Reports from recent trips

The weather cooperated with us for this trip to Delaney. Eight of us enjoyed seeing and hearing a nice variety of birds. We had to tolerate some loud gunfire at the beginning, since there was a “permit only” duck hunt that morning. There were several flocks of blackbirds, mostly Rusty Blackbirds but also some Red-winged Blackbirds and maybe some Common Grackles that we did not definitely identify

We had to reschedule this trip ahead of our fall Nor’Easter. Four of us were able to get together on that Friday. We were able to see migrating warblers and sparrows, as listed below. Perhaps the most unusual find of the morning was a Lincoln’s Sparrow. Photographs of several of the listed birds are included on the eBird checklist posted for that morning.

A group of four gathered for a first time trip starting at the Charlton Heritage Preservation Trust's Little River property and continued for a loop around the northern third of the Army Corps of Engineers' Buffumville Lake. 

It was a lovely Fall day to be out birding! It started out brisk, but the sun warmed us. Robins were everywhere, from when we stepped out of our cars until we returned to them. Many were feasting on the abundant berries. We saw many permanent resident birds like Blue Jays, Cardinals, House Finches Eastern Bluebirds and Chickadees. Winter residents such as White-throated Sparrows and Juncos were seen as well as some less common visitors like Purple Finch and Pine Siskin. Yellow-rumped Warblers were still migrating through in good numbers.

A small group of birders headed out on an early weekday morning to see what birds we may see migrating as well as observe the locals. Cedar Waxwings stole the show, and we saw our season’s first White-Throated Sparrows.

Because our planned trip on Saturday, May 30 was rained out, we rescheduled this annual walk to Wednesday, June 3. The weekday left a couple of people out but 9 club members were able to participate in the rescheduled trip. There was nice variety of warblers, although some of them were only identified by their song or call. The most unusual sighting was the two distinct pairs of Red-shouldered Hawks soaring over the area. We saw a total of 53 species.

This trip was led by Mary Sughrue-Yacino. Here is her recap of the day:

I had six participants plus myself: four Forbush participants, plus a couple from Lexington who pulled into the parking area while we were standing there, and who then they asked if they could join us. Turns out that one of the Lexington folks bands birds with Strickland. It's a small world!

12 observers walked a 2.3 mile long loop and observed 53 species. Full ebird list is below:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S350768582

Seven of us enjoyed a pleasant if cloudy spring morning. We sound the usual early spring warblers. The most remarkable part of the morning was the very large number of Brown Creepers we saw. And, as usual for this site, the Wood Ducks did not disappoint.

With a “rain delay” of an hour, 12 determined birders set out in raincoats to see what birds had braved the prevailing northerly winds of this early spring to actually arrive by May 2. After. Blessedly brief rain shower, the weather improved and allowed for a productive morning. The highlight for many was a glimpse of a Virginia Rail. Everyone saw the Blue-winged Warbler. We also saw that the Canada Goose nest that had been on the beaver lodge was vacant, because all the eggs had hatched and the adults had moved the goslings to the adjacent shore. We managed 50 species in all.