Weekend full of birding

This was one very full weekend of birding!

Started out at Horn Pond in Woburn at 6pm on Friday evening for the 2008 Massachusetts Birdathon, (see other post for description) where it started to rain JUST AT 6pm. Paul, Diana and I manged to get a couple of our target species out of the way, even in the rain, but it was a slog, and rather miserable going. The further we got from any protection from the elements, the harder it came down. We managed to dig up Ruddy Duck, the Great Horned and Eastern Screech Owls, as well as a few other species, but certainly not what we planned on for our first few hours. The rain continued through the night, and until 10 Saturday morning. That didn't deter us as we started out early Saturday morning and checked off a Broad-winged Hawk on a nest, then continued to Mt Auburn Cemetery, where we saw a good number of birds, but also managed to miss a few. If we didn't have to get back to Horn Pond (for several species that we would have seen the evening before if it wasn't raining), we probably would have picked up another 5-7 species from what I hear that was seen after we left. We did manage to see two target birds - a Summer Tananger that was reported Friday morning and the Cape May Warbler that had been hanging around the dell.


Not a great photo of the Cape May, but they usually hang out pretty high up in the trees and this one was no excpetion...

Then we headed off to the Brooks Estate in Medford, which is usually another good hot spot, but things had died down a bit by the time we got there in mid-afternoon. A Hooded Merganser that has been hanging out with the Mallards stuck around and gave us some nice looks.

We then headed back to Horn Pond to pick up some "gimme" birds that breed there and are seen and heard regularly, like Field Sparrow, Prairie Warbler, Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, etc. The Wood Ducks there this year are really acclimated to people, and every time I am there I feel the need to take a few photos because they are so colorful and accomodating.We hit a few other spots along the way, hoping to pick up an extra species or two here and there. In the end, our final tally was 94 species - shy of our goal of 100, but not too bad given the weather we had to contend with. And there's always next year...

On Sunday, we joined our friend Eddie for a BBC trip to Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. It is one of his regular stomping grounds and has been getting some fantastic sightings. While doing Birdathon there on Saturday, he checked off some fantastic birds and the place on Sunday was crawling with birders itching to add some warblers to their year (or life) lists. The photos aren't great but, then again, they not the most cooperative birds for point-and-shoot photography...

Kentucky Warbler

Hooded Warbler

Cerulean Warbler

We also head many and saw a Worm Eating Warbler - unfortunatley I was not able to get a photo of that one. After we wrapped up the trip, we headed over to East Bridgewater where a Lawrence's Warber (a hybrid between Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers) has been putting in appearances for the last few years. I heard the typical Blue-winged Warbler "bee-bzzzzzz" song and managed to spot him a hundred or so yards away. Again not a great photo as it stayed pretty far away...