The Elusive Snowy Owl and the Unexpected Grasshopper Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

 On Saturday night I saw an email from the Boston Birds group about a sighting of a Snowy Owl at Millennium Park! So I thought it would be fun to try and find it Sunday morning and was able to convince the little one, who kept saying "maybe snowy owl", to join me for the walk. While we were unsuccessful at finding a Snowy Owl (the park is likely too heavily used for a Snowy to stick around. We did however run into Matt Garvey who mentioned that he had just spotted a Grasshopper Sparrow in with the flock of American Tree Sparrows in front of us. We looked and couldn't find it, but on our way back to the car we passed the same spot and this time were able to find the Grasshopper Sparrow!

I was pretty excited to add this to my Massachusetts list! I've heard lots of them out in the midwest before and even caught a very short glimpse of one, but here at Millennium Park this bird was feeding out in the open and giving ample opportunity to observe it. I even snapped a picture, but due to the low light and wiggle child on my back, non of the images came out very crisp, but at least its a record shot.

I hope you all have a great holiday season and a happy New Years!

Shorebirds and a Surprise at Belle Isle Marsh

Black-bellied Plover

 I headed out to Belle Isle Marsh in Boston for Memorial Day morning birding. It had been a while since I had been birding away from Newton and Belle Isle Marsh offered a change of scenery and habitat with the bonus of shorebirds and terns that don't frequent our parks. The sky was gray and overcast with a light drizzle, but I figured the shorebirds wouldn’t be too deterred by a little rain. (Sorry about the pictures, these birds were way out there.

One of the first finds was a female American Redstart who was singing, which I wasn't expecting. When I got out towards the marsh, the bright white Snowy Egrets were easy to pick out, but then more movement became evident and revealed Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers and some peeps. When planes flew over Belle Isle for their approach to Logan, the shorebirds would startle and fly around before resettling. During one of these games of musical chairs, I was able to find a few Short-billed Dowitchers. Their burgundy breasts and long bills made them stick out from the Black-bellied Plovers (notice the black "armpit" on the plovers in flight). Another airplane and subsequent round of musical chairs revealed a couple of Willets, with large amounts of white in their wings.

One of my major reasons for coming were the terns, and both Common and Least Terns

Black-bellied Plovers and Short-billed Dowitchers

put on quite a show, hovering and plunge diving into the salt pans to catch fish. The tide was actually quite high and provided ample water near the paths so they were relatively close to watch. Unfortunately their small size and fast flight made a mockery of my photographic attempts. The terns were also joined in their fishing endeavor by an Osprey. I usually think of terns as much more elegant when fishing with their tucked-wing plunge-dives, while Ospreys are the awkward uncoordinated cousin just haphazardly splashing I to the water. But yesterday I got to see some elegant fishing from the Osprey who swooped low over the pans and snatched a fish in flight. 

While I was out on the main platform watching the march, it decided to rain in earnest, so I tucked my camera under my rain jacket and thought it might be time to head out. As I left the platform an American Kestrel tore off over my head, she was carrying prey and being mobbed by song birds, but I was still excited to have my 2nd Kestrel in MA.

Short-billed Dowitchers

I thought I’d check one last pool on my way back to the parking lot. As I went down the little path to the small cement overlook, a small bird lifted off from the reeds. All at once a couple of visual cues impinged upon my brain. Really small heron shape, buffy / caramel colored body and wings, patches of greenish-blue on back and wings. Before I had even processed all the individual pieces, the ID came to the front of my mind. Least Bittern! What kind of crazy luck was that!

The first time I had visited Belle Isle March, I had been informed that it was a good place to find Least Bitterns. But slowly through subsequent visits I’d all but given up hope of ever finding one. While they may be relatively common in suitable habitat, they are notorious for their secretive habits and are hard to find, let alone actually see. Fortunately we here in Boston have several good locations for Least Bittern with Belle Isle Marsh, Great Meadows in Concord, and of course Plum Island. But you never know, in January of 2012 there was a sighting of a Least Bittern in Newton just south of Nahanton Park.

After the Least Bittern I decided birding in the rain wasn’t so bad and tacked on a Willow Flycatcher, but my day was already made.

