Birding in Concord

I made an attempt to see the LeConte's Sparrow reported over in Concord, MA.  I parked up at the lot next to the historic house on the main road, then walked over to Shadyside Avenue and down the narrow little road until I got to where 4 other birders were already in position with binoculars.  They had already been there for half an hour and had not had any luck.  There were sparrows along the edge of the road, but none were THE sparrow.  Oh well!

Song Sparrow

These birds would fly out of the brush to the edge of the road without much fear of the people standing there waiting for THE sparrow.  A huge noisy plow went by and they only disappeared for a few minutes before coming back to scratch at the edge again.

American Tree Sparrow

Next, I drove over to Great Meadows NWR.  Just as I arrived, every other car in the parking lot was leaving.  Let me just say now that they were the wise ones.   The wind was whipping across the impoundments with full gale force.  It was crazy.  My eyes and nose streamed from the cold.

That is blowing snow, not fog!

I couldn't go on.  I turned back, stopping only when I saw a Marsh Wren around the bridge.  That was worth stopping for!

Marsh Wren

The trail - lots of blowing snow

It was cold today - 22 degrees when I went out at 1:30 pm and some serious wind chill made it much worse.  The wind was fierce.  The sun was not doing its job this afternoon either......

Yes, that is the sun.  Pretty weak, if you ask me!