Mt. Auburn 4/28

From Naeem Yusuff:

The worm-eating warbler found yesterday by Jon Damian was seen and heard
on the BBC Mt Auburn walk this morning, in the tall black oak at the base of Mountain Ave. With poor weather for migration forecasted until the weekend, there is a good chance that this bird will stick around.

Other highlights include a wood duck at Halcyon pond, as well as lingering palm and yellow-rumped warblers.

Salem Woods Birding Hike ~ 04-24-10

On April 24th, Mark Burns and I led our joint Brookline Bird Club and Friends of Salem Woods trip to the Salem Woods. Marj and Daan joined us for the morning.

We followed the yellow blazed trail which took us around the woodland edge (about 2 miles) and through forested, scrub-shrub, and emergent wetlands; open water marsh (Thompson's Meadow); and upland habitats. After our kike through Salem Woods, we took a ride to Nahant and walked through the Heritage Trail and Thicket. The temperatures were in the mid-50s, the wind was light, and the sky was clear. It was a quiet morning overall but it was nice to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather and emerging spring signs.

We tallied 38 species for the Club list: 

Double-crested Cormorant - 1 overhead; Canada Goose – 12; Red-tailed Hawk - 1; Killdeer – 1; Ring-billed Gull – 6; Herring Gull – 10; Great Black-backed Gull – 3; Rock Dove – 40; Mourning Dove – 13; Downy Woodpecker – 3; Northern Flicker - 4; Eastern Phoebe -4; Blue-headed Vireo – 3; Blue Jay – 12; American Crow – 24; Tree Swallow – 2; Black-capped Chickadee – 10; Tufted Titmouse - 6; White-breasted Nuthatch – 1; Carolina Wren – 7; Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1; Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 2; American Robin – 43; Northern Mocking bird – 4; European Starling – 8; Yellow-rumped Warbler – 2; Palm Warbler - 1; Eastern Towhee – 8; Chipping Sparrow – 9; Field Sparrow – 7; Swamp Sparrow - 6; White-throated Sparrow – 3; Northern Cardinal – 18; Red-winged Blackbird - 60; Common Grackle – 25; Brown-headed Cowbird – 20; American Goldfinch - 14; House Sparrow - 15

As we were leaving Salem Woods, we met up with several members of the Friends of Salem Woods who were busy restoring a section of the main trail. Many thanks to the Friends for their hard work and dedication and keeping the Woods accessible to all who wish to visit!

Until next time, take care and good birding!

Laura H. de la Flor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So much to learn about Mother Nature...
...always racing with father time." (lhf)

Mt. Auburn 4/23

From Linda Ferraresso:

9 birders joined the BBC walk this morning at Mt Auburn. It was 49 degrees and cloudy at 6 a.m. - and a bit on the dark side, I might add. Highlights:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 ( east side of Harvard Hill, singing)
Eastern Phoebe 1
Palm Warbler 12
Yellow-rumped Warbler 21
Chipping Sparrow 15
White-throated Sparrow 2

Cheers!

Boston 4/21

From Bob Stymeist:

On the last Sunday in April each year I lead a BBC trip just within the city limits of Boston in attempt to see as many species as possible. TODAY was not the day to get a lot of birds- absolutely no new migrants (with the exception of a Chimney Swift). Only four members joined up (Fred Bouchard, Tim Factor, Karsten Hartel and myself). The early hours always seem to be the best and at 10AM we had 66 species- for the next 7.5 hours we added just SEVEN species!! (highlights-indicated)


Location: Boston, Suffolk County, MA, US
Observation date: 4/21/10 4:45AM-5:40PM
Notes: Boston Long Day
Number of species: 73

Brant 150
Canada Goose 45
Mute Swan 8
Wood Duck 2
American Black Duck 16
Mallard 24
Green-winged Teal 6
Common Eider 16
Surf Scoter 66 Deer I.
White-winged Scoter 5
Long-tailed Duck 12 Deer I.
Red-breasted Merganser 22
Ruddy Duck 6 Chestnut Hill Res.
Wild Turkey 2 Boston Nature Center
Red-throated Loon 1 Deer I.
Common Loon 5
Double-crested Cormorant 25
Great Egret 1 Logan Airport
Snowy Egret 2 Belle Isle
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 Oasis
Turkey Vulture 2
Osprey 2
Red-tailed Hawk 8
Peregrine Falcon 2 one in Chinatown, one at Belle Isle
Virginia Rail 2 Mill. Park
Killdeer 2
Greater Yellowlegs 14 Belle Isle
American Woodcock 2 Boston Nature Center
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 16
Monk Parakeet 1 East Boston
Eastern Screech-Owl 2 Arnold Arb.
Great Horned Owl 3 Forest Hills (1 juv.)
Chimney Swift 1 Mill. Pk.
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 1 Franklin Park
Northern Flicker 10
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue Jay 15
American Crow 20
Common Raven 1 West Roxbury
Tree Swallow 22
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 10
Black-capped Chickadee 14
Tufted Titmouse 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 6
Carolina Wren 1 Stoney Brook
House Wren 4 Brooks Farm
Eastern Bluebird 2 Brooks Farm
Hermit Thrush 8
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird 4
Brown Thrasher 2 one at Mill, one at Forest Hills
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 24
Pine Warbler 4
Palm Warbler 8
Chipping Sparrow X
Savannah Sparrow 22
Song Sparrow 44
Swamp Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 16
Northern Cardinal 18
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird 12
House Finch 6
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow 20

