Middlesex Fells

Readercon's programming started on Thursday evening, so we had a day for non-con-related fun.  We went to Middlesex Fells Reservation, a vast park around a group of reservoirs.  We arrived at the "Lower Sheepfold", and were greeted by a flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds, who roamed the grass undeterred by the off-leash dogs (the Sheepfold is a designated off-leash area).  Further in, Chipping Sparrows and Wood Thrush sang, and a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird flew across the path.

We found a path down to  a reservoir.  Surprisingly, there weren't any waterfowl or shorebirds in sight. Titmice and Chickadees sported in the pines, and we saw two Downy Woodpeckers chasing each other.

Dueling Downys

I was expecting nesting warblers, but didn't see any.  Perhaps we  were in the wrong place, or not looking in the right habitat.  We'll be better prepared when we go back next year.

There were chipping Sparrows at the edge of the parking lot when we returned, an adult and a streaky-breasted juvenile.

Birds where you find them

Every year, my wife and I go to Readercon, a literary Science Fiction convention in Burlington, Massachusetts. It's held at a Marriott hotel in the middle of a bunch of corporate campuses, about a mile from a huge mall. There are lawns and some trees, but it's doesn't look like a promising area.

Behind the hotel, between its parking lot and the parking lot of the office building next door, is a scruffy little wood, maybe an acre. There's a little pool, a puddle really, which I think is fed by the overflow pipe for the hotel swimming pool. There's a path between the parking lots through the wood, and I like to take a little walk there when there's an hour without any panels I want to see.

There are always a few birds around--Nuthatches, Robins, Mourning Doves, Catbirds. Sometimes a cardinal sings from someplace across the road, or a Titmouse.

Friday I spotted a little movement down in the shrubs at the edge of that puddle. Something small and furtive. Then I heard a rattling call, like the dial of a rotary phone. What could that be?

I waited. A catbird sang nearby, a nuthatch called further away. Then a wren popped up on a low branch.

what's a nice bird like you?

Big white eyestripe, like a Carolina, but pale below and a grayer brown on top than a Carolina...Marsh Wren? It turned on the branch, and I had a glimpse of white stripes on the upper back. It got my camera up and the bird turned to face me, and sang that rotary trill again, then flew off right and down and sang again and again as it moved farther away.

That's only the second Marsh Wren I've ever seen. They're rarely seen in New York--it was a big deal when one showed up in Central Park on migration last year. I think they're common breeders in Massachusetts, but I'd never thought to find one behind a hotel. Birds are where you find them.