Haynes' Brookline Bird Club Fall Bird Walk

BBC Bird Walk

I always like to arrive early and do a little scouting around before an official bird walk. At 7:30 a.m., it was foggy and about 60 degrees.

We had an interesting crew - one of the group was an American who had lived in Sweden for such a long time, that the birds here were very exciting for him.

In the lower garden, were our usual song sparrows, robins, blue jays, chickadees, goldfinches, cardinals, catbirds, but in addition we saw a hummingbird and a red-eyed vireo which is always a treat.

In the upper gardens, were two phoebes, some titmice, downies, goldfinches, a common yellowthroat male and female, flickers, chipping sparrows, cardinals, nuthatches and a nice view of a hairy woodpecker which is always nice since we don't see them that often at Nahanton.

Blue heron replaces the cormorant!

Ready, set, march!

It was sprinkling slightly and cloudy at 7:45 a.m. and about 62 degrees.

Ran into Ian and then Sabrina in the lower gardens. The catbirds are still here and lots of goldfinches and song sparrows. A hummer whizzed by. Sabrina saw a redstart, but sadly, I missed it. There were several chipping sparrows, a mockingbird, robins, blue jays and titmice.

Ready for the catch!

In the upper gardens, we saw a flicker, cardinals, a phoebe, more catbirds, goldfinches, song sparrows, robins and chickadees. A beautiful common yellowthroat female appeared. We heard the peewee calling as usual. A black & white warbler made itself known and Ian and Sabrina saw an ovenbird and a chestnut-sided warbler. We also saw a pair of nuthatches, a late staying house wren, and a very late female oriole.

When we got to the river, we saw our blue heron which had been very scarce this summer almost in the same spot as the cormorant the week before! They are such amazing, large birds. I love to watch them.

As we walked through woodcock meadow, Ian spotted what we determined to be a pine warbler on a nearby branch. So all, in all, there were more than a few warblers seen.

Hummers love honeysuckle!

Hummer indulging!

At 7:20 a.m., it was clear and sunny and 58 degrees.

Hummers may love honeysuckle, but downies in the lower garden were going crazy for the huge sunflower seed heads.

It was a beautiful day and all our regulars were out and about - goldfinches, cardinals, catbirds, chippers, robins and their young, titmice and chickadees.

The hummer shown to left was in the upper gardens and it was obsessed with the bright red honeysuckle. If you've ever tried sipping the nectar yourself, you can understand what is so appealing. It's clear nectar is sweet and delicious for us too.

Cormorant

Down by the soccer field, was a phoebe, a flicker, catbirds, another hummer, a few cedar waxwing and a peewee calling from the woods.

As I approached the river, I was most surprised to see a large bird on a rock on the other side of the Charles. It was a cormorant. I have seen them on the Charles before, but not in this location. It was a great view, as you could see the tell-tale yellow beak clearly and it's large, webbed feet.

There will be a fall bird walk led by Haynes Miller on Oct. 4th at 8:00 a.m. Meet at the Nahanton St. entrance.

Time to Chat

The highlight this beautiful morning was a Yellow-breasted Chat, in the tree screen between the soccer field and the pond. There was also a Common Yellowthroat, a Black-and-white Warbler, and (along Florrie's Path) a Veerie.