Reservoir Redux: For the Warblers and Swallows

Prairie Warbler

 After having a great day on Saturday with the Caspian Tern at Chestnut Hill Reservoir (blog post), there were a number of reports on Massbird of Prairie Warblers (in the morning from Peter), then reports added Yellow-throated Warbler, and all five of the likely Swallows for New England: Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Bank Swallow, and Cliff Swallow (reported in the afternoon by a number of the Ryans, Sam, and others). Needless to say, this morning I had to check it out.

The Prairie Warbler was fortunately found relatively quickly, though I had trouble picking out his song from all the other warblers present. The Yellow-throated Warbler took a lot more work and I was aided by other birders. While slightly less exciting since I had already found the Yellow-throated Warbler at Nahanton Park, this time I had better views, which was much appreciated. Beyond the rare Yellow-throated and uncommon Prairie, all around the number of warblers was astonishing.

Yellow-throated Warbler

After finding many of the warbler on the hill, I headed over to the peninsula where a number of swallows could be seen flying around. Luck was with me this day, after a couple of Barn Swallows, the next bird I started tracking was a Cliff Swallow, the light patches on the rump and forehead were giveaways. I was eventually able to add the other three Swallows for a full Swallow sweep. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any pictures of the Swallows (I didn't even try), but Ryan did yesterday (link). The Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Cliff Swallow, and Prairie Warbler, were all new birds for me in the state.

I'll keep the text short today and let the pictures do the work . There is also a short video of the Prairie Wabler below, it doesn't do his song justice though. Here is a link to the full checklist and a big thanks to the other birders I met today and to all who reported their findings.

Black-throated Green Warbler

Caspian Tern and Warblers at the Reservoir

Caspian Tern

  Yesterday morning I took a short walk at Chestnut Hill Reservoir with the little one. As soon as I opened the car door, I could hear lots or warblers up on the hill and Yellow-rumped Warblers were in the trees all around the parking lot. On the grass, several Savanah Sparrows were foraging.

But before checking out the warblers, I went to scan the water as there had been reports over the last few days of a Caspian Tern, though I didn't think it was likely I'd find one. Just when I was satisfied that all the birds on the water were gulls and there wasn't a Tern present, I saw a large white bird dive into the reservoir. Gulls don't usually do that! It was quickly  obvious that this was the Caspian Tern when I spotted that thick bright orange bill and dark underwing primary feathers. The bird circled for the next 10 minutes as we watched before I lost sight of him. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Next I set my sights on the hill and the influx of warblers that it contained. I could hear songs of a Black-throated Green Warbler and a Northern Parula but try as I might all I could find were yellow-rumps, there were just that many up in the trees. Down lower in the under story Palm Warblers flitted about. I would have been impressed by the number of Palm Warblers, but the Yellow-rumps had already taken that prize. Additionally there was a singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet and I thought I heard the song of a Dark-eyed Junco, but had a hard time believing it until I was able to see it, it is getting late for juncos to still be here. Especially now that the warblers are arriving. I'm very much looking forward to seeing them again.

Hooded Warbler at Boston Public Gardens

Hooded Warbler

 After having success in tracking down the Yellow-throated Warbler at Nahanton my attention was next captured by the reports of a ridiculously tame and easy to find Hooded Warbler at the Boston Public Gardens. Hooded Warblers have been particularly guiling to me, my only previous record was a heard only bird, where I was able to recognize its primary song, but a much more experienced birder could recognize its secondary song.

Now this is an important point as I every time I have ever heard a Hooded Warbler song in Massachusetts, my hopes have always been dashed when I discovered that the singer was a Yellow Warbler. Much to my chagrin, Yellow Warblers often times sing the Hooded Warbler’s primary song (I’ve also learned that there are a few other pairs of warbler like this, like the Black-throated Blue Warblers who do a dead on Cerulean Warbler Song).

White-throated Sparrow

So when I kept reading of the scores of people who were able to find this Hooded Warbler I decided to take a shot at it too. Hooded Warblers, like the Yellow-throated tend to be more southern but also like to spend time in low dense cover, so an opportunity like this should be seized if possible. Before I found the Hooded though, I turned up both Kinglets and a Brown Thrasher, which is another first sighting for me in the state.

Hooded Warbler

The striking contrast of black and brightest yellow was truly stunning to observe and I was a little surprised by the white patches in the tail that he would keep flashing with a flick of his tail. True to his warbler relatives, he was a little ball of energy and always on the move. Dashing and darting on the ground looking for prey or short, fluttering, acrobatic flycatching sorties. He was pretty tame and seemed nearly oblivious to the people that filled the gardens, though to be fair, they passed him by without any notice either. It always amazes me to think about what kind of wonders we all might walk pass, without even knowing about it.

