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.
