Trip Highlights

Nine members gathered for a two hour walk on the rail trail.  We identified 38 species with some quite special observations, including great looks at a non-bird species—an Eastern Red Bat. The rarest bird species was a Least Bittern, which flew up from reeds on pond across open water and landed in another reed bed.  The last bird of the evening, a Barred Owl, was spotted for the group by one sharp-eyed birder. Click below to view complete trip list.

Five hardy souls showed up at Stebbins this morning.  We gave it the old college try for about 10 minutes and then the rain started in earnest so we all voted to call it.  We did see 1 Great Blue Heron, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 1 Grackle and the usual Red-winged Blackbird suspects (5 or 6).

Weather: Sunny day with low-50's at the beginning of the trip and low-70s at the end.

8 participants  

31 total species

It was a very casual walk on a flat, paved road along a very beautiful body of water.  The weather was very cooperative since it was neither too cold when we started in the morning nor too warm when we finished about 3 hours later.  There were not many birds singing so our species count was a little lower than it could have been if we would have heard more bird song.  This trip is scheduled early in migration so, depending on conditions, we can get many early warbler arrivals or very few.  This year we only had 5 warblers, a low count for the trip. We saw many of the regulars along the path as we walked about 1 1/2 miles.  Everybody seemed to have a good time, which is most important of all.  

Bird Highlights included a Broad-winged Hawk that swooped down over the reservoir and was seen by most of the people on the trip.  There were 2 Common Loons in breeding plumage, a Spotted Sandpiper sitting on a rock, and 5 Double-crested Cormorants on their usual place on some rocks on a small island.  We heard a Pileated Woodpecker banging on a tree and the five warblers were Ovenbird, Pine, Black-throated Blue (heard), Yellow-rumped, and Black-and-white.

Despite the chilly temps and occasional drizzle, we had a decent outing today.  We were ten members altogether, walked 1.5 miles during the three-hour adventure, and counted a total of 50 species.  It was a curious mix of birds we found — a Cape May Warbler and a late Palm Warbler, but the resident Northern Flicker, Brown Creeper, Louisiana Waterthrush, American Goldfinch and Scarlet Tanager were all no-shows, as were all three of the buteos and Turkey Vulture.  Nevertheless, everyone seemed to have a good time.  The Virginia Rail gave a nice performance.  Click below to see complete species list.

The morning was sunny and cool.  Thirteen members joined in and were able to identify a total of 44 species.

As we waited in the Dunkin parking lot for everyone to arrive for our walk, we had 13 species! Seen flying high: Red-tailed Hawk, Canada Geese, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, and a couple of Mallards.  Spotted around the parking lot: Red-winged Blackbirds, Rock Pigeons, House and Song Sparrows, Goldfinch, Cardinal, and a few Starlings.  The star attraction was the Killdeer that kept walking back and forth on a very busy State Street!

The morning was sunny and cool and at Lake Wallace, we started at the viewing platform. Birds seen here: Red-winged Blackbirds, Double-crested Cormorants, a Green-winged Teal, a Common Merganser, Green Herons, a Solitary Sandpiper, Great Blue Herons (one on confirmed nest), Tree Swallows, Mourning Doves, and plenty of Catbirds.

The star attraction here was the Northern Flicker perched outside its nesting hole, displaying the use of its tail as a kickstand to stable itself. (Very cool for those who were watching this for the first time)!

As we continued our walk around Lake Wallace, around the playing fields and onto the trail in the wooded area in the back, more of the above-mentioned birds were seen plus the following: Carolina Wren, Grackles, Phoebes, Red-eyed, Yellow-throated, and Warbling Vireos. The warblers seen were, Yellow-rumped, Yellow, Black-and-white, and Palm, also Common Yellowthroat and Ovenbird.

Other birds seen included Swamp and Chipping Sparrows, White-breasted Nuthatch, Black-capped Chickadees, Raven, Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Mockingbird, and the beautiful Eastern Bluebird and the Baltimore Oriole.

Great morning with a great group!