Brown Thrasher

Though as we worked his way around the pond, he slowly began to approach a young couple on a park bench. While he carried on his energetic antics just feet from the bench, they did not fail to notice him. After he had given us quite a show, I had a nice chat with the couple about the providence of this particular bird. I enjoyed getting a chance to share our amazement that any such thing as beautiful as this Hooded Warbler should ever visit us.

Snowy Owl at Boston's Belle Isle Marsh

Snowy Owl

 Two winters ago (the 2011-2012 season) had a great influx of Snowy Owls, so back in December I was amazed to watch an even larger invasion of Snowy Owls occur this winter as reports from all over the state and the rest of the East Coast poured in, this was going to be one of the biggest Snowy Owl seasons recorded. I knew that I would have to go and find at least one of the owls, so when I saw reports on Massbird of reliable Snowy Owls at Belle Isle Marsh in Boston, I made my plans.

Red-tailed Hawk

My first visit at the beginning of February sadly turned up no owls, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a state first Eastern Meadowlark out in the marsh. I thought my eyes must be playing tricks on me, but apparently there were other recent sightings of the Meadowlark. This is one of the reasons I love birding at Belle Isle Marsh, it has some fantastic habitat and has given me the opportunity to find many birds without needing to tack on a long drive. Some of my favorites memories from past visits to Belle Isle include watching Least Terns diving into the salt pans, startling Bobolinks from the trails, and hearing Willets calling from the marsh.

But this winter, the landscape has been drastically altered into a snow and ice scene suitable to the far arctic reaches of this planet. Ice flows lay broken on the marsh as the tide repeatedly lifted and dropped them on higher ground. Only the banks of the channels and few tall marsh grasses escaped the blanket of snow. Fortunately Belle Isle's current resemblance to the arctic tundra has led to a Snowy Owl or two taking up residence this winter. With a total of three visits in February, last weekend was the charm as I finally caught up with this bird that so many people had been reporting.  As my friend Greg and I walked out to the boardwalk overlooking the marsh, I was able to spot something that looked suspiciously like a Snowy Owl before I even raised my binoculars. Greg works down the hall from me and we've been swapping stories about Snowy Owls since we met, so it was quite a pleasure to finally get a chance to find one together.

Belle Isle Marsh

We must have sat on the edge of the boardwalk in the chilly wind for 20 minutes just watching her rest in the sun. Her head swiveled around to take in her surrounding and would occasionally look directly at us with those huge yellow eyes before resuming her vigil. Snowy Owls can have quite a lot of variation in how much dark brown barring they have in their feathers. As the owls grow older they become whiter and male owl tend to be lighter than females, though there is much overlap in the amount of barring (I found a much whiter Snowy Owl at Duxbury Beach 2 winters ago). This owl from Belle Isle seems to be slightly on the darker side, but there are definitely still darker individuals.

Mute Swans

With difficulty we tore ourselves away from the Snowy to check out the rest of Bell Isle Marsh. Out in the water American Black Ducks, Mallard, and Buffleheads were evident. One of the coolest sightings were two sets of three Mute Swans that flew overhead. I momentarily got my hopes up for Tundra Swans, but they were still beautiful to watch as I've rarely seen them fly before. The rest of the bird life included some usual winter residents, though I also saw reports of plenty of raptors, Horned Larks, and Snowy Buntings.

After telling some of my other co-workers about the owl (who doesn't love a Snowy Owl?), I heard that one of my co-workers thought he saw a Snowy Owl at Newton Center Playground maybe about 8 years ago. Just when I thought we'd never find a Snow Owl in Newton, though it would probably still take some uncommon luck to repeat that feat. So I'll leave you with a link to the ABA Blog about crazy places that Snowy Owls have been found during this winters invasion.

Searching for Newton's Eurasian Green-winged Teal

As I mentioned in the last post, there was an eBird report from Ryan M. from this past Monday indicating that a drake Eurasian Teal was found at Newton City Hall. Because Green-winged Teal (American) and Green-winged Teal (Eurasian) are clunky names for the purpose of writing, I'll just refer to the later as the Eurasian Teal (known as the Common Teal to the rest of the english speaking world). See the post from last year about the recurring Eurasian Teal for background, pictures, and discussion on identifying the different Green-winged Teals.

