type day with clear skies, balmy breezes and
wonderful birds. We enjoyed the view of the great marsh around Essex and
Ipswich from the top of the Savros Hill in Essex.
Found the 6 CACKLING GEESE in the Ipswich Farm fields, thanks to Rick Heil.
Hot-mulled cider and apple donuts refreshed us at Russell's Winery.
Shore birds and ducks such as Buffleheads, Red-breasted Mergansers,
Black-Bellied Plovers, Purple Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling,
Dunlin, and a greater Yellowleg entertained us off the dike between Great
and Little Neck.
Saw dozens of HOODED MERGANSERS in Clark Pond along with several Gadwall.
Then to The University of MA Marine Station in Gloucester where we found the WESTERN KINGBIRD. (Thanks to Mollie Taylor for the heads-up.) Also thanks to her tip, we went to Brace's Cove at Eastern Point and found the
BLACK-HEADED GULL.

Totals for the day: 10 Species of Duck, 6 species of Shorebirds, 5 species
of Gulls, several miscellaneous species and seven HAPPY BIRDERS.

Ida Giriunas
Reading, MA

Cape Ann 11/7

From Bill Drummond:

Dear Friends,
It was a nice birding day today at Cape Ann. We did not have any alcids nor did we have shearwaters. But at Cathedral Ledge in Rockport there were great looks at the Harlequins and we were lucky to have a close Lincoln's Sparrow sitting in the same bush with a Song Sparrow. Also at Good Harbor Beach parking, two people got their life Lapland Longspurs. There was a winter plumage female and a first year bird working along on the ground at close range and in perfect light. We worked hard at the Elks hoping for the King Eider but no luck. There were still plenty of Gannets and we had great looks at Purple Sandpipers from the Elks.

Good birding, everyone!

Bill Drummond

Lakes of Wakefield and Lynnfield 11/1

From Dave Williams:

Birds seen on this mornings trip included:
The number of ducks was low, except for Suntoug Reservoir. A
possible reason for the low numbers at the 2 Wakefield lakes may be
that the town has hired a goose control agent. He has a boat moored
at both lakes and he and his dogs patrol the 2 lakes and chase off the
geese. Well, this time of year, the other ducks are scared off, too.

Lake Quanapowitt, Wakefield
Double-crested cormorant - 3
Canada geese - 65
Mallard - 5
Killdeer - 3
Ring-billed gull - 17
Herring gull- 3


Crystal Lake, Wakefield
Pied-billed grebe - 2
Double-crested cormorant - 2
Canada geese - 23
Mute swan - 2
Wood duck - 8
Mallard - 33
Ring-neck duck - 5
Hooded merganser - 2
Ring - billed gull - 10
Herring gull - 2


Suntoug Reservoir, Wakefield/Peabody
Double-crested cormorant - 5
Great blue heron - 2
Canada geese - 75
Mute swan - 2
Mallard - 17
Ring-neck duck 38
Lesser scaup - 11
Hooded mergansers - 3
Ruddy duck - 37
Ring-billed gull - 125
Herring gull - 210
Greater black-backed gull - 17
Belted kingfisher - 1
American crow - 110
Common raven - 1

Other birds seen during the trip included:
Red-tailed hawk - 3
Rock dove - 115
Mourning dove - 17
Downy woodpecker - 3
Northern flicker - 1
Blue jay - 12
Black-capped chickadee - 7
Tufted titmouse - 6
Red-breasted nuthatch - 1
White-breasted nuthatch - 5
Golden-crowned kinglet - 2
Robin - 150
Starling - 10
Song sparrow - 2
White-throated sparrow - 2
Junco - 4
Red-winged blackbird - 2
Goldfinch - 4
House sparrow - 13

Dave Williams
Reading

New Hampshire Coast 11/1

From Steve Mirick:

15 ± birders joined Jane and I for a fun-filled day of birding along the NH Coast on a trip we led for the Brookline Bird Club.

The day started off with a complete change in itinerary as we veered northward for a staked out Eurasian Wigeon on Great Bay that flew off just as we arrived! We then visited the Exeter wastewater treatment plant and then headed east to the coast and worked north stopping at Hampton Beach State Park, Bicentennial Park, Ragged Neck, Seal Rocks and then Odiorne Point State Park. A trip extension finished the day at the Great Bog blackbird roost. Generally land birds were VERY SCARCE along the coast. Sparrows were in short supply and essentially zero warblers! A short walk around Odiorne produced almost nothing! Fortunately, we managed to scare up a few nice birds for the day!

