Duck, duck, goose

Some ducks from the Mystic this morning.  First up, the cheerful-looking ruddy duck.

Next, a new species for me, American widgeon:

And finally, some geese:

Egrets and regrets

If there's any requirement more basic to birdwatching than getting outside, I don't know what it is. But all spring and summer, I was so busy that I scarcely saw the outdoors, except through my windshield.  Finally, last Sunday, I was able to go for a walk on the Mystic, as I used to do religiously, before I got so busy.

By way of reward, I came on this great egret, just downstream of the dam. Egrets have been abundant this summer in the Rumney Marsh (one of the things I've seen quite a bit of from my car window), but I've never seen an egret of any kind here in Somerville before.

I'm still plenty busy, but I hope to see at least a little migratory action this September. I mostly missed out on May, to the detriment of my list. (This has been something of a disastrous year for my list. In fact, great egret is one of only three new additions, against two subtractions. But at least, thanks to great egret, I'll end my year in the black.)

Just got to get outside.

First warbler

The first warbler of spring appeared this morning.  If you chose ovenbird in the office pool, you're looking pretty good right about now.

Uncommon loons

Whatever else you may say about loons, they're not particularly common here in Somerville.  The two in the photo above are only the second and third I've ever seen, and the first was last week.  I'm led to reflect that there's something of an inverse relationship between the fact of a species having the attribute of "common," and the likelihood you'll see it in Somerville.

In fact, looking over this list of Massachusetts birds with "common" in their name, there's only one I'd consider halfway common in Somerville:

Common chaffinch:  Never seen one, unsurprisingly, since it's an Old World bird, mostly
Common cuckoo:  Nope
Common eider:  Only on a single occasion
Common gallinule:  Never
Common goldeneye:  Not at all common, though I saw more this winter than I had ever seen
Common grackle:  The only one I'd call common:  numerous in summer, but not widespread
Common ground-dove:  No
Common loon:  See above
Common merganser:  Not common, but not rare either, on the Mystic in winter
Common murre:  No
Common nighthawk:  No
Common raven:  No
Common redpoll:  No
Common ringed plover:  No
Common tern:  Once in a blue moon
Common yellowthroat:  Not numerous, but they do pass through, and there was a breeding pair near Assembly Square last summer.

Meanwhile, it is officially spring, though wintry in weather, so here's a bird who speaks of seasonal indecision:  a goldfinch still quite a few karats away from its summer plumage.

State of the list, 2014

Redhead is the latest addition to the Somerville list, though it properly belongs to 2015.  When I last gave an accounting of the list, in October of 2013, I had 104 species, having added species at a furious clip over the previous year.  In 2014, I tapered off a bit, not unnaturally, but still added 11 species:  blue-headed vireo, brown thrasher, chestnut-sided warbler, eastern towhee, golden-crowned kinglet, great cormorant, northern rough-winged swallow, osprey, tree swallow, winter wren, and wood thrush.  I now have 120 total, including the redhead. I'd be a bit stunned if I added more than half a dozen new species this year, but we'll see.

I've also substantially updated the species list, with a new introductory tab, and revised entries for each bird to give some idea of its numbers here in Somerville, and whether it nests here.  This data is provisional, based on my best knowledge, but I think gives a truer picture of each bird's place here.