Hooded Merganser Pair at Newton City Hall

Ok enough with semantics. A Eurasian Teal was seen and I wanted to find it. So in between cooking yesterday, I went to Newton City Hall to go searching. I got excited when I saw a pair of Mallards and a pair of Hooded Mergansers (phone and binocular pic), but my spirits dropped as I slowly began to realize that there were no teals, nor did Bullough's Pond have any birds on the water in my quick glance. Fortunately, a pair of Golden-crowned Kinglets was quite entertaining to watch (full checklist here). I was starting to get really worried that the recent dredging had turned the marshy, weedy, birdy City Hall ponds into the poor habitat reflecting pools they were intended to be by Fredrick Olmsted (who also designed the Emerald Necklace). Green-winged Teals love marshy habitat that is now absent from City Hall and I was worried that we had improved away the Teals.

Hermit Thrush in Cold Spring Park

On my way home I even drove through Newton Cemetery to scan the ponds, but again just turned up Canada Geese, Mallards, and Hooded Mergansers.

I couldn't give up yet. So this morning I headed to Cold Spring Park and at 8:45 this morning it was quite cold. And so most of the ponds were frozen. I did manage to track down a flock of 12 Mallards in one of the streams, but no teals were to be found. I did hear a Brown Creeper and saw a Hermit Thrush, but interestingly, there was another thrush, that didn't have as much red on the tail as I was expecting. But given the time of year, that is the most likely option still (let me know if you have any ID thoughts and full checklist here)

After Cold Spring Park I just couldn't give up on the Eurasian Teal yet. With ice on the ponds, I thought that the ponds at Newton City Hall might just have enough current to keep them open. So I headed back there and was so disappointed when the grounds crew had leaf blowers cleaning up the park. No way any duck in their right mind would still be around. I walked up to one of the foot bridges and heard lots of junco call notes while movement on the water caught my eye. Ducks - teals - horizontal white stripe - Eurasian Teal! I couldn't tell if his lady friend was an American or Eurasian type, it might be possible to tell females apart, but it is still very challenging. I kept my eyes on the pair before a native Green-winged Teal drake joined them. They all headed to the farthest North pool nearer the leaf blowers before they disappeared. I don't think they flew off, so I wonder if they were hiding in the outflow culvert that leads to Bullough's Pond.

Green-winged Teal (Eurasian) at Newton City Hall

I was relieved to think that the pond dredging hadn't completely put off the Eurasian Teal, though I wonder if he will stick around the same amount without the marsh. And I am calling this The Eurasian Teal, because I'm increasingly convinced that all of the sightings within the area are probably the same individual. His primary haunt is Newton, and has been seen every Winter (Nov-March) since he was first sighted in Cold Spring Park in 2009. So this is the 5th consecutive year that there has been a Eurasian teal seen between Concord and Newton with only one year where he wasn't seen in Newton. But at no point in time have there been two Eurasian teal sightings on the same day at different locations. In fact there are times when he disappears from his usual Newton location for a few days and has a brief sighting elsewhere. Here is a quick list of eBird sightings for Eurasian Teals within at 15 mile radius.

2009 January. A Eurasian Teal sighted at Cold Spring Park.
2009 March 13. A sighting in Sudbury
2009 March 16 - April 4. Repeated sighting at Cold Spring Park. (There were also 5 days were he was absent in March which corresponds with a single sighting at Great Meadows NWR on March 25.) There was also an article in the Newton Tab about the bird.

2010 Jan-Feb: Repeated sightings at Newton City Hall
2010 March. Several sightings at Nine Acre Corner in Concord.

2011 March: Several sightings at Nine Acre Corner in Concord. If I remember this was a particularly harsh winter and all the local water was frozen, so its not too surprising that he wasn't seen in Newton or earlier in the year.

2012 Nov-Dec. Repeated sightings at Newton City Hall. (Again there was a stretch of time the bird was absent while a few sightings turned up on the Charles River by Norumbega Park which, if my memory serves, corresponded to a cold snap and ice on local ponds.)

2013 (so far) Nov. Two Newton City Hall sightings.

Green-winged Teals (European Drake and unknown female)
Newton City Hall

Now that I feel good saying that this is indeed the same individual, The Newton Eurasian Teal. I just looked up Green-winged Teal lifespan and see that 20 years is the average lifespan, so it is certainly possible that the Newton Teal could keep returning to us for a while. We will just have to keep looking for him. If he has any breeding success then we should also think about the possibility of hybrid Teals. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go see him again this winter and we'll be able to find him in the coming years.

