bicke1359's Journal

The weather today was overcast with grey clouds, and slightly chilly (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit). It was located in the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA. I was there during the mid/early to mid/late morning. There were countless active birds in the refuge, primarily Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and Canada Geese. There were some other birds, such as American Robins and a few swallows, but were not as prevalent.

Today’s weather was pretty decent, sunny, some wind, and in the 50-degree range (Fahrenheit). The excursion lasted from around 6:45am to approximately 11:45am EST. There were many bird species active, ranging from Northern Flicker to American Robin, to Common Yellowthroat and Rose-breasted Vireo, and more. The habitats it contained were grasslands, shrublands, and the edge in between the two. While I was walking along the edge between grassland and shrubland, I could see many of these birds singing and calling, flying between different shrubs, flying between the shrubland and grassland, and just resting in the crowns of the trees. It’s almost like a lot of the birds were trying to sing over each other, given the flurry of calls and songs throughout the conservation land.
One cool thing I saw was a pair of Blue-winged Warblers chasing each other along the edge between the grass- and shrublands. Another cool sighting I had was a pair of Turkey Vultures flying up high, but following a man walking his small dog, which was quite interesting.

Today was a very nice day for birding. It was sunny, very little to no wind, and was slightly chilly (40’s to 50’s degrees Fahrenheit). There were a lot of birds (and a good number of chipmunks) active this morning. I was in Cat Rock Park in Weston, MA from about 6:30am to around 11:40am. There was nobody else there the whole time I was in the park. The species I found the most of was the Chipping Sparrow (if they weren’t chipmunks). I’m fairly certain that at least most of the Chipping Sparrows I heard in my audio recordings were actually Chipping Sparrows, and not chipmunks. I spent most of my time in the wooded areas of the park, as well as some time on the edges of those forested areas. I heard the calls of a Hairy (I’m pretty sure it was Hairy) Woodpecker, which I had never heard before. Also, I heard the “meow” calls of a Gray Catbird while I was still in a wooded area, and not yet to the fielded area, which I was somewhat confused about. But overall, it was a good day and I enjoyed it.

Today was an ok day for birding. It was very sunny, not too cold (high 40’s F), and there was very little wind. The only problem was that there were a lot of other people out on the paths around the pond, which kinda got in the way of taking good pictures or audio recordings of a lot of birds. My excursion only lasted from about 7am to about 11:00am-ish because there became too many people as the morning became later -- this caused it to be near-impossible to try to identify most of the birds I heard singing, let alone trying to take pictures or recordings of them. I wanted to stay out longer and try to get some more observations in, but to no avail. In the end, I was able to see and hear a bunch of good birds, though, which I am happy about.

Today’s weather was fantastic. There was not even a single cloud in the sky, there was very little/intermittent wind, and it was relatively warm (high 50’s/low 60’s Fahrenheit). This excursion went on from approximately 6:50am to about 11:30am EST. Although a beautiful day, and the early timing, there were plenty of other people there, doing a range of things from walking their dogs, running, birding, etc. to get outside and enjoy the beautiful day. But the good weather also brought out a lot of active birds. There were a bunch of birds hanging out in the soccer fields throughout the park, many flying about from here to there, and a lot more just sitting in trees and singing their songs. On another good note, I saw my first Yellow-rumped Warblers flying between trees today. I couldn’t get a good picture of it, but I think I may have gotten a good audio recording of it. Overall, I was able to get pictures and audio recordings today of birds which I have previously not been able to capture, which was a good progression to make I’d say. It was a pretty decent day today.