Squantum May 20th 2015 : A day of Wilson's

“not much out here today” were the first words two of us exchanged when meeting at 05:50 am and looking into the salt pannes on East Squantum Street. How wrong we were! As soon as we put up the scope we were struck by this gorgeous looking female Wilson’s Phalarope! As the rest of the group joined us I rushed back home to get Steven and his camera! Good thing I live so close…

And because the bird is so handsome in the early morning sun

Thanks to Steven Whitebread for these wonderful photos

 

Once we all had looked our fill, we carried on to Squaw Rock Park. This place had been hopping with warblers over the weekend, but was again quiet today – until we heard a Black-billed Cuckoo which we finally located sitting quietly. Everyone had great looks at the bird to observe the field marks including the red iris. Another highlight at Squaw Rock was a hard to locate Wilson’s Warbler. The third location today was the “wilderness” off of Seaport Drive. Here we heard our first of the season Willow Flycatcher.

Full lists of all three locations visited are below.

Quincy: Squantum Salt Pannes, Norfolk, US-MA May 20, 2015 5:50 AM - 6:30 AM

16 species

Canada Goose  2
American Black Duck  6
Mallard  4
Great Egret  1
Snowy Egret  2
Osprey  1
Killdeer  1
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Wilson's Phalarope  1     Female in full breeding plumage, A couple of photos can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/60295555@N06/
Herring Gull  2
Chimney Swift  4
Northern Mockingbird  1
Chipping Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1     carrying nesting material.
Red-winged Blackbird  6
House Sparrow  4

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23546457

Quincy: Squantum, Squaw Rock Park, Norfolk, US-MA May 20, 2015 6:40 AM - 8:40 AM

30 species

Mallard  2
Wild Turkey  1
Double-crested Cormorant  4
American Oystercatcher  1
Herring Gull  4
Mourning Dove  1
Black-billed Cuckoo  1     seen and heard well, down to red in eye!.
Chimney Swift  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Blue Jay  2
Black-capped Chickadee  2
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  9
Cedar Waxwing  2
Common Yellowthroat  2
American Redstart  2
Yellow Warbler  3
Black-throated Green Warbler  2
Wilson's Warbler  1
White-throated Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  4
Common Grackle  5
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Baltimore Oriole  1
American Goldfinch  2
House Sparrow  6

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23546533

Quincy: Seaport Drive / Commander Shea Boulevard, Norfolk, US-MA May 20, 2015 9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
15 species

American Black Duck  5
Killdeer  1
Herring Gull  2
Mourning Dove  3
Willow Flycatcher  1     very brief looks, but heard well.
Barn Swallow  2
American Robin  5
Gray Catbird  4
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow Warbler  10
Song Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  3
Red-winged Blackbird  4
Common Grackle  5
Brown-headed Cowbird  7

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23546531
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Christine Whitebread