Exotic Duck Chase: Mandarin Duck at Leverett Pond

Mandarin Duck

Last week on Massbird there was a flurry of posts about a Mandarin Duck drake that was spotted at Leverett Pond in Brookline. Mandarin Ducks hail from far Eastern Asia (including Japan, Korea, China, and Russia) and have never been known to grace our continent as a vagrant. Therefore the assumption is that all Mandarin Duck sightings are individuals that have escaped from captivity and indeed there are two known breeding populations in in the states ( North Carolina and California) that have been established from escaped birds. Sadly though their wild populations are greatly reduced as much of their habitat has been developed.

I have only seen two Mandarin Ducks before, and these birds were in Newton. A pair of Mandarin Ducks were actually housed in a gardening / landscape exhibit in the mall in the Winter of 2010-2011. While not wild, I was struck by how beautiful they are and how similar they are to our native Wood Ducks! The females are remarkably similar and then more and more I was able to see similarities the longer I observed the drake.

This initial encounter made me quite excited to have the chance to see a Mandarin Duck in a more realistic environment. Not to mention it had been observed in the company of a flock of more than 30 Wood Ducks, which would be a spectacle in and of itself. So, Monday morning with temperatures in the teens, I took the T to Brookline Village in search of this exotic duck.

When I arrived at the pond, much of the pond had a thin crust of ice. Fortunately the outflow was clear of ice and contained a large number of birds: Mallards, American Black Ducks, Canada Geese, a few Wood Ducks, even a Double-crested Cormorant, and a statuesque Great Blue Heron who tucked her head away trying to stay warm. A small knot of gulls were standing out on the ice, while Red-tailed Hawk flushed a flock of ducks from the center of the pond and they all circled off. I kept working around the pond and found the typical passerines in the trees and brush. Soon I ran into another birder who was saying she had just seen the Mandarin Duck but it just took off a few minutes ago and she pointed North. What luck. I wished I had been able to drag myself out into the cold a little earlier. As we were talking a flock of ducks landed on the pond and so glimmer of hope returned.

Raft of 36 Wood Ducks

I counted 36 Wood Ducks in the center of Leverett Pond but no hint of the Mandarin Duck showed itself. I took a few moments to enjoy the spectacle of the Wood Ducks and decided to head back down the Muddy River, the direction the Mandarin reportedly flew, on my way into the city.

I peered into every corner of the "river" as I kept walking and turned up Mallards, Canada Geese, Black Ducks, and 3 hooded Mergansers. Firmly in the Riverway section of the Muddy River I checked out an area where I had seen a Wood Duck in the past, but no luck. So I carried on to the foot bridge and peered around the corner, when the water exploded. Three ducks flushed flying away crying "jeet jeet jeet", but one of the ducks had a bright white face and pick bill, it was the Mandarin Duck! He had been hanging out with a pair of Wood Ducks. The two males circled off to the South leaving the jittery female still calling in the pool. Not very chivalrous.

Mandarin Duck with Wood Ducks

So I turned around walking South back to Leverett Pond and was finally able to see the Mandarin Duck where he was "supposed" to have been from the start. While he was further away, he also wasn't flying away allowing for great views. He truly was stunning. While the large white facial crescent, orange "beard", and raised orange feathers on his back that make up a "sail", he was much brighter than the Wood Ducks despite the similarities.

Walking in to work, I was then thinking about how long this Mandarin drake will be here with us. If he makes it to spring if he would pair up with a local Wood Duck. Though any crosses seem unlikely as Mandarin Ducks apparently have a different number of chromosomes despite the fact that Mandarin and Wood Ducks are the only species in the genus (Aix). Maybe he will stick with the local Wood Ducks and he'll be a local fixture for years to come, similar to the Eurasian Teal that frequents Newton in the winters (see last years post).

Speaking of the Green-winged Teal (Eurasian) that has spent the last few winters in Newton.... he is back! I just saw an ebird report from Newton City Hall. I am looking forward to going to find him again. Maybe that will be my next post...

White-winged Scooters at Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

I stopped at Hammond Pond and Chestnut Hill Reservoir on my way to work mid-day. My first stop at Hammond pond I was excited to find the first Hooded Mergansers of the season. Two crisp males and a female were working the far shore. I was also hoping for some Ring-necked Ducks, but I didn't see any. There were plenty of Mallards though and a Great Blue Heron. Among the gulls, one appeared to be different that the others, but they all flew off before I had a chance to turn my attention their way. The full list of birds from Hammond Pond can be found here.

