February 2016

Three consecutive daily visits to the public gardens and the Mallards were back in numbers after the deep freeze. I also saw a FOY adult Common Grackle - the promise of spring to come.

Monday 1st, Tuesday 2nd & Wednesday 3rd, Boston Public Gardens, MA, USA.

At the weekend I tried again, successfully this time, for the BARROW’S GOLDENEYE, which was pretty close to the shore for several minutes. A very handsome drake and a long sought after life-tick, the only disappointment was that I wasn’t able to get any photos because it was diving too frequently.

Sunday 7th, Kennedy Library Seawall, MA, USA.

The next week’s visits to the public gardens, with good numbers of American Robin seen one morning.

Tuesday 9th & Wednesday 10th, Boston Public Gardens, MA, USA.

Olmsted Park patch visit for a site-tick Lesser Scaup, one of the two that was previously at Willow Pond, where one still remained.

Sunday 21st, Leverett Pond, MA, USA.
Sunday 21st, Willow Pond, MA, USA.

The next day I visited the public gardens where all the water had been drained from the pond. There was also a Northern Mockingbird in the 9/11 garden.

Monday 22nd, Boston Public Gardens, MA, USA.

January 2016

A busy month to start the year, and to start the month, a couple of late Common Grackle in Pierce Park on Saturday 2nd.

I then decided to chase a couple of Massachusetts and life-ticks at local reservoirs: Northern Shoveler then REDHEAD and LESSER SCAUP respectively. The latter two were among some good numbers of wildfowl at Cambridge Reservoir, unfortunately though it was not the easiest place to view as there was no off-road parking.

Sunday 3rd, Arlington Reservoir, MA, USA.
Sunday 3rd, Cambridge Reservoir, MA, USA.

A Leverett Pond patch visit yielded regular winter species on Monday 18th.

A couple of visits to the public gardens were notable for the fast diminishing open water, though several Mallards tenaciously clung on to what was left.

Tuesday 19th & Wednesday 20th, Boston Public Gardens, MA, USA.

After winter storm Jonas bustled through the area I visited Leverett Pond again hoping for some different movement...and was rewarded with my first Massachusetts Bald Eagle. It flew from JP to the north of Leverett Pond, and because I was at the south of the pond, I was unfortunately unable to get photos, but this was a species I had been hoping to see for some time. Also notable was a dapper male Northern Pintail.

Sunday 24th, Leverett Pond, MA, USA.
Sunday 24th, Willow Pond, MA, USA.

A couple more public garden visits confirmed the weekend storm had finally driven the Mallards off the frozen pond. The next day I returned and was rewarded with a site-tick Fox Sparrow, which was foraging on the ground near Washington’s statue.

Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th, Boston Public Gardens, MA, USA.

Another Olmsted Park patch visit: Leverett Pond was notable for good numbers of Wood Duck and a couple of American Crow - not all that common here.

At Willow Pond were two Lesser Scaup, a good site-tick, and much easier and closer views than the ones I had earlier in the month at Cambridge Reservoir.

Wednesday 27th, Leverett Pond, MA, USA.
Wednesday 27th, Willow Pond, MA, USA.
Wednesday 27th, Ward’s Pond, MA, USA.

I ended the month with another chase. This time a Barrow’s Goldeneye at the Kennedy Library Seawall, but I was unsuccessful. However I did see good numbers of winter sea ducks, enjoyed the walk and was able to experience a hotspot new to me (once I found my way through the construction site onto the actual wall!).

Saturday 30th, Kennedy Library Seawall, MA, USA.

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.



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.

October 2015

I started the month at the Boston Public Gardens which yielded a notable Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker and Blackpoll Warbler on Monday 5th.

A week or so later I tried a new place, West Island, Fairhaven and I saw some good sea and shore birds. The highlight was a small salt-marsh creek that runs adjacent to the beach where 16 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, 15 Semipalmated Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper, were all feeding.
After that I called in at another new spot and hoped to see or hear a reported SORA...which I did! As I was walking back out I heard a loud and distinct call from somewhere in the reeds. I conferred with another birder there who confirmed that it was the Sora calling, a life-tick by ear.
Other notables were flyover Red-Shouldered Hawk, Common Yellowthroat and Belted Kingfisher.

Saturday 10th, West Island, MA, USA.
Saturday 10th, Egypt Lane Ponds, MA, USA.

Back at the Boston Public Gardens on Monday 19th, there were some good fall migrants including an excellent White-Crowned Sparrow and a Swamp Sparrow, both with a group of mainly House Sparrows on the Charles Street side, as well as 3 Blackpoll Warbler still.

I ended the month’s efforts with a patch visit to Leverett Pond to record regular species, on Wednesday 21st.

September 2015

A slight uptick in outings with 3 visits to the public gardens, although the birding was pretty slow with American Redstart (3rd) and Black-Crowned Night Heron (21st) noteworthy among the regulars.

Thursday 3rd, Monday 14th & Monday 21st, Boston Public Gardens, MA, USA.

Leverett Pond was a little more lively, with Least Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper (2nd and 15th) and Blackpoll Warbler (15th) most noteworthy.

Wednesday 2nd & Tuesday 15th, Leverett Pond, MA, USA.