Our Regulars

Chickadee

It was cold this morning - a little colder than I thought it would be. 33 degrees, clear and sunny.

The upper and lower gardens were so quiet. I only managed to see a few song sparrows and a robin. Heard a chickadee calling.

The soccer field and pond area were quiet too. Heard a goldfinch and a titmouse, but never saw them. Only some robins and song sparrows hopping around in the leaves.

Most of the action seemed to be in and around the river area. From the dock, I saw four hooded mergansers - 3 males and a female hanging around on the opposite side near the edge of the river. They were beautiful. Geese and mallards were flying low, up and down the river. I guess their breeding season is almost upon us.

Lots of chickadees, juncos and a male cardinal hanging out together near the picnic tables. Saw one American Tree sparrow.

A Walk in the Park

Tree Fungus

34 degrees at 7:00 a.m. A little colder than I thought it was going to be, but not bad.

The park has been awfully quiet. The lower gardens had, dare I say it, some house sparrows I believe. I hate seeing them at the park. Also saw some song sparrows, juncos, and a mockingbird. I could hear goldfinches, titmice, chickadees and a cardinal, but never caught a glimpse of them.

I cut through the upper gardens and down to the river. Saw only a single robin and a woodpecker drilling. I thought I saw some ducks on the other side of the bridge, so I crossed Nahanton St. and hung out on the bridge for a while. There were six common mergansers. One of them had a fish in its beak and kept dropping it and picking it up again. I was surprised at the size of the fish. It seemed rather large to swallow.  Also saw about a dozen mallards on some ice near the edge of the river. Eventually, they joined the mergansers and they all disappeared upstream.

A Quiet New Year

I wanted to enjoy the unseasonable warmth and bright sun on New Years Day and thought I'd get in some birding. Inspired by the posting about the CBC Screech Owls in Kennard Park, and my own recent Great Horned Owl in Houghton Garden, I wanted to try birding Nahanton in the late afternoon and dusk hoping that I might find owls. I arrived a little later than I planed as I was side-tracked at the end of my birding walk at Castle Island by a the surprise appearance of a harbor seal.

But at 3:30 I was back in the familiar territory of the lower gardens of Nahanton and this is where I found most of the avian activity for new years day. Canada geese streamed over head, honking raucously; and flying north? A female Cardinal declared herself with her sharp "chink" call notes, while a Mockingbird acrobatically navigated among the tangle of shrubs and vines. A small flock of Juncos twittered around the garden, fully earning their name as the "winter chippy", trying to stay a few feet ahead of two young kids enjoying a hike. I was very excited when I found two American Tree Sparrows (picture) keeping company with the Song Sparrows, as I thought a New Year birding trip must include this winter favorite.

Down at the river I was able to discern the distant dry rattle of a Belted Kingfisher, making me wish he had decided to fly a little nearer. A Downy could be made out in the distant tree tops and the occasional "ang ang" was the only sign of the White-Breasted Nuthatch.

I sat up in Woodcock Meadow nearer to dusk watching robins stream south across Nahanton St. to their evening roost. Dusk was now fully upon the park (picture) and the wing-whir gave away a passing Mourning Dove as I sat straining my ears hoping for the low hoot of an owl. So far none of our feathered friends had provided any calls consistently or loud enough to record. When dusk was fully past, I turned my binoculars strait up to peer through the high hazy clouds at the moon and stars; even Jupiter's moons were visible as discrete pin pricks.

I slowly began to give up on the owls, and made my way back across the soccer field and up the the gardens, without a Great Horned Owl's low hoot or a Screech Owl's eerie whinny. It may have been the end of the day, but it is just the begining, the start of a new year. And who knows what this year might bring to Nahanton Park.

Very Quiet at Park. Luckily, Had Some Turkey Fun!

It was 34 degrees at about 8:00 a.m. The meadow has now been mowed, but the park was very quiet today. All I saw were some robins, a cardinal couple, a few song sparrows, a junco, some geese flying and a seagull.

Therefore, I decided to pursue a new interest - a flock of wild turkeys that has been roosting in the trees on a street nearby. Since I recently saw the movie on Channel 2 "My Life As a Turkey" ( a documentary about Joe Hutto, a naturalist who raised a flock of 16 wild turkeys from egg to adulthood), I've been more and more curious about this local flock.

After leaving the park, I knew they would have left their roosts and wondered where they go during the day. Today, I discovered them in a Rachel Road resident's side yard. Here is a very short video of the turkeys.

Christmas Bird Count

Richard, Haynes and Greg

Today was the Christmas Bird Count.!

We met at Chris' house at 7:00 a.m. Some of the group had already gone owling and had seen screech owls at Kennard Park. It always sounds so exciting, but I can't get myself up and out by 5:00 a.m. on these dark, freezing cold mornings. Some day, I'll get it together…

After coffee and delicious coffee cake, the birders broke into several groups and covered specific areas. I was in a group with Haynes, Richard and Greg.

Red-tail Hawk

It was only in the 20's but we held out for four hours of birding. We covered Kennard Park, Newton South, Hammond Pond and Houghton Gardens. We had a great time! I won't list all the birds we saw today because most of them were our regulars. However, we did see a nice red-tail hawk at Newton South, huddled in a tree. In fact several of the birds looked awfully cold - all puffed up and hanging out in trees and shrubs.

I would say our most exciting moment was when we arrived at Hammond Pond. I think it was Greg who spotted a blue heron. It turned out there were three of them! We also saw several hooded mergansers looking absolutely spectacular as well as a ring-necked duck and some gulls. We had seen one of the herons fly off and we discovered it later as we walked around the pond. It was looking very chilly on a tree branch. For us humans, the winds across the pond were almost unbearable. The woods were much more tolerable.

Chilly Blue Heron

In the Houghton Gardens area, we were pleased to see two hairy woodpeckers. Deeper in, Haynes pointed out a golden crowned kinglet flitting about and then a brown creeper that we were fortunate enough to have several good sightings of.

As we were leaving, I was happy to see all three herons together. Whether you're a bird or a birder, it's nice to have friends to hang out with on a day as cold as this.

Gardening Season Officially Over

This friendly pumpkin was left
on a rock to greet people?

Arrived at the park around 8:15 a.m. It was 32 degrees and clear. Right away, I noticed that the gate to the gardens was closed and locked, marking the official end to the community gardening season.

The meadow has not been mowed as it usually is in November, even though we were informed it would be. Perhaps they are just late. I'm sure the birds are happy about the delay.

It was a pretty quiet day in general. Everything was covered in frost but slowly started melting as I walked around. I saw several house finches, juncos, goldfinches, robins, a few white throated sparrows, and some tree sparrows as well as a few chickadees.

Down by the river I saw two mallard couples reminding me that ducks can be really fun to watch for soon.

Got word today that the Christmas Bird Count will be December 18th. Stay tuned for more details.

Last Flowers Standing

Tansy

Weekend Update: Saturday was 47 degrees and Sunday, a cooler 33 degrees.

It's pretty quiet at the park. The most active area seems to be the lower part of the upper gardens near the meadow.

Between Saturday and Sunday, I saw house finches, song sparrows, robins, white throated sparrows, my first American tree sparrows of the season, lots of goldfinches, cardinals, tufted titmice, chickadees and a blue jay. Also, had a nice but brief sighting of a cedar waxwing couple in the Mulberry tree.