Barred Owl!

Lots of activity at Nahanton Park after the Nor'easter! Sparrows -- Swamp --

White-crowned -- 

 Field --

and of course lots of White-throated Sparrows, which come in an amazing variety of looks --

Also the usual Song Sparrows and Juncos, as well as this beautiful Eastern Towhee --  

There were also lots of Kinglets, of both crowns, and of course House Finches --  

A surprise was the number of Purple Finches! At least six --

Sadly, Nahaton Park is regarded by some as a dumpsite. Both these shots were taken along Florrie's Path --

The high-point was this Barred Owl I found in a tall pine near the highest point of the path along the edge of the JCC property!

Fruits of the cold front

 The Brookline Bird Club walk on Saturday morning netted 42 species at Nahanton Park. Almost immediately we encountered the cryptic bird shown fuzzily at right. I think this is a juvenile male Purple Finch.

A nice surprise in the upper garden was a couple of Indigo Buntings,

and this yellow Palm Warbler, both firsts for me this fall at the park.

Florrie's walk gave up a male Belted Kingfisher, and the upper (Woodcock) meadow produced the bird of the day, Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 

Birding in the rain

A hardy group headed out in variable rain on a Newton Conservators/Friends of Nahanton Park bird walk this morning. Pretty good showing of both birds and birders! Florrie's Path had a nice mixed flock with Red-breasted Nuthatch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and three warbler species including this Blackpoll Warbler.

We found six sparrow species, inclduding a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow in the upper garden and a Field Sparrow in the lower.

Photo quiz

I took these three photos at Nahanton Park within the past week. What are these birds?

Warblers!

After a chill, I was hoping for some new activity at Nahanton Park. I met up with Mary Lou and Ian at 8::00 this morning.

Near the lower garden we found this handsome Scarlet Tanager. There were also two large flights of Common Grackles, maybe 400 birds or more.

There were also a LOT of Blackpoll Warblers -- maybe ten altogether. Lots of Northern Parulas, too.

Ian and I went on after Mary Lou left. At the entrance to Florrie's Path we found a Belted Kingfisher, and this Blackburnian Warbler.

Still warblers

Quick tour through the park on Sunday morning. Quite a few people around! Also, a formation of four Great Blue Herons -- I'd never seen such a line-up! --

-- and this male Common Yellowthroat in the upper garden. There were also several Northern Parulas, Blackpoll Warblers, and Red-eyed Vireos, but they were harder to photograph! Another birder saw and photographed a Cape May Warbler.

Fall on the way

Beautiful Sunday morning at the Park .... with some fall migrants coming through. The mulberry tree a along the path between the gardens held several vireos - a couple of Red-eyed Vireos and this somewhat elusive Philadelphia Vireo ...

and this beautiful male American Redstart. 

 The trees behind the upper garden held a Red-breasted Nuthatch -- my first there since the big invasion year 2012--2013.












Both gardens hosted a bunch of migrant Chipping Sparrows ...

and Savannah Sparrows.

The tree screen along the soccer field held some Ribbon Snakes. How many?

Heating up again (but not birdwise)...

Solitary Sandpiper

It was 74 degrees and cloudy at 7:30 a.m. when I arrived. I wanted to go early since it's been predicted to be a 90+ degree day. I quickly ran into Mary Lou who I haven't seen in ages and Jonathan briefly. Mary Lou and I actually started in the upper gardens.

We saw hummingbirds, song sparrows, gold finches, and house sparrows. Caught a glimpse of the ever-present groundhog, who upon the realization that he was not alone, hi-tailed it out of the garden he was in and disappeared quickly down one of the garden paths. They are very stealthy and can move surprisingly quickly.

As we headed through the woods to the soccer field, a small American toad crossed our path and disappeared into the woods with his amazing camouflage.

It was so quiet today that we didn't think we would see much and were finally surprised when the hotspot of the day was the soccer field area where we saw a lone yellow warbler, a juvenile oriole, a downy, a flicker and what I believe to be its young, a grackle and its young, nuthatches, robins, jays, catbirds and a pair of Eastern phoebes.

The water in the pond has receded quite a bit and that meant it was time for the Solitary sandpiper to move in and so it has! Apologies for the poor picture.

Birds and people alike are happy about a break from the heat

Common Yellowthroat

This post combines Friday and Saturday visits this week. Today it was 61 degrees and sunny. Yay! It was cool out. A beautiful morning at the park.

