Thanks to helpful advice from other BirdForum members, this was a fantastic holiday for bird-spotting! I am a relative newcomer to the hobby, but had a great time attempting to identify the native birds during a holiday which comprised a week in Boston (Woburn) and a week in Cape Cod (Barnstable). This was not primarily a bird-watching holiday but luckily my wife sleeps late, so I got a chance to look at the birds most mornings. We both enjoyed looking out for birds during visits to Boston Common, the Arnold Arboretum and during Kayaking trips at Cape Cod.
The numbers are for new species I haven't seen previously. Some occur in Europe as well as the US. As you can see, more than 30 new birds, most of them photographed. I have attached a couple of pics. Can anyone identify the sparrow-like bird for me ? It doesn't look right for a chipping sparrow but has a reddish cap. And the one with the surprised-looking sparrow - is that just a song-sparrow ?
On arrival at the hotel in Woburn, it became apparent this might be a good location to see some birds, the hotel being surrounded by deciduous trees. The first sighting was of a Northern Mockingbird (1) which had a beautiful musical song. On the wood margins we saw a grey bird that behaved very like our own European blackbird; when it mewed at me I realised this was a Grey Catbird (2) ! Next up was a flash of brilliant red high in the trees; it was a day or so before I got a proper view of the male Northern Cardinal (3); later in the holiday I obtained photos of male, female and juvenile cardinals. What a stunning red colour!! The female's beak looks like a plastic joke nose, stuck on its head! The song was very characteristic - pew pew pew - and we soon learned how to recognise when Cardinals were around. On the way to Einstein's Bagels we saw a flock of American Goldfinch (4) perched in an overgrown field. Completely different to our European Goldfinch (which I saw, sadly, caged up in a very poor quality pet store). We subsequently became acquainted with the undulating flight and call - chirrup (dip) chirrup (dip)! At Cape Cod I snapped a nice shot of a juvenile Goldfinch being fed. While waiting for the shuttle bus we saw a tiny Downy Woodpecker (5) in the tree next to hotel reception, and subsequently saw a juvenile at the Arnold Arboretum and several more later in the holiday! These are so much less shy than the Greater Spotted Woodpecker that frequents our continent.
A couple of trips to the Arnold Arboretum increased the count further - we saw several Eastern Kingbird (6) fluttering around the lily pond, including a juvenile with its dirty grey chest. Also saw both Song Sparrow (7) and Chipping Sparrow (8) with its beautiful red crown and dark eye line. On the tree trunks we saw our first Northern Flicker (9), a female who had been foraging in front of our noses for around 10 minutes in the middle of a flock of European Starling with our noticing. Also a White-Chested Nuthatch (10) entertained us for several minutes at close quarters. A gang of noisy but stunning Blue Jays (11) passed by, the blue catching the sun to show off the gorgeous back and tail plumage. Several colourful American Robin (12), including the juveniles which I initially took to be thrushes, were seen here and on the Boston Common. A rustling noise and flash of rust colour attracted us to a bush, out of which emerged a strange looking brown thrush-like bird with a fanned tail - later identified as a Brown Thrasher (13) - what a great name!
In the hotel grounds my wife saw a black-winged redbird (!) in flight, accompanied by a yellow-green bird with dark wings, which we took to be Scarlet Tanager (14). Never got the opportunity to photograph one, although we did see a female quite close up later on in the week. Finally, for Boston, a pair of Mourning Doves (15) landed in the grass near our window.
Then we had five days at Hyannis / Barnstable in Cape Cod. The hotel was again surrounded by woodland, and I was able to persuade the manager that my camera was directed outside the hotel grounds and not toward the guest bedrooms! These grounds were a hotbed for new birds (and I had more time). In the first two days alone I saw several Great Crested Flycatcher (16) perched in the bushes, and making short, rapid flights (presumably to catch food) prior to returning to the same perch. A male Flicker seemed to enjoy posing for the camera in the same area. Red-chested male House Finches (17) mixed with flocks of House Sparrows on the gravel of the parking lot. Black Capped Chickadee (18) were very abundant but also quite difficult to photograph as they wouldn't sit still! I saw two Yellow Warblers (19) in the thick undergrowth while I was trying to photograph the very flighty Tufted Titmice (20) which I identifed after the event from some rather poor pictures.
A Kayaking trip through the salt marshes at the Parker River was very interesting, partly thanks to our excellent guide, John Nicholson of Kayak Tours in West Yarmouth. We saw several Green Heron (21) and Double Crested Cormorant (22) feeding, including a juvenile of the latter. Later we saw both Piping Plover (23) and Semipalmated Plover (24) before cruising under an Osprey nest to get the best Osprey views we have ever seen! On a later Kayak trip we had an Osprey dive not far from the Kayak! On the way back we saw a Whimbrel (25) and a Greater Yellowlegs (26), and several Willet (27). A great sight was a tiny Least Tern (28) plunge-diving in the salt marshes. On the second Kayak Trip, to Sandy Neck, a huge sand-bar across the bay from Barnstable, we worked hard against the wind and tide to make land and then see a pair of Ruddy Turnstone (29) on the shingle beach and two Least Sandpiper (30) on the sand. Turnstone occur in Europe as well, but I haven't seen one there as I haven't done any shore bird-watching yet, as I'm still trying to learn my local woodland birds! A Snowy Egret (31) was seen in the distance on the return, but the photograph was very poor! The biggest bird I have ever seen in my life was the Great Blue Heron (32) - a long way away but absolutely massive!
And finally - outside Dunkin Donuts I realised that when some of the boring black birds caught the sun, they had beautiful iridescent heads and necks - Common Grackle (33), and some of the other boring black birds had red and yellow flecks on their wings. I thought the female Red-Winged Blackbird (34) were very striking birds.
So a great holiday overall - the whale watching was fabulous! Thank you to Streatham and Glen Tepke for their suggestions on birding sites and bird guides. If anyone in the UK is considering Massachussetts for a holiday with bird-watching interest, I'd recommend it!!
Nice report, Neil. Sounds like you had a great time. Makes me pine for the States again!
Hi Neil,
It sounds like you had a great trip and got to see some interesting birds. I enjoyed reading your trip report. Nice photos!
Northern Cardinal, Song Sparrow, I guess (they are so variable!),.... and I think the third photo might be a Pine Siskin and not a sparrow.
For these reasons: the general shape of the bird, the bill to me looks more like a siskin than a sparrow, the feather pattern and coloration also suggest Pine Siskin. Here in Missouri I only see these siskins in the winter, but from the range maps it looks like they are year round residents in Massachussetts. The "red" coloration on the head is the only thing that does not quite fit. Could it be some sort of anomaly? Perhaps a reflection or something?
....and Great Crested Flycatcher.