Breezy but birdy

A breezy and cool morning, starting overcast but slowly clearing. Four warbler species, including a late Magnolia, or maybe five if the Western Palm is separated, and eight sparrows. A Peregrine Falcon made a pass over the upper garden. And the Scarecrow Walk is up!

List:

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)  28     single V
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)  1
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  1     flyover at upper garden
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  1
Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius)  2     together, woods
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  10
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  1
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  6
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)  1
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  2     brush near lg
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)  1     brush near lg
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  55     incl flight of 25
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1     pond, with deer
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)  1     clear view; yellow under, wing bars, gray head, squared off black tail end. Tree at lower garden.
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens)  1     trail betw pond and soccer field. m
Palm Warbler (Western) (Setophaga palmarum palmarum)  1
Palm Warbler (Yellow) (Setophaga palmarum hypochrysea)  2
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  2
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)  1     ug
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  7     both gardens
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  20
Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)  2     ug
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  3
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) (Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis)  12
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)  2
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  3
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  3

Newton Conservators & Friends of Nahanton Park Walk with Haynes Miller

It was 48 degrees at 7:00 a.m. with the sky clearing from a rainy Saturday, a really nice day for a walk.

I arrived early and took my time looking around the lower gardens, meeting up with the group around 8:00 at the Nahanton Street entrance. We headed to the dock to view the river and a beaver was spotted swimming across the river. Beaver damage is evident along the trail where several trees have been worked on. Looks like they really want to build a dam.

The pond was quite devoid of herons or sandpipers - just a lone robin looking for worms. Along the trail by the soccer field, we saw either a female or young male American redstart. It was quite beautiful with it's soft gray and yellow coloring.

The lower gardens had many of our regulars and some migrants as well. The robins are starting to flock as there were lots and lots of them. There were cardinals, catbirds, song sparrows, a mockingbird, blue jays, house finches, a female purple finch, chipping sparrows, chickadees, goldfinches, a flicker, one or two lincoln sparrows, a lone junco, savannah sparrow, white-throated sparrow, grackles, red-bellied woodpecker, starlings and a swamp sparrow. We heard titmice calling, a Carolina wren and then saw a house wren. Ring-billed seagulls flew overhead and later Canada goose.

On the way to the upper gardens a common yellowthroat was spotted along the path. Once up there, it was fairly quiet. There was a male downy at the back of the gardens and two indigo buntings in a tree nearby. I saw a brown creeper, but by the time I went to show Ian, it was gone. We stayed for a long time hoping for the yellow-breasted chat, but it didn't appear and we assumed it must be gone. However, later in the day, there was a posting and someone else had seen it. Darn!

Other birds seen included a mourning dove and Eastern phoebe.

Please join us for another walk sponsored by the Brookline Bird Club (BBC) on Saturday, October 18th at 8:00 a.m., led by Linda Ferraresso. For more information, click here.

Misty morning

Following Matt's post, I walked through the garden plots this misty morning hoping for sparrows, and was not disappointed. Like Matt, I had a brief glimpse of what I guess was a White-crowned Sparrow (in the upper garden). According to e-bird, the best birds were the late Warbling Vireos. List:

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  3
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) (Colaptes auratus auratus/luteus)  9
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  1     ug
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus)  2     one at each garden. Clear views; silent; late.
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  10
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  8
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  4
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  2
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  80
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  5
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)  1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)  1     ug
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)  1     ug
Palm Warbler (Yellow) (Setophaga palmarum hypochrysea)  1     ug
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)  3     ug
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  8
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  4
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  30
Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii)  1     lg
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  7
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)  2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  1
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1     lg
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)  1
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  12
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  8
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  14

Here are some photos from a couple of weeks ago. First, a rare 8-winged Meadowhawk:

And here's a record of the amazing beaver efforts, along Florrie's Path:

A Rainy Day with the Sparrows

Swamp Sparrow

 I stopped at Nahanton the other morning despite the rain. I had very few warblers, but a good showing of sparrows with the highlights being 2 Lincoln's sparrows in the little triangle of trees and brush at the entrance to the lower gardens. It was an enjoyable morning, a nice return to fall birding. Even the rain wasn't enough to put away my camera.








gull sp.  5
Mourning Dove  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  6
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
House Wren  1
American Robin  25
Gray Catbird  5
Northern Mockingbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Savannah Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  20
Lincoln's Sparrow  2
Swamp Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  2
White-crowned Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  3
House Finch  2
passerine sp.  1     Vireo thought warbling but too brief to be sure

Chat!