The lower gardens had lots going on - especially on my revisit with Haynes. When I first arrived there were robins, mourning doves and lots of song sparrows. A common yellowthroat pictured to left was seen on Friday. Clearly not the very yellow one that Haynes had seen a week ago. I thought I saw it again yesterday because I saw a bird with quite bit of yellow on it's breast, but on closer inspection it had some brown striations on it's side and an eye ring. After some thought, I believe it was a prairie warbler.

Hummingbird

A humming bird was busy darting in and out of some red flowers while blue jays made themselves known. A few cedar waxwings were high up in a tree towards the golf course side. Friday, Carolina wrens were singing in their repeats of three. I know they were nearby, but couldn't locate them. House wrens are still present, including their tail-less offspring! Cardinals were busy foraging, and a catbird was busy plucking berries.

Chipmunk

I know people aren't that excited about chipmunks, but really, how cutes is this little guy or gal? And so easy to photograph. That's the best part.

Great Blue Skimmer

A very exciting development in the lower gardens was Haynes discovering a bobolink high up in a treetop on the Winchester St. side. He captured a picture and maybe he will post it later. I haven't seen one there in ages, but he wasn't surprised to see it as fall approaches.

Morning Glory

The upper gardens had two hummingbirds, a flicker and several chickadees. Titmice were busy in the oak trees and the willow tree toward the bee hives was a very active site. I briefly saw a warbler that appeared gray with a possible eye ring. At first I thought it was a bluegrass gnatcatcher, but it didn't have the right tail. Then I thought a kinglet, but it wasn't acting like a kinglet. Haynes and I both saw a blue-winged warbler there, which was really nice. It was very visible which is always a treat. Saw a couple of Eastern phoebes and the tail-less baby house wren.

Donna's Zinnias

Goldfinches were in plentiful supply. I've noticed they love the seeds from the evening primrose and evening primroses have invaded many of the gardens. I now have some that found my gardens at home and it has kept the goldfinches around and visible for much more of the season and that's a good thing. Nuthatches called nasally from the woods at the back of the upper gardens.

The pond still has some water in it, but seems to be pretty quiet save for about four mallards paddling around. The path has become very difficult to get through, so hopefully, we can get it cleared out a little for better access.

The soccer field also had a couple of phoebes. Please join us for three great fall walks in October. Check out our website at: www.nahantonpark.org for details.

Another strange warbler ...

Beautiful quiet morning at Nahanton Park. This scruffy young House Wren, in the Upper Garden, is molting into first basic plumage.

A pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were the first indication of a big mixed flock at the circle near the soccer field. 

So much activity! Baltimore Orioles were singing, Black-capped Chickadees were bounding around, a couple of American Redstarts were flitting here and there. In the shady path I was surprised by an Ovenbird, a Black-and-white Warbler, a Canada Warbler, a Red-eyed Vireo, and this peculiarly colored Common Yellowthroat.

These birds don't usually show yellow legs and bill, nor this much yellow in the belly. This is a condition known as xanthochromism. The Common Yellowthroat I posted here on July 31 may have shown the same genetic aberration. 

At this point Suzette showed up. The flock had disbursed, so we went to the upper field, Woodcock Meadow, and found a lot of dragonflies, including this male Lance-tipped Darner, a first for me.

In the lower garden we found more dragonflies, as well as this attractive ichneumon wasp:

Let the migration begin!

Fall's here, believe it or not. The Park is already filling up with migrants: At least four American Redstarts for example. A family of Common Yellowthroats was training at the path along the pond, most likely resident. Here's a Field Sparrow from near the lower garden -- very early! The earliest fall record I have from Nahanton Park before today is September 24.

A Northern Watershrush strutted in the pond.

This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was hanging out in the brush at the far end of the upper garden,

and this juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird was expectantly waiting to be fed. When I first saw it, it shared a branch with a juvenile American Robin. This was odd ... Robins are very rarely parasitized by Cowbirds. The juvenile flew before I saw anyone come to feed it.

Midsummer lookalikes

Back to the Garden for the first time in several weeks. There were a lot (maybe 4) of Common Yellowthroats around, including this extensively yellow individual....










looking almost like a Yellow Warbler. One of them posed for me too.

A Chipping Sparrow was dutifully feeding a much larger Brown-headed Cowbird.














In the lower garden I encountered this Bobolink. They are almost annual spring and fall visitors. This very gray and poorly marked juvenile sure looks like the cowbird, doesn't it!









Several Hummingbirds were taking advantage of the tube flowers ...

Also in the lower garden I watched a Spicebush Swallowtail feasting on an Ecinacea.

and this Twelve-spotted Skimmer.