Plum Island 5/30

From Bill Drummond:

Dear Friends,
It was a quiet night at the refuge and just the standard three warblers:   Yellow, Yellowthroat, and Redstart.    Steve and Margo helped us get on the Black-crowned Night Heron.   Thanks.    We had to be out by 8:13 PM and along the road on the way out just by the Warden's we saw a young Woodcock with an adult nearby.

Plum Island 5/28

From Bill Drummond:

Dear Friends,
It was a nice general birding morning at Plum with the standard birds.   Our only specialty for warblers was a Mourning Warbler singing and sometimes heard at Hellcat near the rest room.    I was one of the few who did not see it (but I had the pleasure of birding earlier in the month at Ohio's Magee Marsh , a fabulous place, so no worries for me on Mourning Warbler).

There were Alder and Willow Flycatchers and Doug Chickering and Lois and a few other lucky people found and Olive-sided Flycatcher near the road near parking lot #2.   

It was a great day to be out birding.

Mt. Auburn 5/21

From Linda Ferraresso:

Many of the birds that had been 'stalled' at Mt Auburn for the last week took the fast train north last night though some others came in as well.
Highlights from today's BBC walk where over 25 participants ended up joining the group:

Great Horned Owl 2 juvs, 1 adult
Eastern Wood Pewee
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Veery
Wood Thrush (9 very present and in full song)
Cedar Waxwing

Warblers:
Nashville
Northern Parula
Yellow
Magnolia
Black-throated Blue
Black-throated Green
Blackpoll
Black-and-white
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Wilson's
Canada

Scarlet Tanager
Chipping Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Baltimore Oriole

It was a perfect spring day with delightful spring migrants!

Hammond Pond 5/9

From Sylvia Martin:

The Hammond Pond Reservation (DCR), Webster Conservation Area, and Houghton Garden provided a very nice morning's birding for the Brookline Bird Club. Not a huge warbler day but some great looks at migrants.

Highlights:

wood duck            2    the end of the pond near the MBTA rail line
spotted sanndpiper   1     "     "
red-bellied w.p.     2
downy w.p.           1
great crested fly    1    low for this location
blue-headed vireo    1
warbling vireo       4
b-c chickadee        4
tufted titmouse      2
blue-gray gnatcatcher5
wood thrush          1
gray catbird         3
northern parula w.   4
yellow warbler       3
yellow-rump          2
black-th. green      1
B&W warbler          1
ovenbird             1
n. cardinal          3
r-w blackbirds       x   for extra-raucous
cowbird              1
Baltimore oriole     3
Am. goldfinch        5

Eastern Point 5/8

From Susan Hedman:

John Nelson and I led a BBC walk today and it was a painfully slow morning for birds in May. Sometimes the coast can be less than great for migration, and this was one of those days. We were struggling to find birds. The foggy cool conditions may have been responsible, we certainly had enough people trying to see birds. 


Location: Eastern Point Gloucester 
Observation date: 5/8/11 
Notes: In more than 15 years of doing this walk on mother's day on Eastern Point, today was the worst I have encountered. The lack of birds was overwhelming for a May weekend. The conditions were cloudy/foggy and cool. Sun finally came out around 11:00...too late for most folks had left at 10:30 or much earlier. I stayed a little later to enjoy the swallows flying around the lighthouse and breakwater. As I was driving out,I heard the chick,vireo,chick of the white-eyed vireo. Turned the car around and found the bird. This was between the walled property before the yacht club and the Eastern Point Audubon. When I left the bird had flown across to the Audubon property. Had great looks. Stopped at the siene fields..one thrush species & BG Gnatcatcher. 
Number of species: 55 

Mute Swan 1 
Mallard 4 
Common Eider 40 
White-winged Scoter 3 
Long-tailed Duck 3 
Bufflehead 10 
Common Loon 2 
Double-crested Cormorant 30 
Great Egret 5 
Snowy Egret 2 
Killdeer 2 
Lesser Yellowlegs 1 
Ring-billed Gull 3 
Herring Gull 15 
Great Black-backed Gull 15 
Mourning Dove 3 
Downy Woodpecker 3 
Eastern Phoebe 1 
Great Crested Flycatcher 2 
White-eyed Vireo 1 
Warbling Vireo 2 
Blue Jay 2 
American Crow 12 
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 10 
Tree Swallow 6 
Barn Swallow 15 
Black-capped Chickadee 3 
Tufted Titmouse 2 
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 
Carolina Wren 1 
House Wren 1 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2 
Catharus sp. 1 
Gray Catbird 20 
Northern Mockingbird 2 
European Starling 5 
Northern Parula 1 
Yellow Warbler 20 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 
Black-throated Green Warbler 2 
Common Yellowthroat 2 
Eastern Towhee 1 
Chipping Sparrow 2 
Song Sparrow 7 
White-throated Sparrow 3 
White-crowned Sparrow 1 
Scarlet Tanager 1 
Northern Cardinal 5 
Red-winged Blackbird X 
Common Grackle X 
Brown-headed Cowbird 12 
Baltimore Oriole 2 
House Finch X 
American Goldfinch X 
House Sparrow X 