Pied-billed Grebes, American Coot, Double-crested Cormorant

 My next stop was Chestnut Hill Reservoir. I was excited to see that the water was littered with birds. Mostly they were more than a hundred Ruddy Ducks in small rafts. And there were quite a few gulls, including Ring-billed, Herring, and Greater Black-backed. Also it was fun to see a number of American Coots that have returned as well, while Pied-billed Grebes and Double-crested Cormorants were present (how many species can I fit in a picture...). When I got to the tip of the peninsula I found Mallards and a single American Black Duck, but out on the far side were 3 dark ducks that I couldn't make out. I even tried to take a picture to enlarge on my camera, but still no luck. When I got to work though I loaded the pictures on to the computer and was surprised that one of them had a small white spot in the center of the head (bird on left, click to enlarge picture), they must have been White-winged Scooters! Not a common bird around here, they have been seen once before at the Reservoir and twice migrating over Millennium Park. Fortunately I saw that two other birders had also seen the White-winged Scooters before I was there, making me feel more confident on the ID. I also saw that I missed a female Green-winged Teal (eBird list with pictures of scooters and teal). But the White-winged Scooters were quite a treat. The full list of birds from Chestnut Hill Reservoir can be found here.

White-winged Scooters

Autumn at Hammond Pond

Wood Duck

 I had a little bit of time each day of this weekend in the afternoon to stop by Hammond Pond to see what might be around. Wish I had been able to make it at a better time for birds as it felt slow. I had a small list, but still had a great time enjoying the birds and autumn foliage. The highlights were getting great views of a Pied-billed Grebe and numerous Wood Ducks that cooperated. Additionally a fearless Ruby-crowned Kinglet came right up to investigate me (I wish I had my camera that day, but he was so close I wouldn't have been able to focus anyway). It was enjoyable just to admire him and not worry about taking a picture. I also found a Blackpoll and two Yellow-rumped Wablers.  The Yellow-rumps were back by the vernal pool, or at least what used to be the vernal pool. It has had so little water this year that it's turned into more of a field. I kept hearing more birds hiding in the 5 foot tall brush, but they seemed disinclined to reveal themselves. All the other birds were around the edge of the pond.

Pied-billed Grebe

Full list:

Wood Ducks
Mallards
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
Gulls sp.
Blue Jays
Chickadees
Titmice
White-breasted Nuthatch
Buteo sp.
Blackpoll Warbler
Yellow-rumped Wablers
Cardinals
House Sparrows

P.S. Ok, while not at Hammond Pond this news is still cool. This afternoon I was really surprised to find a Clay-colored Sparrow in the yard associating with the neighborhood flock of house sparrows! She was an obvious 'odd duck' in the flock being much smaller and brighter buff colored. Fortunately having seen the one at Nahanton Park recently made me confident with my identification. But it is certainly a reminder to check out those yard birds too!

Redheads Return with Spring to Hammond Pond

Redhead Ducks

 Sunday afternoon I stopped by Hammond Pond to check out the birds while running errands, which also meant I didn't have my big camera. I didn't have high expectations as I didn't even know if the pond would be clear of ice. Fortunately it was. Upon pulling up I quickly made out an American black duck and a mallard pair, which were followed by numerous common and hooded mergansers. But I was totally surprised by three redhead ducks! One male and two females (at least I thought they were female redheads, though my duck ID is lacking). While redheads are rare here, Hammond Pond hosted five redheads in the fall before the pond froze. Also there have been a few redheads hanging around greater Boston all winter. While I don't know if these three were some of the same ones here in the fall, it is fun to think so anyway. I do hope they will stay with us for a little longer!

American Black Duck.

Red-winged blackbirds sang "conklaree"as the males tried to claim territory before the breeding season starts. I also noted a grackle, song sparrow, some starlings, and gulls. While I was watching the pond five Canada geese flew in to land and most of the common mergansers flew off to the southwest, they were truly a sight to see.  But my second treat of the day was a pair of wood ducks that flew in to the pond calling "jeet jeet jeet". Spring must really be here.



Update 3/11/2013 I just saw on eBird that the redheads were seen again this morning, so seeing that they spend the night, maybe they'll stick around for a little while

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.

