Road Trips (2): Quincy MA

Ruby on rail

Our other road trip this summer was to Quincy, Massachusetts for our favorite science-fiction convention, Readercon, which I blogged about a couple of years ago.

such purple, very finch, wow

Our friends Barbara and Jim drove us up, and as we do every year we stopped at Traveler Food and Books in Union CT (they seem to have no website, but here's a newspaper story about them). They have good food, a used bookstore in the basement, and they give away free books with every meal; highly recommended.

They also have bird feeders right outside their window, and the feeders are quite active.

eating on the run

So we got in some bird-watching while we ate. (I don't seem to have ever blogged about the place before; how odd.)

looking sharp

Even through the window, I got some pretty decent photos. The hummingbird feeder was used by four birds, which I think were a female with two fledglings, and a male.

showing the kid the ropes

Telling a female from a juvenile is hard with Ruby-Throateds, but I saw one plain-throated bird bird show up with another on two occasions, and the second bird I think was different each time.

what the heck, one more hummingbird photo

And the male came from the opposite direction. Males have nothing to do with raising the young, anyway.

Readercon used to be in Burlington MA, and we'd go to Middlesex Fells on the first morning before the con began. This year, we went instead to the nearby Blue Hills Reservation. It seems very nice, but we got there a bit late in the morning, so the birding was slow. We did hear a bunch of singing Scarlet Tanagers, but nothing presented itself for a good photo.

full bloom of youth

The hotel in Quincy was set on the top of a hill, and at the bottom was a nice pond. Ther were geese and ducks, of course, and a Green Heron hunted on the far side. Closer up, the Red-Winged Blackbirds were abundant, including the interesting bird above, one of a group of what appeared to all be young males. Note the epaulettes; I don't think I've seen them so yellow before.

color photo, black-and-white scene

Also there were chickadees chasing each other around in low trees. This fellow had a lot to say, both singing and scolding.

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.