Memorial Day Weekend

 Lots of Memorial Day Weekend non-birding activity.  Hosted Ronnie on Thursday night and had dinner with the Wyman's. Had lunch with June and Donna.  Hosted Vernick on Sunday night and went to Gillette to see Cornell win the Lax national championship.  

And went birding with Gui on Friday followed by a happy hour in our backyard.   Another Indigo Bunting and a Towhee were the highlights.

Assabet

I finally tracked down a Magnolia warbler this morning (Sunday) at the Meadow at Assabet (I also found some ticks).

Also had some other nice sightings in a trip or two to Assabet and the Arboretum.  Redstarts, Parulas (one good look today finally), Indigos, Blue Wings, Scarlet Tanagers among others.  Some I caught on film.  Not great, but not too bad either.

Acton Arboretum with Gui

 Gui met me at the Arboretum yesterday in time to catch a black throated green

and a yellow

Assabet

Did a quick visit to Assabet after hockey and managed to track down a blue winged warbler. Had a great view and was sorry I didn't have my camera.

Also saw another American Redstart.  

Central Park Ramble

Lori and I were down in NYC this weekend and got a bit of birding in.  High winds made it a little tricky, but there were a lot of birds, even if they weren't easy to see.

Good views of American Redstarts (found by Lori) and lots of Black throated Blues.

The highlight was a bird we had never even heard of; the Chuck-will's-widow 

Chuck-will's-widow - eBird

It was motionless and blending into the trunk of a tree.  I never would have seen it, but there was a large group of birders pointing it out.

It looked more like a reptile to me.  Interesting bird.

More Arboretum Again

 We were in NYC this past weekend, but before heading down, I had a good morning at the Arboretum.  The best views were of a male and female redstart.

I also had mediocre views of two more rare warblers.

The cape may

and the bay breasted

Plus there were parulas (not seen) and more black throated blues.

More Arboretum

 A little bit of sun goes a long way.

Today's highlight was the black-throated blue warbler.  The while wing-bar is the giveaway.

Second place highlight is the newly arrived summer resident scarlet tanager.  Not uncommon, but a fan favorite.

The yellow-rumped and black and white warblers were plentiful.  So were the northern parulas, though they are much tougher to get a look at.

By the way, here is my picture of the black throated blue . . . not great.

Acton Arboretum - Weekend Update

The weather this weekend wasn't great, but a bit better than predicted and I managed to get a couple of good birds at the Acton Arboretum.  Warbler highlights included the following:

Nashville

Black-throated Green

 

Black and White

I also had a partial look at a Northern Parula and a near miss (shrub rustling + birdsong) on a Magnolia.  Tomorrow is another day . . .

Acton Arboretum

A dreary day at the Arboretum.  Yellow-rumps, one palm warbler, and one Oriole made the trip worthwhile though.

Some FOY's

 Had a couple of First of the Year birds yesterday.

Spotted a common yellowthroat at the Acton Arboretum yesterday morning

Heard both northern parulas and ovenbirds but couldn't get my eyes on either.  A crashing limb a little too close for comfort (though not really that close) put a sudden end to that outing.

In the afternoon, Lori and I had a great look at two eastern kingbirds feeding off the Assabet river.  A killdeer fly-by was an extra bonus.