Wompatuck 5/8

From Eddie Giles:

About a dozen birders turned out this morning for my co-sponsored Brookline Bird Club.South Shore Bird Club trip.  Starting at 6:00 AM and ending around 10:30 AM, we found the following 47 species:

Canada Goose
Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Herring Gull
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe (including one nest that _had_ a Brown-headed cowbird egg in it)
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
American Robin
Gray Catbird

WARBLERS
Nashville
Northern Parula
Yellow
Yellow-rumped
Black-throated Green
Blackburnian
Pine
Blackpoll
Cerulean - continues down by Picture Pond
Black-and-white
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
KENTUCKY - Gate 16 (G16)/Holly Pond Road.  The bird was skulking in the thickets on the right immediately before the loop road begins.
Common Yellowthroat
(NOTE - We encountered no singing Worm-eating Warblers, but we did not get to their locations until late in the morning.  They may have been singing 3-4 hours earlier.)

Scarlet Tanager -  many, including a M/F pair at G16 and a strange orange variant whose feathering underneath from vent to tail was yellow.
Eastern Towhee
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Baltimore Oriole
PINE SISKIN - under the feeders of the first house on the left outside of the park near the Picture Pond gate.
American Goldfinch

Arnold Arboretum 5/7

From Bob Mayer:

Marc Devokaitis and I had another big turnout of more than 30 birders of mixed experience for a walk in the Peters Hill section of the arboretum. Weather was lovely despite the forecast and the group had good sights and sounds of a variety of birds.  Nice to see a pair of bluebirds going in and out of a nestbox at the top of the hill.  The full list:

Location:     Arnold Arboretum
Observation date:     5/7/11
Notes:     sunny/ 60 BBC walk 
Number of species:     38

Turkey Vulture     1
Cooper's Hawk     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Rock Pigeon     1
Mourning Dove     3
Chimney Swift     1
Red-bellied Woodpecker     4
Downy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Warbling Vireo     2
Blue Jay     4
American Crow     2
Tree Swallow     8
Tufted Titmouse     1
White-breasted Nuthatch     1
House Wren     1
Eastern Bluebird     2
American Robin     30
Gray Catbird     2
European Starling     3
Northern Parula     2
Yellow Warbler     4
Magnolia Warbler     2
Yellow-rumped Warbler     3
Black-throated Green Warbler     1
Black-and-white Warbler     2
Common Yellowthroat     2
Chipping Sparrow     12
Song Sparrow     1
Northern Cardinal     3
Red-winged Blackbird     15
Common Grackle     4
Brown-headed Cowbird     1
Orchard Oriole     2
Baltimore Oriole     7
American Goldfinch     5
House Sparrow     2

Plum Island 5/6

From Laura de la Flor:

This morning, Mark Burns and I led our annual spring birding by bike trip for the Brookline Bird Club (“BBC”) at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.  Seven other bike and birding enthusiasts joined us at Parking Lot #1 at 6:30AM.  When we started the trip we could see a huge slug of rain coming our way so we waited it out.  It was a cold, windswept rain that fell for about ½ hour.  Once the rain passed we geared up and started our trip.  It was cold (55 df) and overcast for our ride down the island but by the time we reached the Hellcat area the sky cleared and the temperature rose to 70 df!

We birded our way south to the Hellcat Trail and back over a 5-hour period.  We tallied 77 species for the Club list, of which 16 species were warblers!  We had an aMAYzing morning of birding!  Following is a complete list of the birds we saw and/or heard:

 

Canada Goose – 150

Mute Swan - 4

Gadwall – 9

Mallard – 12

Green-winged Teal - 2

Wild Turkey - 2

Double-crested Cormorant – 24

Least Bittern – 1

Great-blue Heron – 1

Great Egret -15

Snowy Egret – 1

Green Heron - 1

Glossy Ibis – 1

Turkey Vulture - 2

Osprey - 4

Northern Harrier - 1

Merlin - 2

Sora – 3

Killdeer - 4

Greater Yellowlegs – 6

Solitary Sandpiper - 1

Willet – 40

Sanderling - 6

Ring-billed Gull - 5

Herring Gull - 30

Great Black-backed Gull - 10

Mourning Dove – 33

Ruby-throated Hummingbird – 1

Great Crested Flycatcher - 1

Eastern Kingbird – 7

Blue-headed Vireo – 4

Blue Jay - 1

American Crow – 17

Purple Martin – 3 (At the FWS Headquarters on the north end of the island)

