Deer Island Harborwalk

I wanted to be near the ocean today, but I wasn't in the mood for a long drive to the beach.  I decided to visit Deer Island.  I had spoken with a friend's husband about the park there recently, and he recommended it.  The weather was beautifully spring-like today, which was a nice change!

Before I even left the parking lot, I already saw a Red-Winged Blackbird, a Northern Mockingbird and a male and female Northern Cardinal.  Things were looking good for birding!

 Red-Winged Blackbird
(breeding plumage)

Northern Mockingbird

 Common Grackle

Long-Tailed Duck

This Long-Tailed Duck was grooming itself, which gave me a nice look at the long tail from which it gets its name!

Brant

again, in better light to show its coloring

Song Sparrow

Skyline view

The above view of Boston was taken from the Judge A. David Mazzone Memorial.  Judge Mazzone presided over the federal lawsuit brought by conservationists and others condemning the condition of Boston Harbor (known as the filthiest harbor in America in the 1980s). His landmark rulings led to a massive public works project to restore the Harbor as a natural resource.  The cleanup is recognized as one of the nation's greatest environmental success stories.  After the judge died, the Mass Water Resource Authority Board of Directors voted to name the park land surrounding the new water treatment plant after Judge Mazzone.  It was dedicated in 2007.

Surf Scoter

Red-Breasted Merganser

Common Loon 

(molting into breeding plumage)

The Graves Lighthouse
(Boston Harbor's outermost island)

Boston Light

Little Brewster Island

Just a few sea ducks!

 Great Black-Backed Gulls

 Glaucous Gull

 the water treatment plant

 Beantown

access from the mainland

 Ring-Billed Gull

Someone in the parking lot at the Winthrop Ferry was tossing food out the window of their car.  This gull landed near me and seemed very upset that I wasn't throwing food, too.