Sunday 29 November 2015

December 2015

After returning north I had a quiet month, though I did twitch a life-tick YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT in downtown Boston.

Wednesday 9th, P.O. Square, Boston, MA, USA.

Yellow-Breasted Chat

I only managed one Olmsted Park patch visit. Usual winter species were in attendance, but there was a surprise flock of approx. 20 Common Grackle in one of the nearby gardens.

Sunday 20th, Leverett Pond, MA, USA.
Sunday 20th, Willow Pond, MA, USA.

November 2015

I started the month with a regular Boston Public Garden visit but was rewarded with a site-tick Cooper’s Hawk soaring over the city on Wednesday 4th.

A couple of weeks later I was off to Florida again for Thanksgiving with the family. Although on this trip I had less time to spend at some of the fantastic places there, I was still able to get out a few times.
I visited Venice Rookery for an excellent selection of resident and some migrants/over-wintering species, including a flock of very argumentative and noisy Black-Bellied Whistling Duck.

Saturday 21st, Venice Rookery, FL, USA.

A few days a later I went to Shamrock Park and was rewarded with some excellent close views of a favourite of mine: Florida Scrub Jay. A couple were in close attendance of a Loggerhead Shrike on both sides of the inter-coastal water. They were so engrossed they didn’t really seem to notice me at all. Along the waterway I also saw an immature YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT HERON stalking through the mangrove roots, which was a nice life-tick.

Tuesday 24th, Shamrock Park, FL, USA.

On the way home I stopped by a little drainage pond on Bowdoin Road and saw more Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks as well as American Coot and Common Gallinule/Moorhen.

Tuesday 24th, Bowdoin Road, FL, USA.

On Thanksgiving day, as the turkey cooked, I managed to run out to Cedar Point Park, a new place to me. I went on the off-chance of seeing a reddish egret but did not, however it was a good walk and I saw a Bald Eagle nest with apparently recently fledged youngsters still in the area with the parents.

Thursday 26th, Cedar Point Park, FL, USA.