Looking Back: 2Q2013

New Butterflies:

1. Checkered White (AZ)
2. Frosted Elfin
3. Mormon Metal-Mark (AZ)
4. Northern Cloudywing
5. Northern White-Skipper (AZ)
6. Red-Spotted Purple
7. Spicebush Swallowtail
8. Western Tiger Swallowtail (AZ)
9. White Checkered-Skipper (AZ)
10. Wild Indigo Duskywing

Favorite new Massachusetts butterfly:  Red-Spotted Purple

New Places:

Auburn Bird Banding Project, Auburn, MA
Great Meadow, Arlington, MA
Lamson Road, Foxboro, MA
Pine Hill - Lancaster, MA
Rocky Hill Wildlife Sanctuary, Groton, MA
Quincy Salt Pannes, Quincy, MA
Stainton Wildlife Refuge, Ocean City, NJ
Waters and Weir Field, Framingham, MA


Biggest Surprise:

Hands down, my biggest surprise this quarter was the mink that popped up out of the water right next to me at Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary, complete with a huge catfish between its jaws.

Favorite Photos:

New Birds:

1. American Bittern (call only - not seen)
2. American Pipit 
3. American Redstart
4. Atlantic Puffin 
5. Barred Owl
6. Black-Billed Cuckoo (call only - not seen)
7. Black-Legged Kittiwake 
8. Black-Throated Blue Warbler
9. Blackpoll Warbler
10. Black Phoebe
11. Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
12. Blue-Headed Vireo
13. Blue-Winged Teal
14. Boat-Tailed Grackle
15. Bobolink
16. Bonaparte's Gull 
17. Bridled Titmouse
18. Caspian Tern
19. Chimney Sweep 
20. Dovekie 
21. Dunlin
22. Eastern Whip-poor-will (call only)
23. Glossy Ibis
24. Great Cormorant 
25. Greater Scaup 
26. Harlequin Duck 
27. Hooded Warbler
28. Horned Grebe 
29. Iceland Gull
30. Ipswich Savannah Sparrow 
31. Lesser Yellowlegs
32. Long-Tailed Duck     
33. Northern Gannet 
34. Northern Shoveler
35. Northern Shrike 
36. Northern Waterthrush
37. Orchard Oriole
38. Pectoral Sandpiper 
39. Pine Grosbeak 
40. Prairie Warbler
41. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
42. Ruffed Grouse
43. Sharp-Shinned Hawk 
44. Snow Bunting 
45. Snow Goose         
46. Snowy Egret  
47. Spotted Towhee
48. Surf Scoter 
49. Veery
50. Virginia Rail 
51. Warbling Vireo
52. White-Crowned Sparrow
53. White-Faced Ibis
54. Willet               
55. Wilson's Snipe 
56. Wilson's Warbler
57. Yellow Warbler

My bird list to date for 2013 stands at 172, with 52 new birds added to my life list!

My yard list for 2013 has grown to 32.  A Rose-Breasted Grosbeak was a new addition to my yard list and my life list.  A double whammy!

My favorite bird of 2Q2013 is:   Yellow Warbler!

After never having seen one before, I was surprised to keep seeing this sweet little warbler everywhere I went.....Great Meadows NWR, Bolton Flats, Sudbury Reservoir Trail, Auburn Bird Banding Project (but not one of the banded bunch)...and I even saw one building her nest!   I hope I never get bored with this bright little yellow beauty!