A hint of Spring is in the air with the last vestiges of Winter still lingering!

With "Cabin Fever" taking a firm grip all over the Northeast and its inhabitants, my good buddy Kirk Marshall and myself just had to get out and about, what with the mild temperatures (40s to 50s), the promise of drenching rains the next couple of days and the fact work was wearing on the both of us! We made a day of it, getting our "bird on", going up the shoreline just north of Boston-proper to the rocky shores of Cape Ann, even making a final stop not too far off from my town of residence, visiting a spot in West Concord!

Our day started off in Belle Isle Marsh in East Boston. It is a favorite haunt of Kirk's, but twas only the 3rd time I had been there, and of course, prior to becoming friends with Kirk, had never been there before. Our hope for this first stop was to chance upon the sizable flock of Common Redpolls that had been reported by Ryan Schain the day before (a flock of 48 of them!), but alas, no such luck. Besides the fact that such a cute little winter finch is so nomadic, I am sure the numbers of dog walkers and the planes overhead flying into Logan held the Redpolls either at bay or scared off altogether. Nonetheless, Belle Isle Marsh offered up an equally wonderful bird, 3 Rusty Blackbirds!! These birds were still in their winter plumage, so thusly they were still had the rusty hue to their feathers that gives them their common name. Whats more is that these Rusty's were singing, which on the only other occasion I had a chance to see a Rusty Blackbird at Oxbow NWR, they had not been. Other birds of note was a sizable group of Buffleheads (a diving duck), 16 in total, and this year's first sightings of Red-winged Blackbirds and a Common Grackle, both signs of warmer times ahead of us! The full list of birds seen at Belle Isle Marsh is below:

Location:     Belle Isle Marsh--IBA
Observation date:     3/5/11
Notes:     How fantastic it was to come upon the 3 Rusty Blackbirds, still in their winter plumage, singing away in the trees right near the parking lot for Belle Isle Marsh. We had hoped to come upon the good-sized flock of Common Redpolls that had been seen the day before by Ryan Schain (48 of 'em), but no luck.
Number of species:     16

Mute Swan - Cygnus olor     2
American Black Duck - Anas rubripes     9
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos     2
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola     16
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     4
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     1
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     2
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     2
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     12
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos     1
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris     50
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis     1
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     8
Rusty Blackbird - Euphagus carolinus     3
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     1

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Our next stop was King's Beach (part of the Lynn Shore & Nahant Beach Reservation) along the Lynn/Swampscott town line in our pursuit of the very rare Mew Gull. Alas, we didn't have luck with that bird either, however, we did come across 8 more Buffleheads and a flotilla of Brants, at least 60 in number!


Location:     King's Beach, Lynn/Swampscott
Observation date:     3/5/11
Notes:     Attempted to re-find Mew Gull that had been reported in previous sightings along King's Beach, alas, to no avail. The flotilla of Brant was very nice to come upon though!
Number of species:     3

Brant - Branta bernicla     60
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola     8
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis     12

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)


Then we were off to the Rockport area of Cape Ann, in search of ducks that you would normally see during the winter-time along the coastlines. However, the diving duck in question we were going after is one wintering duck you wouldn't normally see, as compared to other birds I will mention shortly. We had hoped to come across the adult male King Eider that had been reported along the rocky shores in-between Folly's Cove and Halibut Point, or perhaps the one located just off the shores near the Elk's Club in Gloucester. We sadly could not come upon either majestic male, (though he had been seen earlier in the day off the Elks, half way in-between the shoreline and the horizon). Nonetheless, our consolation prize was seeing 2 1st-winter juvenile male King Eiders right near the rocky shoreline just south of the cliff face at Halibut Point. We also visited Andrew's Point, Cathedral Ledge and the aforementioned shoreline near the Elk's Club in Gloucester and were rewarded with good looks at Harlequin Ducks, all three Scoter species (Surf, Black and White-winged), Greater Scaups, more Buffleheads and another Life bird, a lone Great Cormorant off of Halibut Point. Total numbers from all the locations visited on Cape Ann are below:


Location:     Cape Ann--Halibut Point
Observation date:     3/5/11
Notes:     2 first-winter juvenile male King Eiders seen right off the rocky shore just to the south of the cliff face for Halibut Point; please note total numbers are for all birds seen around Cape Ann and at the shoreline in front of the Elk's Club in Gloucester; as such: Common Eiders and Harlequin Ducks were seen at Halibut Point, Andrew's Point and Cathedral Ledge; the Buffleheads were seen in Gloucester near the Elks and at Andrew's Point; the White-winged Scoters were only seen near the Elks; the Black Scoters at Andrew's Point; the Common Merganser at Andrew's; and the Great Cormorant at Halibut Point.
Number of species:     10