Lots of birders and a few birds this morning. I met up with Ian and we walked through the gardens and upper field. Most of the activity was in the upper garden. We were paying a second visit to the lower garden when some other birders hailed us with news of a chat in the grapes behind the upper garden. We hustled up there and sure enough ....

Complete list:

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  2
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  2
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)  2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  10
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  8
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)  2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)  3
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)  1     lower garden
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)  1     tree at lower garden
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  8
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)  5
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)  1
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)  1
Nashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla)  1     upper garden
Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)  1     grapes at back of upper garden. Knock-out views.
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)  8
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)  1     upper garden
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)  20
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  5
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)  1     upper garden
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)  3
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)  2     working on next in box at upper garden

BBC Walk with Haynes Miller

BBC Walk

It was 41 degrees and clear at 7:30 a.m. I always like to get to the park a little early, so I can take a quick look around before the walk begins. Of course, Haynes was there early too.

It was pretty quiet in the lower gardens at first. Barely a sound.

Finally, we saw a young Coopers hawk, with his back to us, but of very striking plumage. Unfortunately, he flew away before people arrived.

As the group moved around, we eventually saw many of our regulars - catbirds, song sparrows, cardinals, robins, blue jays, goldfinches and some seagulls overhead. Some chipping sparrows flitted around.

Wasp nest

One of the most striking things in the lower gardens was this wasp nest that suddenly appeared a while ago. It certainly wasn't there in the spring or most of the summer.

It's a sizable nest and quite an amazing work of art considering a bunch of very small insects built it!

The upper gardens were quiet too, but we did see a downy woodpecker, swamp sparrow, song
sparrows, savannah and more catbirds as well as a red-bellied woodpecker.

Juvenile Coopers Hawk

The soccer field yielded a white breasted nuthatch and the river only a grackel! Woodock meadow and the path by the JCC were very, very quiet.

We took another look at the lower gardens before leaving, hoping to at least see a warbler, but no luck. However, we did get a nice view of an Eastern Phoebe.

Haynes will be leading another walk on October 5th at 8:00 a.m. Meet at the Nahanton Street entrance near the river.

Hope to see you there!

A few more warblers...

Western Palm Warbler

It was a beautiful day. Clear and sunny. 51 degrees at 7:30 a.m. As I got out of the car, I was greeted by Haynes and so we walked around together.

There was a lot of activity in the lower gardens, especially in the area near the large crab apple, shrubs and trees near the swamp side of the gardens. We immediately saw a black poll and a black-throated green, a house wren, chickadees, titmice, a downy, several red-eyed vireos and best of all a Philadelphia vireo with a stunning soft-yellow breast hanging out with the others. Maybe it's the same one that Ian saw a few weeks ago. There were goldfinches, cardinals, catbirds, chipping sparrows, a hummingbird and possibly a common yellowthroat. Naturally, there were song sparrows, blue jays and sadly a house sparrow.

As we headed to the upper gardens, we saw a bird with some bright yellow near its tail and a bit of an eyestripe. Haynes quickly identified it as a Western palm warbler, which I don't think I've ever seen before. I thought it was quite different from its Eastern cousin.

In the upper gardens we saw many of the same birds previously mentioned including another Western palm, but in addition, we had the pleasure of seeing a couple of Indigo buntings which was a nice treat and an Eastern phoebe.

The soccer field, pond and river were pretty quiet save for some chickadees and titmice. Woodcock meadow was quiet too, but Haynes discovered a raided turtle egg deposit - the meadow seemed like a strange place to lay eggs, but maybe not to a turtle! All the white eggs had been dug out (probably by a raccoon), the shells cracked open and the yolks eaten. It makes you wonder how anything survives with predators about.

American Toad

We walked through the woods near the soccer field, and this American toad was discovered, very well camouflaged in the leaf litter, but when he got near the bright green leaf, he was easier to spot.

Haynes will be leading a Brookline Bird Club walk Saturday, September 20th at 8:00 a.m. Meet at the Winchester St. entrance. For more info, click here.