Nahant 4/17

From Linda Ferraresso:

Davis Noble and I were substitute leaders for today's BBC/Nahant Open Space Committee walk in Nahant. It was drizzly, cold and the birds were hunkering down but we did have a few birds of note:

Common Loon 1 (East Point)
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Brant 200+
Ring-necked Pheasant 1 (East Point)
Bonaparte Gull 1 ( Lynn Beach)
Northern Flicker 1 ( East Point)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2 (East Point)
Hermit Thrush 1 (Heritage Trail)
Eastern Towhee 1 (East Point)
White-throated Sparrow 5
House Finch 6 (East Point)

Cheers!

Mt. Auburn 4/15

From Linda Ferraresso:

The BBC has its first walk of the season yesterday ( sorry for the tardy report) at Mt Auburn Cemetery from 6:30 to 8 am. Nineteen enthusiastic participants came in hopeful anticipation of spring's delights and were led by Larry O'Bryan and yours truly. It was 39 degrees with little or no wind.

Canada Goose 2
Mallard 4
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Ring-billed Gull 1
Mourning Dove 5
Downy WP 1
Northern Flicker 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 1
Black-capped Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
American Robin 23
Northern Mockingbird 2
Chipping Sparrow 11
Song Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 19
Northern Cardinal 6
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Common Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
American Goldfinch 6

Cheers!

Crooked Pond 4/10

From Bill Drummond:

Dear Friends,
Crooked Pond, Boxford was great for general birding as we saw Pine and Palm Warblers, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown Creepers doing nest building. The bird of the day was the great look at the singing Winter Wren. We did not get the Louisiana Waterthrush, which used to always be in by April 10. I wonder why the change has occurred. By the time we got to Plum it was windy and birding was sparse. Nevertheless, the morning at Crooked Pond was really special.

Good birding, everyone!

Crooked Pond to Plum Island 4/3

From Christopher Ciccone:

Good Morning Massbirders,

Apologize for the late post. This past Saturday 5 birders joined me on a BBC walk starting at Bald Hill Reservation, continuing to Ipswich River Sanctuary, then on to Plum Island. In a little under 4 hours we totaled about 54 species (if memory serves correctly). Highlights of the trip included Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and singing Eastern Phoebes at Bald-hill Reservation, Northern Flickers everywhere, singing Winter Wren and Brown Creeper at Ipswich River, and Blue-winged Teal, Snowy Owl, and Hermit Thrushes at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Probably incomplete list (in no particular order) follows:

Bald Hill Reservation: Didn't go too far in, although not as flooded as expected after last week's rains.
Biggest surprise was the lack of any Winter Wrens!
Black-capped Chickadees
Tufted Titmouse
Eastern Phoebe
American Goldfinch
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Mallard
Canada Goose
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pine Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird
CommonGrackle


Ipswich River MAS: Flooding there was more expected

Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Eastern Phoebe
Mourning Dove
Tree Swallow
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Brown Creeper
Mallard
Wood Duck
Green-winged Teal
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Red-tailed Hawk
White-breasted Nuthatch
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Winter Wren
Carolina Wren
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Blue Jay
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown Headed Cowbird
American Crow

Parker River NWR and Newburyport: Stopped across from airfield to look for the reported Upland Sandpiper with no luck

Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Mute Swan
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Green-winged Teal
Blue-winged Teal
Mallard
Black Duck
Turkey Vulture
Snowy Owl
Osprey
Wilson's Snipe
Ring-billed Gulls
Herring Gulls
Great Black-backed Gulls
Mourning Dove
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swalllow
Northern Mockingbird
Hermit Thrush (two quietly working through the pines trail)
White-breasted Nuthatch
Purple Finch
Sing Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbirds
Common Grackles
Brown-headed Cowbirds

And throughout the day, and traveling between locations we also saw:
Red-tailed Hawks
Cooper's Hawks
American Kestrel

Oh yeah... and
Rock Pigeons
Starlings
House Sparrows

Cheers,