Red Crossbill Type 3 Identified by Call

Red Crossbill Female
(Type 3 - Western Hemlock)

This post is following up from last week on the crossbills at the JFK Library in Boston. I very much wanted to share the details on how the red crossbill was identified as a Type 3 or Western Hemlock type. But first, why do we even care about red crossbill types? (Most of my information comes from this article on eBird by Cornell ornithologist Matt Young, so definitely check it out if you want more details.)

Scientists and birders have known that there is a wide range of beak and head morphology within red crossbills in North America. Some scientists have thought that this variation in morphology might indicate distinct subspecies of red crossbill. Then, 20 years ago Jeff Groth learned that different populations of red crossbills could be identified by unique flight calls. So we now recognize "types" of red crossbills, not with calipers and a bird-in-hand, but by ear. (To be fair audio recordings need to be analyzed to be certain of identification.)

There are currently 10 identifiable red crossbill types that can determined by call. Most of these reside in high altitude pine forests out west. Though Type 1, the Appalachian Crossbill resides in the mid to southern Appalachians and Type 8 is in Newfoundland. The wide spread cone crop failure this season has lead to a large irruption of boreal finches as they search for plentiful food. Some birds like the common redpoll (recently spotted in Nahanton Park) mostly move south, but the red crossbills can irrupt clear across the country.

Red Crossbill Female

(Type 3 - Western Hemlock)

Scientists are very curious about how to categorize a red crossbills. Are they a species, a species with subtypes, a group of species, or something else? As different red crossbill types have different beak morphologies (small - big) and preferred food sources (hemlock, spruce, pine) they already have variation in physical traits and ecological niches which may indicate separate species (bill size and food choice are probably linked as bigger heads and beaks can crack tougher pine cones). Birds of different call types tend to mate with others of the same type, even though they may overlap in range and form mixed flocks at times. This type-recognition for mating further supports the idea of separate species. But as Matt Young points out, it is not known if this barrier holds up during different conditions, such as irruption year migrations (which only happen every 5 years or so). Could these types represent the modern equivalent of Darwin's finches and be an example of evolution in action? Thus the importance of identifying red crossbill types and obtaining audio recordings.

I started blogging because I really wanted to share some of the audio recordings I made at Nahanton, so the idea of recording birds (all from my iPhone ) in the name of science was too much to resist! Besides I thought the additional identification challenge would be fun. I was just lucky that I was able to find a red crossbill when I went looking last week. Most of the time she was silent, then she gave a few of her flight calls right before she flew off, but I was able to catch a recording. Watch the movie to listen to her flight call. Between 4-8 seconds the cracking noises were actually being made by crossbills (red or white-winged) as they pry open the scales of pine cones.

As soon as I got home I sent the audio clip off to Matt Young at Cornell for analysis, but then decided I should try and do the analysis myself. So I opened the audio file with Raven Lite (free software from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology) to see the audiospectragram. The program plots the sound frequency on the y-axis and time on the x-axis, additionally, louder sounds appear darker. Then I zoomed in on a single call note so that I could see all the details very well. After comparing the spectrogram to The examples in Matt's article and read the descriptions and it was clearly a good example of a Type 3 red crossbill! The sharp down, up, down, is unambiguous. It was amazing to me that one short note (a tenth of a second) could contain so much detail, and yet birds easily can distinguish audio details on this time scale. I needed a computer.

Red Crossbill Type 3

Flight Call Spectrogram

The type 3, or western hemlock, red crossbills primarily live in the Pacific northwest but they are the majority of the red crossbill types that have been identified in Massachusetts this season. As the name implies their primary food is hemlock, though spruces will also do (the ones I found were in Japanese black pines). The second most common is type 10, Sitka spruce, is also from the Pacific northwest and prefers spruces, or in he east, white pines. Interestingly, both type 3 and 10 are the smaller beaked crossbills. There are also a few eBird records in the state for types 1 and 2, though none near Newton.  Our nearest red crossbills to Newton were found at Arnold Arboretum where both type 3 and type 10 red crossbills were identified. So keep your phone or camera (the audio from a movie also works) ready to record any red crossbills that come our way!