Tree Swallow – 15

No. Rough-winged Swallow - 4

Barn Swallow – 6

Black-capped Chickadee – 2

Red-breasted Nuthatch - 1

Marsh Wren - 8

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 9

American Robin – 23

Gray Catbird - 15

Northern Mockingbird - 4

Brown Thrasher - 6

European Starling – 210

 

WARBLERS:

Nashville – 4

Northern Parula – 21

Yellow - 179

Black-throated Blue – 8

Yellow-rumped - 27

Black-throated Green – 10

Blackburnian - 1

Prairie – 2

Palm – 1

Blackpoll - 2

Black-and-white – 16

American Redstart - 18

Ovenbird – 1

Northern Waterthrush – 1

Common Yellowthroat – 58

Wilson’s - 1

 

Scarlet Tanager – 2

Eastern Towhee – 35

Field Sparrow - 4

Savannah Sparrow – 6

Song Sparrow – 21

White-throated Sparrow – 5

Northern Cardinal – 2

Bobolink - 11

Red-winged Blackbird - 250

Common Grackle - 100

Brown-headed Cowbird – 2

Baltimore Oriole - 3

Purple Finch - 5

American Goldfinch – 19

House Sparrow - 4

 

Happy MAYgration!

 

Squantum 5/4

From Linda Ferraresso:

On the BBC trip to Squantum this morning, there was an immature Little Blue Heron seen at Squantum Point Park off East Squantum Street in Quincy.     Entering the old airfield section from the parking lot, the heron was seen behind the fence on the left at the start of the paved paths (there are one or two reasonably good viewing areas).  There was also a Spotted Sandpiper seen in this wet area.  Yellow Warblers were singing everywhere!

Squaw Rock was a little slow but we had a few good birds there as well:

House Wren     2

Catbird     12

Brown Thrasher    1

Black and White Warbler   1

Yellow-rumped Warbler     1

Yellow Warbler      5

White-throated Sparrow     7

Mt. Auburn 5/3

From Chris Floyd:

A very pleasant early morning with no wind.  We could have had a bit more sun.

More activity with brighter sunshine as I was leaving.  With an errand to run, I came back just before lunch to look for Cliff Cook's Kentucky Warbler (see his message).  I encountered many who had looked but none who had seen that bird.  No further useful details.  I did do a circuit of the Dell, listening closely, but came up with no hint of Kentucky.

Great Blue Heron 2  flyovers
Canada Goose 5
Mallard 5
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Wild Turkey 2,  male in resplendent display to female near Indian Ridge
Herring Gull 1  flyover
Mourning Dove 6
Great Horned Owl 3,   2 chicks in nest, nearby adult seen flying toward Dell
Black-billed Cuckoo 1   continuing in Mound Ave area; missed 1st pass;  seen flying w/o problem
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 5
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 3
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 8
House Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1  Thanks, Cliff
Veery 1  near cuckoo spot (Cliff had one in Dry Dell)
American Robin 15
Nashville Warbler 3
Northern Parula 8
Yellow Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 30
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 7
Ovenbird 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Chipping Sparrow 8
White-throated Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 9
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Common Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
Baltimore Oriole 10
House Finch 3
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 4

Mt. Auburn 5/2

From Naeem Yusuff:

Six intrepid birders joined the Brookline Bird Club walk this morning at Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Overall warbler numbers were down somewhat from last week, with a higher fraction of female/young male yellow-rumped warblers present. Highlights included the continuing blue-winged warbler near Palm Ave and black-billed cuckoo on Mound Ave.

Leslie Kramer and Tim Spahr saw a blackburnian warbler near Indian Ridge (the entrance end), although it was missed by the BBC trip. In addition, amazingly enough, two turkeys have been hanging around the vicinity of Indian Ridge (reported by LK).

Location: Mt. Auburn Cemetery--IBA Observation date: 5/2/11 Number of species: 34

Canada Goose 5

Mallard 3

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Mourning Dove 2

Black-billed Cuckoo 1 Continuing bird found yesterday by Jeff Offerman; On Mound Ave.