Greater Scaup - Aythya marila     3
King Eider - Somateria spectabilis     2
Common Eider - Somateria mollissima     50
Harlequin Duck - Histrionicus histrionicus     20
Surf Scoter - Melanitta perspicillata     8
White-winged Scoter - Melanitta fusca     3
Black Scoter - Melanitta americana     12
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola     14
Common Merganser - Mergus merganser     2
Great Cormorant - Phalacrocorax carbo     1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)


Lastly, to use the proverbial "icing on the cake" expression, we made our final stop of the day in West Concord at the Thoreau School in hopes of seeing the small flock (12 at max) of Common Redpolls that had been reported earlier in the week by David Swain at the feeders directly across from the teacher's parking slots at Thoreau. It was 4 pm by the time we got to West Concord and obviously, our light was waning steadily. But after waiting for about 15 minutes (Redpolls were seen 15 minutes prior to our arrival at the school), our patience and long waiting for a new winter finch had paid off! 3 gorgeous, wonderfully cute Redpolls came to the grouping of feeders filled with millet, busily stuffing their faces, but also wary of our presence and even skittish of the Mourning Doves that were perusing the snows below them at the feeders.


Location:     Thoreau School, West Concord, MA
Observation date:     3/5/11
Notes:     Though more Common Redpolls have been reported here, 3 were seen at a grouping of bird feeders in the back yard of a home directly across from the teacher's parking slots of the Thoreau School in West Concord. What a wonderful Life bird....so gorgeous, so flitty.....only 2nd winter finch species of the year (had a Pine Siskin on Dec. 26th in North Reading, MA).
Number of species:     3

Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     4
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     2
Common Redpoll - Acanthis flammea     3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)


My gods, what a way to end the day!! 3 new Life birds in one day (King Eider, Great Cormorant, Common Redpoll). After this hellacious winter we have all endured, such a day of great birding and time with my good buddy and birder, Kirk, was much needed!! Here is to a relaxing day tomorrow and to a great year of bird watching!! Happy birding too all my friends!!

Cape Ann, North Shore and Miscellaneous - American Bald Eagles & Harlequin Ducks

What a most gorgeous day to be outside today, getting some fresh air whilst looking for whatever birds we could find! I met up with my good friend Kirk Marshall today in Burlington early enough around 7:30 am. We then made a go of it for a fair portion of the day, first stopping in Newburyport and Amesbury, then heading southward to the Gloucester area and finally in the Rockport area. After dropping Kirk off back in Burlington around 4 pm, I made a quick stop in Concord at Great Meadows NWR. Here are some highlights of what we observed. If I forget anything, I am sure Kirk will post an addendum to this message!

Cashman Park, Newburyport: Here we tried first to spy ourselves an American Bald Eagle or Great Cormorant, but no luck. However, it was nice to hear and see a Northern Mockingbird calling. About a half-dozen Common Goldeneyes were also seen. Other than that, not much to mention.

Deer Island, Amesbury: Our second stop in looking for eagles. Here, after about 10 minutes, we were rewarded with an adult American Bald Eagle first coming in over the Merrimack along the tree tops, then riding the thermals in giant soaring circles, heading downstream of the Merrimack from there. Amusing to me was a Red-tailed Hawk shadowing this Baldy, riding the thermals as well and staying within about 50 feet or so below the Bald Eagle.

Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester: Observed a few White-winged Scoters and Surf Scoters here, as well as a couple of Common Loons...I believe a few Common Eiders as well. Fellow birders that were there had reported seeing Purple Sandpipers around, but we could not get on them.

Cathedral Ledge, Andrews Point & Halibut Point, Rockport: I will start off with saying that we saw nothing off of Halibut Point, nothing that we could see anyhow. Andrews Point and Cathedral Ledge were more rewarding, with a total of about 40+ Harlequin Ducks spotted between the 2 locations. I believe we observed about 4 Common Loons, a mating pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, and about a total of 20+ Common Eiders. Song Sparrows were certainly very abundant amongst the residential area there near both Andrews and Cathedral.

Great Meadows NWR, Concord: I came here to try and see if that Eurasian Green-winged Teal was still hanging around, but again as with 9-Acre Corner off of 117 in Concord, no luck. However, about 10Common Mergansers, 3 Red-winged Blackbirds and 1 American Bald Eagle were seen. This eagle was best seen through a scope from the observation tower overlooking the Upper Pool. From the tower overlooking the Upper Pool, look across to the far side near the Concord River amongst the trees. Well, that is where myself and a number of other birders observed him. The eagle could be anywhere else around Great Meadows come tomorrow. A very nice gentleman allowed me to observe this eagle through his scope. You could still make the eagle out with binocs, but obviously not anywhere near as good as with a scope. Oh, I almost forget to mention, while driving to Great Meadows along Route 62 heading west, just before you cross into Concord from Bedford, I estimate a flock of about 40 or so Common Grackles flew over my car. Largest group of grackles I have seen so far this year.

Well, there you have it. A good day of birding and a great day just to be outdoors! Good luck and happy birding to all!