Monday, October 16, 2006
Is anyone else out there alive?
I really need to spend more time with this blog, but Exitfare, Stranded In Stereo and work frequently get in the way of birding, but this weekend I managed to get out twice. On Saturday I rolled out to Carson Beach and Castle Island in South Boston, and things were quite laid back. Saw some Forster's Terns, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls and maybe a few others things. Can't quite remember off the top of my head. Sunday was the better day as I started off by taking the train to Orient Heights on the Blue Line in hopes of hopping on the bus to Winthrop, specifically to check out the shoreline and "five sisters" for gulls, plovers, eiders and scoters.
I waited for the bus for 15 minutes or so, and after deciding that it didn't run on Sundays, I just got back on the train and went to Belle Isle. I started out doing my normal loop, ran into another birder who mentioned that Soheil Zendeh was there, a name that I recognized from the Massbird list. I didn't catch that much -- Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler [western race], Dark-eyed Junco and Lesser Yellowlegs, and when I got to the boardwalk, I started chatting with Soheil, one of the more knowledgeable birders I've met in the Boston area. Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned that I had been looking for Common Eiders and White-winged Scoters the day before because they would both be life birds for me, and he was nice enough to offer to take me to a few spots around Belle Isle, Revere and Winthrop where I might see these and other species.
Soheil is a total pro and his expertise of the area proved it -- our first stop on a lookout over the ocean in Revere near the Winthrop line netted us hundreds of gulls [Ring-billed, Greater Black-backed and Herring, most likely other species], 1000+ Double-crested Cormorants, Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Loon [second time I've ever seen one] and the two lifers -- two rafts of several White-winged Scoters and a few Common Eiders.
Afterwards, we headed into Winthrop, got a history lesson on why people in the town are dumb and got an introduction to the "five sisters," which are several groupings of piles of rock just off the shore that are often filled with gulls, ducks and shorebirds. Caught some gulls, including Herring, Ring-billed and Laughing, as well as two winter plumaged Black-bellied Plovers. After a few more stops, I got back on the Blue Line at Orient Heights and headed back to Allston. I will be headed to the Victory Gardens at some point this week to check out the influx of sparrows, especially looking for Savannahs and Vespers, as well as the Blue Grosbeak.
I waited for the bus for 15 minutes or so, and after deciding that it didn't run on Sundays, I just got back on the train and went to Belle Isle. I started out doing my normal loop, ran into another birder who mentioned that Soheil Zendeh was there, a name that I recognized from the Massbird list. I didn't catch that much -- Yellow-rumped Warbler, Palm Warbler [western race], Dark-eyed Junco and Lesser Yellowlegs, and when I got to the boardwalk, I started chatting with Soheil, one of the more knowledgeable birders I've met in the Boston area. Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned that I had been looking for Common Eiders and White-winged Scoters the day before because they would both be life birds for me, and he was nice enough to offer to take me to a few spots around Belle Isle, Revere and Winthrop where I might see these and other species.
Soheil is a total pro and his expertise of the area proved it -- our first stop on a lookout over the ocean in Revere near the Winthrop line netted us hundreds of gulls [Ring-billed, Greater Black-backed and Herring, most likely other species], 1000+ Double-crested Cormorants, Red-breasted Mergansers, a Red-throated Loon [second time I've ever seen one] and the two lifers -- two rafts of several White-winged Scoters and a few Common Eiders.
Afterwards, we headed into Winthrop, got a history lesson on why people in the town are dumb and got an introduction to the "five sisters," which are several groupings of piles of rock just off the shore that are often filled with gulls, ducks and shorebirds. Caught some gulls, including Herring, Ring-billed and Laughing, as well as two winter plumaged Black-bellied Plovers. After a few more stops, I got back on the Blue Line at Orient Heights and headed back to Allston. I will be headed to the Victory Gardens at some point this week to check out the influx of sparrows, especially looking for Savannahs and Vespers, as well as the Blue Grosbeak.
# posted by Dany @ 10:31 