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Partly cloudy and clearing skies
45F-60F
Winds NW 15-25 mph
Total species - 69
---------------------------
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck - 5 flying by at dusk near blackbird roost.
EURASIAN WIGEON - 1 male seen by only a few members of group from Sunset Farm on Great Bay in Greenland. Unfortunately the bird flew with the American Wigeon as most of the group drove up! :-(
American Wigeon - 4 from Sunset Farm.
American Black Duck
Mallard
NORTHERN SHOVELER - 1 female continues at Exeter WWTP.
Green-winged Teal - 17 at Exeter WWTP
Greater Scaup - A couple hundred+ distant from Sunset Farm on Great Bay
Lesser Scaup - 5 at Exeter WWTP
Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead - 2 at Exeter WWTP
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-throated Loon - Including 31 counted on water off Ragged Neck in Rye.
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Northern Gannet - Lots along coast. Most far out, but a few not too far offshore. Mostly adults.
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
GREAT EGRET - 1 at Sunset Farm on Great Bay. Getting late. Especially for Great Bay.
Sharp-shinned Hawk - A couple
Red-tailed Hawk - A few along coast. A couple appeared to be migrating.
Peregrine Falcon - Distant views of a bird chasing pigeons near Hampton beach.
Semipalmated Plover - About 12 at Ragged Neck.
Greater Yellowlegs
Sanderling - 300+ at Jenness Beach. Huge flock continues, but not carefully counted.
WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER - 17 juveniles continue at Ragged Neck in Rye, NH. Although not rare in early November, this is a large group for the date.
Dunlin - Including 19 at Sunset Farm on Great Bay.
Wilson's Snipe - 1 at Exeter WWTP
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
ICELAND GULL - 2 first winter birds continue at Exeter WWTP.
Great Black-backed Gull
COMMON TERN - 2 picked out by Nick Barber flying into Hampton Harbor. Late. Our last tern in NH this fall was on October 4th.
COMMON MURRE - 1 continues in Rye Harbor. Great bird for NH coast and very odd for one to be hanging out in Rye Harbor. Unfortunately, it may be an ill bird.....hope it makes it. Only my 3rd record for NH. Here's my photo again from yesterday.



Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1 vocalizing at Sunset Farm
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark - 7 at Hampton Beach State Park.
Black-capped Chickadee
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 2 at Odiorne Point State Park
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2 at Exeter WWTP
Eastern Bluebird - 1 at Sunset Farm
American Robin
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Warbler sp. - 1 at Ragged Neck. Incredibly only one warbler for the day and could not be tracked down. Possible Yellowthroat/Orange-crowned.
American Tree Sparrow - 1 at Odiorne Point State Park. Our first of the winter??!!!!!
"Ipswich" Savannah Sparrow - 6 including 3+ at Hampton Beach State Park and great views of 3 feeding together in grasses at Odiorne Point State Park.
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow - 1 at Exeter WWTP
White-throated Sparrow - A few at Exeter WWTP
Dark-eyed Junco
Snow Bunting - About 311 including 170 at Hampton Beach SP, 16 at Exeter WWTP, 75 at Ragged Neck and 50 at Odiorne.
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
COMMON GRACKLE - 200,000. For those who stuck around to the bitter end, we finished the day at the Great Bog blackbird roost and witnessed "The River" of blackbirds from the parking lot of the Target Store along Rt. 33 at the Greenland/Portsmouth town line. Today it started later than yesterday....at about 4:15 PM (EST) and continued non-stop until very late when it finished somewhat abruptly almost exactly at 5:00 PM. About 25 minutes after sunset! I really don't know how many birds there are in "The River", but today's flight was significantly longer than last nights and lasted about 40-45 minutes. Based on input from others, I decided to up last nights estimate of 100,000 to 200,000 birds tonight. There may have been more than that and Len seemed to think closer to 400,000 birds.....who knows? More in a separate post.
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
House Sparrow

Mammals
----------
White-tailed Dear
Red Squirrel
Gray Seal - Now regular along NH coast
Harbor Seal

Herps
------
Painted Turtle - 1 at Exeter WWTP

Insects
-------
Cabbage White
Clouded Sulphur - Many
RED ADMIRAL - 1 at Ragged neck (late?)
American Lady - 1 or 2

COMMON GREEN DARNER - 1 at Ragged Neck
Meadowhawk sp. - A few along coast including pair flying in tandem (likely Autumn Meadowhawk)