Winter Birds of the Emerald Necklace

Yellow-Breasted Chat

 With March here and our snow melting, I thought I'd better quickly share some winter  birding experiences and pictures from around the Emerald Necklace before spring gets to far underway.

This winter was quite good for warblers at the Fenway Victory Gardens. I was finally able to catch up with a yellow-breasted chat after many others have so narrowly eluded me! I'm talking about at least 3 chats within 20 feet of me and seen by several other birders. This includes one chat at Nahanton Park back in 2010. But the big warbler news from Fenway was a MacGillivray's warbler. For some odd reason a few MacGillivray's have now turned up at the Victory Gardens in various winters, now making this one of the best spots east of the Rockies to find one! While I was lucky enough to see this wind-blown vagrant, I didn't get a picture. Fortunately another birder was able to (picture here). The Victory Gardens also yielded a great view of a barred owl hunkered down in a tree, while further up the Fens there was a young red-headed woodpecker! I have seen quite a number out in the midwest, but finding one here was quite a treat. I wonder if this bird survived our big storm and if she will have the full vibrant red-head this spring?

Barred Owl

Juvenil Red-headed Woodpecker 

Silvery Mallard

Travelling further down the Emerald Necklace, I made a few stops at Riverway to try and see if any redpolls would show in the many birches that line the Muddy River. While I didn't find redpolls, I did find quite an odd duck. This silver or blond mallard female is probably the result of hybridization with domestic stock, though this duck could also just be a leucistic wild mallard. Regardless she is beautiful! In other Muddy River news, the section of river that flows underground by the Landmark Center is currently being restored to its original design. So it will be nice to have this expanded habitat!

White-winged Crossbill

My last birding stop in the Emerald Necklace was Arnold Arboretum. I had read report on massbird of some white-winged crossbills. After enjoy the crossbills at the JFK library in December, I was excited to get a chance to see them again. Of course the possibility of findig and recording a red crossbill again added to the sense of adventure. But it was still wonderful to spend time with the small flock of white-winged crossbills. I initially found them by listening for a cracking sound from the pines, something I've learned is an indication to there presence when they crack open pinecone scales to get at the seed. I wonder if I'll be able to find any more of our irruptive finches before they all head back to their normal ranges.