Quel bon vent

Every year, in early May, there's a day when everything arrives at once.  Yesterday, the 11th, was that day.  I clocked four species of warbler:  yellow-rumped (above); Cape May:

...northern parula:

...and common yellowthroat:

The photography, as you'll notice, is what we might call security-camera quality:  just sufficient to identify the guilty.

But the warblers were not even all of it.  The catbirds came back, as did the chimney swifts, and we had a couple of white-throated sparrows, some chipping sparrows, a ruby-crowned kinglet, a Swainson's thrush up by the monument, and even, strangely enough, an osprey circling overhead:

And then today, nothing.

State of the list, 2015

Before I get to the halfway point of 2016, I should give an account of the state of my Somerville list as of 2015.  As I noted before, this was not a good year for me, birdwatching-wise.  Lack of time outdoors translated into a meager tally of new species.  I only had five (American wigeon, common loon, great egret, green heron, and redhead), against two species I deaccessioned (hooded warbler and Philadelphia vireo, in both cases because I lost confidence that I had really seen them).  All the ones I added were waterbirds, as it happens.

For 2016 I have a couple new species, and I'm hoping that over the next few weeks, I'll pick up a few migrants I haven't yet seen.

Trash day

Despite appearances, this palm warbler is not keeping up with the Red Sox.  It's actually looking for its breakfast among the river of trash that lines the I-93 embankment.

On the subject of rivers of trash, the Mystic River Watershed Association is having a river cleanup on Saturday, April 30.  Be there!

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.