Great Horned Owl 2

Downy Woodpecker 1

Northern Flicker 2

Eastern Phoebe 1

Great Crested Flycatcher 1

Blue Jay 6

American Crow 5

Black-capped Chickadee 2

Tufted Titmouse 1

American Robin 24

Gray Catbird 2

European Starling 1

Blue-winged Warbler 1 Continuing bird at base of Palm Ave.

Nashville Warbler 2

Northern Parula 4

Yellow Warbler 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 24

Black-throated Green Warbler 2

Palm Warbler (Yellow) 1

Black-and-white Warbler 2

Chipping Sparrow 10

Song Sparrow 1

White-throated Sparrow 2

Northern Cardinal 4

Common Grackle 8

Brown-headed Cowbird 2

Orchard Oriole 1 Lemon yellow juvenile/female type bird.

Baltimore Oriole 5

House Sparrow 1

Manchester 5/1

From Susan Hedman:

Location: Manchester MA 01944  Observation date: 5/1/11 5-8pm
Notes: BBC Trip leaders Susan Hedman John Nelson- 8 people Started at Manchester Essex Conservation Trust-School Street- Drive by Black and White Beach, ending at Coolidge Point-Trustees Property,warm weather,clear,little wind- I have been doing this trip for years now and still something new-flock of Brant, single male Wood Duck and a whale seen out by Kettle Island. The egret/heron show was good with the highlight being the many night herons flying around Clark Pond giving us terrific views. A yellow warbler sang for us as we were leaving. :-) 

Number of species: 46 

Brant 8 
Canada Goose 8 
Wood Duck 1 
Mallard 8 
White-winged Scoter 5 
Bufflehead 8 
Red-breasted Merganser 2 
Common Loon 2 
Double-crested Cormorant 50 
Great Egret 13 
Snowy Egret 56 
Little Blue Heron 3 
Black-crowned Night-Heron 9 
Glossy Ibis 7 
Turkey Vulture 1 
Herring Gull X 
Great Black-backed Gull X 
Mourning Dove 3 
Belted Kingfisher 2 
Downy Woodpecker 3 
Northern Flicker 1 
Blue Jay 2 
American Crow X 
Tree Swallow 1 
Barn Swallow 7 
Black-capped Chickadee 4 
Tufted Titmouse 3 
White-breasted Nuthatch 2 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2 
American Robin 10 
Gray Catbird 4 
Northern Mockingbird 1 
Yellow Warbler 1 
Palm Warbler 2 
Black-and-white Warbler 2 
Eastern Towhee 6 
Song Sparrow 2 
Swamp Sparrow 1 
White-throated Sparrow 5 
Northern Cardinal 2 
Red-winged Blackbird 20 
Common Grackle 20 
Brown-headed Cowbird 10 
Baltimore Oriole 2 
House Finch 2 
American Goldfinch 2

Wompatuck 5/1

From Eddie Giles:

Over twenty-four birders turned out this morning for the co-sponsored Brookline Bird Club/South Shore Bird Club trip to Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. With bright sunshine and cool temperatures we found the following 42 species:

Canada Goose
Red-tailed Hawk
Herring Gull
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Hermit Thrush
American Robin

Warblers
Northern Parula
Yellow
Yellow-rumped
Black-throated Green
Pine
Palm
CERULEAN - Picture Pond trail, outside park boundary.  Required 10+ minutes of patience before the bird moved to reveal it's location.  Fifth consecutive year at Wompatuck.
Black-and-white
Worm-eating
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush

Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Charles River 5/1

From Sylvia Martin:

Several  birders joined me for a walk along the Charles River from Watertown Square going toward Waltham and then looping back on a perfect spring day.

Canada goose   9   only 1 was a chick; where were its nestmates?
mute swan   1   flying overhead
mallard 7
double-crested cormorant  2
gbh   1
herring gull 4
great black-backed gull 1
mourning dove   4
chimney swift   3
downy w.p.   2
n. flicker   1
e. phoebe 1   flycatcing over the river
WARBLING VIREO   3, singing
Am. crow  5
tree swallow   6
b-c chickadee  2
tufted titmouse  3
gray catbird   3
E. starling   2
yellow warbler  7, maybe more, singing away
yellow-rumped warbler   5
song sparrow  6
n. cardinal   3
red-winged blackbird   many incl. 1 subadult male and several females
common grackle    11, beautiful in the sun
BALTIMORE ORIOLE  2
Am. goldfinch   3

Also, a number of herring and/or other small fish were seen under the old black iron bridge that's not over the river but parallel to it, covering
an inlet. Two environmental cops were checking them out also. A woman who has run "herring run" walks said that gulls show up in large numbers during the peak of the herring run.