Boston Flora

Tag: bird watching

  • Sunday, April 21, 8:15 am – 10:15 am – Early Spring Warbler Outing at Mt. Auburn Cemetery

    Join Feminist Bird Club Boston for an early spring outing at Mount Auburn Cemetery. Open to all birding levels and experience- beginners especially welcome! We’ll meet up at 8:15 a.m. by the front gates of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.

    Route and Accessibility

    The cemetery has relatively even dirt, grass, and mulch paths, with a few gradual ups and downs. There are also flat paved roads throughout the cemetery, and we can certainly keep to those if that’s better for anyone. There are places to stop and sit and the total distance travelled will be 1.5-2 miles.

    Considerations and Travel

    We’ll have some extra binoculars to share. There are public restrooms and a water fountain near the entrance. Parking is available throughout the cemetery; you can park on any road without a green line, but please be sure to park on the pavement, not the grass. The cemetery is also accessible by public transit with nearby stops for the 71, 73, and 75 buses.

    Any questions, please email feministbirdclubboston@gmail.com or message us on the Facebook page or Instagram account.

    Screenshot

  • Monday, July 18, 7:00 pm – Lost Among the Birds

    In 2013, Boston birder Neil Hayward traveled almost 250,000 miles by plane, car, boat, and kayak, as well as almost 10 feet vertically up a tree (where, you’ll be glad to hear, he successfully navigated his way back down). His quixotic quest: to see birds. His peregrinations took him to the corners of this vast continent: Barrow in the leaden, frozen north; the Dry Tortugas, dangling off the Florida Keys to the south; Newfoundland, poking out to the east; and tiny Adak, an island adrift in the volcanic Aleutian chain of the west. And a place they call New Jersey. By the year’s end, he’d netted some 749 species of bird and broken an historic record many thought was unbreakable.

    Neil Hayward is a lifelong birder with a passion for science and travel. He grew up in the UK, where birding ranks high among soccer, tea, and sarcasm as national pastimes. After gaining a Ph.D. in genetics at Cambridge University, he joined a start-up biotech company and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, as the managing director for the US business. He also brought his binoculars and quickly started using them. In 2011, he left his job to set up his own biotechnology consulting company. Neil will speak at Porter Square Books, 25 White Street in Cambridge, on Monday, July 18, and will sign copies of his new book Lost Among the Birds. For more information visit www.portersquarebooks.com.

  • Saturday, April 27, 7:30 am – Warblers at Mount Auburn

    Visit the beautiful historic Mount Auburn Cemetery, a famous spring hotspot for migrating songbirds, with the Athol Bird & Nature Club on Saturday, April 27. Meet at the gate of the cemetery at 7:30 a.m. If time allows, you’ll also visit the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Bring snacks or a lunch, and water. Info: Joan or Larry Duprey, 978-249-4964. Free.  Photo from www.cs.uiowa.edu.

    http://homepage.cs.uiowa.edu/~bbaron/Life-List-July-2008/slides/Warbler,%20Black-and-white,%202008-05142397%20Mount%20Auburn%20Cemetery,%20MA.jpg

  • Saturday, February 5 – Sunday, February 6 – Focus on Feeders

    Bird feeding has become an extremely popular winter activity in our region. Harnessing that interest, Mass Audubon and its partners have enlisted enthusiastic feeder watchers of all ages to track trends in abundance of winter feeder bird species for more than 40 years.  Observations from the bird watching public contribute to a growing database that can provide early warning signs on changes in abundance of bird species that visit feeders.

    For example, feeder watching in Massachusetts has helped document the decline of the House Finch as a result of conjunctivitis, and the northward expansion of the Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, and Carolina Wren in response to warmer winters.  The Mass Audubon staff especially appreciate reading the many comments submitted by participants as they can help them interpret results (e.g., “Feeder birds down this year” or “where are all my redpolls?”). The wildlife photos often sent in with Focus on Feeders observations are great, too!

    Step 1: During the weekend of February 5 and 6, simply note the diversity and number of each species in view at any one time.

    Step 2: Record your observations on the official Focus on Feeders Report Form (PDF 597K) found on the Mass Audubon website and either mail it to Mass Audubon or submit your findings online (starting February 5).

    Step 3: Get your camera ready. They’ll award prizes in several categories for wildlife photographs submitted with bird observations. Winning photographs will also appear on the Mass Audubon website. All wildlife photos are welcome and need not be limited to birds. Amateur photographers only, please. All photos submitted become the property of Mass Audubon.  2010 Best Overall Photo below was taken by Harry Becker.

    Step 4: Ask your friends and neighbors to join the fun, as the value of the data collected increases with the number of participants. The names of all those who report their observations will be entered into a drawing to win one of several prizes, including Mass Audubon baseball caps and more.

    Learn about the history of feeder watching in Massachusetts, or see past results.  To learn more please email focusonfeeders@massaudubon.org.

    Harry Becker, A Visual Feast (Cedar Waxwings)