Red and White-winged Crossbills at the Kennedy Library

Red Crossbill - Female

 This is supposed to be an irruption year for boreal finches as these birds are leaving their normal ranges due to crop failure and are foraging far and wide hoping find better food sources. So far, the best evidence of an irruption that I have witnessed, comes from a great upswing in red-breasted nuthatches, who rely on similar seed crops as the finches. I have tried this month to explore some of the local spots for irruptive finches but so far have been unsuccessful, though I heard that Haynes had some Pine Siskins at his feeders.

So I decided if the finches weren’t coming to Newton, I was going to have to go to them. So I headed to the John F. Kennedy Library where there have been sightings of large numbers of white-winged crossbills and a few red crossbills. Besides, I told myself, even if there aren’t any crossbills, I will at least be able to enjoy the saltwater loving birds in the harbor.

This first thing I found when I arrived at the library was another birder who had been tracking a flock of white-winged crossbills. We started making our way down the row of Japanese black pines by the entrance to the library, when a bird came up behind us with that big unmistakable crossbill! The next thing that jumped out at me was that this drab gray-green bird was much smaller than I expected (crossbills are completely new to me) and secondly, she didn’t have white wing bars. A female red crossbill! We kept following her as she picked over the pine cones until she led us right into a whole flock of white-winged crossbills.

White-winged Crossbill - Male

The female white-winged crossbills looked similar to the red crossbill but the white wing bars were quite obvious and they also had streaking on their flanks that the red crossbill lacked. Just then a bright red male flew down to the ground. He was totally splendid with black wings with white stripes and his torso seeming as though it was brushed in a vibrant pinkish-red powder. I latter learned that when they molt in the fall, the white-winged males have unpigmented barbules on the red feathers that cause them to appear pink. As the feathers wear, the barbules are lost leaving them a bright red in the spring and summer. Unfortunately none of my photos did the male justice.

White-winged Crossbill - Female

The crossbills all seemed to be pretty tame and unconcerned about the two birders that were watching them, allowing us a great opportunity to observe them. They seemed to be always moving, either from perch to pine cone, or actively feeding and never pausing even for a second. One of the favorite feeding positions seemed to be hanging upside down while extracting seeds from the cones. Often times the red crossbill would be feeding on a pine cone adjacent to a white-winged crossbill. Apparently crossbills are very efficient at extracting seeds as the curved beak acts as a lever when twisted under a pine cone scale allowing them to grab the seed. There is an excellent video from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology about white-winged crossbills feeding that I will include below.

Red Crossbill - Female

After about 40 minutes of observing these wonderful crossbills, some of the white-wings started to leave the area. Slowly the crossbills all seemed to fade into the pines. Until at the very end I was left with the female red crossbill sitting and calling goodbye at the top of a pine, before she too flew off to join her flock. Then the snow started to fall.

1/6/2013 Update: See the second post regarding identification of red crossbill types, including this crossbill as a type 3. 

Flight of the Northern Shovelers

Northern Shovelers

 I really wanted to join the Christmas Bird Count this year (see Suzette's post), but unfortunately knew that I wasn't going to be able to. So I started this weekend thinking there wasn't going to be any birding. But after dropping a sick pet off at the vet early this morning I couldn't resist taking a lap around Chestnut Hill Reservoir to clear my mind.

Upon arriving I quickly noted many gulls, Canada geese, ruddy ducks, common mergansers and hooded mergansers. But before I had even started walking around the pond, a pair of ducks caught my eye, as no one other than the northern shoveler has the green head, white breast, and chestnut sides! I haven't seen any this close to Newton so I was very excited. I made my way around the reservoir also noting mourning doves, golden-crowned kinglets, a downy, a titmouse, a hermit thrush, and even a brown creeper. The creeper has eluded me since moving here, so apparently I had to stop looking for them to find one. I have frequently heard them calling, but this was the first time in years I had gotten to see one!

I worked my way to the shore nearest the shovelers to get good views of them and was able to just make out the large trademark bill. I also tried to take a picture with my phone through my binoculars. At least I think its good enough to identify them! As I carried on around the water, I added goldfinch, white- and red-breasted nuthatches, a lone pied-billed grebe, and a handful of house sparrows to my list before heading out.

I quickly learned that this is the first ebird report of nothern shovelers at Chestnut Hill Reservoir and then a few hours later saw the first ebird report of shovelers at Hammond Pond. I then checked a little more carefully and saw that the shovelers were no longer being seen at the reservoir and so it seems likely that the same pair probably moved over to Hammond Pond! Maybe they were visiting the redheads. I'll be curious to see how long the northern shovelers might stay with us.