Great Meadows in Concord

Went in search of Wood Ducks.  It took almost three hours, but I finally succeeded on my way out. They were standing on a nest box just like in the picture below.  Beautiful birds.  The female has blue on its wing as well.

Other sightings:

orchard oriole, high up in a tree.  

Had some great looks at several Eastern Kingbirds when I first arrived.

And a great look at a Yellow Warbler

Bobolinks at Steel Farm, Grosbeaks in Acton

Went to Steel Farm in Boxborough Saturday afternoon to see the nesting Bobolinks.  Neat birds and a nice location.  I also saw a nice Oriole.  I'll have to head back for more birding. 

Earlier in the day I did some birding across from Bagels Plus while picking up the goose.

Another Oriole (they are everywhere right now) and great looks at a female and male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Captain Sargent with the BoxBC

 Went out with the Boxborough Birders this morning.  Highlights were seven new birds for my list.

Wood Thrush, which I found before anyone else was even there.

Hermit Thrush, which is similar but less speckled and without the red head.

And the Swainson Thrush, which is more rare but has less color and is less interesting.

I relied on the experts for the latter two ID's.

The last new bird for me was the Eastern Wood Peewee.

Its like a small phoebe.  I don't think I could ID it without hearing the song first, which basically is "peeeweee".

Also saw four Scarlet Tanagers, including one female (which is a new one for me).

On the way out, saw a Pine Warbler, which sounds like a chipping sparrow.

And lastly, saw a Red-eyed Vireo. 

Also notable, but not new, a beautiful Rose Breasted Grosbeak. 

Bird Envy

 According to reports, 5/14 was a huge warbler day.  Reports from Plum Island and Mt. Auburn were phenomenal.  So ever though I had a pretty good morning, it felt disappointing. 

I started early at the tennis bubble and found Orioles and Common Yellow Throats.

Then at the Arboretum, I saw Northern Parula and a Scarlet Tanager, third of the year.

But that was about it.  No fancy warblers yet.  I'm heading out with the Boxborough Birders tomorrow and am hoping for the best.

Birding with Ross and the BC Reservoir

Took Ross out birding.  Much better luck than our Mt. Auburn trip a year or so ago. 

We started out with a Scarlet Tanager

and finished off with two male American Redstarts.

and one female American Redstart

The female looks like a bit like the Northern Parula and I didn't get the ID right at the time.  I knew it wasn't a Parula once I heard it sing, but I wasn't sure what it was.   Now I know.

Here is the Northern Parula, which we also saw yesterday.

Great views of these birds, along with uncountable Yellow Rumps.

Orioles at Powder Mill

 There are a couple of Orioles (three at last count) down by Powder Mill.  I was down there Tuesday thru Thursday after dinner.  I took Lori on Thursday and found a husband and wife.

Bolton Flats

 Got to Bolton Flats before 6 and found a flood.  Maybe its always like that.

I got some birding in though and saw Orioles 

(Honestly, they weren't the best Orioles I've ever seen.  I saw one at Powerdermill yesterday and that one wasn't great either.  Maybe it was the light.)

and Common Yellow Throats

and a female Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Birding with Andy: Heald Orchard Edition

Went out to Pepperell Friday with Andy and a small group of birders.  This was a replacement for Andy's yearly Mt. Auburn trip.  Below is his email wrap up. A lot of Nashville and Blue Winged Warblers and a tree full of Cedar Waxwings  were some of the highlights.  

The top spot, though, goes to the Kestral in full hunting mode.

Thank you all for a very nice morning of birding.  The Heald Street Orchard is a truely unique birding destination and worth checking out at different times of the migration - as well as the year round.  It's also nice because there is no neck strain from looking at birds at the top of trees - everything is pretty much at eye level!

We had 45 species including 8 species of warblers - a decent day of birding any day - and that was without some of the birds that will be arriving this week (i.e bobolinks, orioles, field sparrows).

The following is the list as I had it ("o" for overflight and "h" for heard only).:

Heald Orchard, Pepperell - Friday May 7, 2021

 

Great Blue Heron (o)

Turkey Vulture (o)

Canada Goose

Wood Duck (o)

Mallard

Bald Eagle (imm) (o)

Red-shouldered Hawk (o)

American Kestral

Killdeer (h)

Mourning Dove

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Red-bellied Woodpecker (h)

Downy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker (h)

Eastern Phoebe

Blue Jay

American Crow

Common Raven (o)

Tree Swallow

Barn Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

White-breasted Nuthatch 

House Wren (h)

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Blue-winged Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Northern Parula

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Ovenbird (h)

Common Yellowthroat

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow

In addition to the above, we had Mockingbird, Wild Turkey and Red-tailed Hawk on the drive - and don't forget the Peacock calling - always a great bird to get when out in the field!

Until next time - happy birding!

-Andy

Birding with Andy: NARA Edition

 A nice day at NARA.

The first surprise was Scarlet-ish Tanager.  The color seemed a little off, either orange or pinkish.  But the ID was definitely correct.

Before leaving the parking lot, we also saw a Killdeer and a Northern Parula.

We saw a yellow bird that Andy ID'd as a Nashville Warbler.  I only had an underside view, so will have to take his word for it.

In the gravel pit, the highlight was a Belted Kingfisher, circling about and defending her nest (against us).  He wasn't diving (as in the picture below), but he was very areodynamic.

What else?  Lots of chipping sparrows.  A phoebe (yawn).  Some non-tree swallows (rough winged probably).  Bluebirds.  Etc.

North Acton Marathon

Three hours of birding this morning, mostly at the tennis bubble and NARA.

Besides the forest full of yellow rumps and palm warblers, there were a lot of Warbling Vireos making a racket at the top of the trees.

I also so two birds I don't see very often.

An Eastern Towhee 

and a Killdeer.

Also seen was my first hummingbird of the year and a Red Bellied Woodpecker.

Warblers Arrive

 Hit the arboretum on Friday and found my first Northern Parulas.

There were at least a half dozen on the back path where I had a lot of luck last year.  They were not yet in the front fruit trees.

Saturday I returned to Morrison Farms.  A little disappointing overall, but I did find one or two Palm Warblers (I may have spotted the same one twice) and a couple of  Yellow Rumps.  The birds were on the ground and offered very good views.

Also, had good views and listens to several House Wrens, both at Morrison and the arboretum.