20 species visited the feeding station this week: House Sparrow: 26 Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 12 American Goldfinch: 10 Blue Jay: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 European Starling: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Purple Finch: 2 Eastern Bluebird: 2 Song Sparrow: 2 Red -winged Blackbird: 2

We began at Walsh Preserve, where a MERLIN stole the show, perched out in the marsh on driftwood and occasionally making half-hearted hunting attempts. It also seemed to reduce overall shorebird numbers, however, with relatively low tallies of 48 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 11 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 7 LEAST SANDPIPERS, 4 KILLDEER, 3 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, and 1 SOLITARY SANDPIPER. Also in the marsh, we had one GREAT EGRET and 9 SNOWY EGRETS, with a COMMON YELLOWTHROAT at the edge. In t

Our pair of EASTERN BLUEBIRDS was seen feeding its 3rd clutch on 8/15. 24 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Sparrow: 14 American Goldfinch: 10 House Finch: 8 Blue Jay: 6 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Chipping Sparrow: 4 Red -winged Blackbird: 4 Common Grackle: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-

With a low tide on the bay and low water levels on lakes and ponds, we decided to head inland to look for shorebirds today. However, with a light northwest wind overnight, it were passerine migrants and activity that stole the show today. At Florida Lake Park, there were a smattering of passage migrants among the local breeders, included one each of CAPE MAY WARBLER and PRAIRIE WARBLER and 5 BOBOLINKS. Other migratory species some of which undoubtably bred right here, include

24 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Sparrow: 14 American Goldfinch: 10 House Finch: 8 Blue Jay: 6 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Chipping Sparrow: 4 Red -winged Blackbird: 4 Common Grackle: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Purple Finch: 2 Song Sparrow: 2

A fun, diverse outing this morning resulted in a nice impromptu shorebird workshop and some other sightings of note. We began at Walsh Preserve, where, despite shorebirds already departing as the tide began to go out, had a solid array of shorebirds, including some really good comparison studies: 48 LESSER YELLOWLEGS and 12 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, ~40 SEMIPALMATED and ~10 LEAST SANDPIPER, 8 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 4 KILLDEER, and each of SOLITARY SANDPIPER and a heard-only PECT

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Our pair of RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS was supplemented by 2 juveniles this week. 25 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 House Sparrow: 10 Red -winged Blackbird: 8 Blue Jay: 6 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Common Grackle: 12 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Chipping Sparrow: 4 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American

24 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 House Sparrow: 10 Red -winged Blackbird: 8 Blue Jay: 6 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Common Grackle: 12 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 2 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Purple Finch: 2 Baltimore Oriole: 2 Chipping Spar

It was delightful walk on a delightful summer morning at one of our favorite breeding season hotspots. But breeding season is wrapping up, as evidenced by the lack of Bobolinks today - another batch of young successfully fledged from this protected colony! We began the walk with a surprising BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER near the parking lot. Another pleasant surprise was a (albeit distant) calling YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO! Other highlights included an exceptional look at one of the 2-3

4 FISH CROWS passed over the store calling in 7/17. 24 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 House Sparrow: 10 Red -winged Blackbird: 8 Blue Jay: 6 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Common Grackle: 12 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 2 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch:

The first MONARCH BUTTERFLY of the year was spotted in the garden on 7/11. 24 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 House Sparrow: 10 Red -winged Blackbird: 8 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Common Grackle: 12 Blue Jay: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 2 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 W

Despite the heat, "fall" southbound shorebird migration is upon us, and with the morning high tide, we wanted to see what is happening at our local shorebird patch. Once at the pannes, we were pleasantly surprised to find enough water and a really nice assortment and tallies of shorebirds for the early date: 20+ LEAST SANDPIPERS, 21 LESSER YELLOWLEGS, 13 GREATER YELLOWLEGS, 4 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, 3 KILLDEER, and our first two PECTORAL SANDPIPERS of the season (and year for

23 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 House Sparrow: 10 Red -winged Blackbird: 10 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Common Grackle: 6 Blue Jay: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 2 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Purple Finch: 2 Baltimore Oriole: 2 Chipping Spar

25 species visited the feeding station this week: Rock Pigeon: 22 House Finch: 14 American Goldfinch: 12 House Sparrow: 10 Red -winged Blackbird: 10 European Starling: 6 Northern Cardinal: 6 Common Grackle: 6 Blue Jay: 4 Gray Catbird: 4 Black-capped Chickadee: 4 Eastern Bluebird: 4 Ruby-throated Hummingbird: 2 Hairy Woodpecker:2 Downy Woodpecker: 2 Mourning Dove: 2 American Crow: 2 Tufted Titmouse: 2 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2 Northern Mockingbird: 2 Purple Finch: 2 Baltimore

One of our favorite mid-summer birdwalk destinations, this unassuming town park just always produces a pleasant amount of birds, good numbers of some of our common summer denizens, and always a surprise or two. Today was no different, as the wide edges allow our fairly large groups opportunity to see and study birds. And as is often the case in mid-summer, it is the careful observation of bird behavior that can be the most rewarding. Two of the highlights today were related t

We enjoyed another exceptional Saturday morning birding stroll today at one of our favorite breeding season destinations. Of course, we began and ended with BOBOLINKS (20-30), including lots of great views of both males and females. But perhaps today they were a little upstaged. The highlight was a pair of rare ORCHARD ORIOLE, with the male in particular well seen for an extended period of time. The female appeared to carry off some food, confirming breeding in the vicinity f

Our trip report for last weekend's annual Spring Monhegan tour is posted here. Birding was slow by Monhegan standards, but we made up for it with some fantastic birds and great looks!

The 20th Bradbury Mountain Spring Hawkwatch came to a close (officially) on 5/15. Zane put in a few extra hours on 5/16 since the weather was looking promising. We definitely went out on a fizzle to cap off a well below average year. The cold wet spring and dearth of favorable winds just did not produce many good hawk flights for us. Starting off the season with our 6th ever Golden Eagle on day one was a highlight, as were the American Goshawks, Peregrine Falcons, and Norther

We got 2 good days of hawkwatching in at the beginning of this past week. The remainder of the week were days when you have to be up on the mountain looking at almost nothing. Our good flights were on west and southwest winds, but despite other seemingly favorable conditions, birds were just not to be seen from the summit. The likely culprits were rain shields that were setting up around us with the passage of weather fronts. Sharp-shinned Hawks numbers were increasing this w