Sightings are listed in reverse chronological order. The email
address of birders submitting reports are listed in the
online email directory.
- 3/31/99 -- Hodges Village ACE, Oxford
- Highlights today included 1 Winter Wren, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 3 Wood Duck, 6 Tree
Swallow, and 2 Eastern Phoebe
(report from Paul Meleski).
- 3/31/99 -- Round Meadow Pond, Westminster
- The Tufted Duck
was still on Round Meadow Pond in Westminster this AM
at 7:10AM. A Drake Lesser Scaup has joined the Tufted and the Female
Scaup (perhaps a Lesser). The Female Scaup is now staying close to the
Drake Lesser and the Tufted Duck is following but at a respectfull
distance. Apparently she prefers her own kind over the flashy looking
European.
The birds were first seen near the cattails in the southwest corner of
the pond (back by the over pass) but had moved to the middle of the
pond when I left. They were "loosly" associated with 5 or 6
Buffleheads. (report from Tom Pirro).
- 3/30/99 -- Pierce Reservoir, Westminster
- A large concentration of ducks was observed at Pierce Reservoir on Minott
Road, Westminster including 56 Common Goldeneyes, 42 Ring-necked Ducks, 6
Hooded Mergansers and 4 Black Ducks. (report from Chuck Caron).
- 3/30/99 -- Round Meadow Pond, Westminster
- The TUFTED DUCK was seen again
at 10:00 am this morning by Rick Quimby and Dave Addison. It was
with a female scaup in the side of the pond near rt. 2. The tuft
is quite long and gets matted down, so you may not see the tuft until
the bird shakes its head. Park along rt. 2A, on the west side of the
pond, and scope the southern end of the pond. There were also 8
Bufflehead and 7 Common Mergansers. (report from Rick Quimby).
- 3/30/99 -- Round Meadow Pond, Westminster
- The Tufted Duck
was present again this morning 3-30-99 at Round
Meadow Pond in the Town of Westminster. Round Meadow Pond is located
at the junction of RTE 2 , Rte140 and RTE2A. Traveling on RTE 2 you'd
take exit 25 , you Hawkwatchers would know it as the Wach Mtn. exit.
Take exit 25 and follow RTE2a (toward Fitchburg) till RTE2A and the
pond come together (a short distance). Look for a small dirt pull off
on the other side of the road there is a sign for a soon to built
church and a fire hydrant hear.
The Tufted Duck was (both last night 6PM and this AM 7:15AM) near some
cattails in the Southwest corner of the pond. Looking back toward the
highway over pass and you'll notice a cattail marsh the Tufted Duck
has been actively feeding in this area in the company of a female
Scaup. Be cautuous when crossing the road as traffic moves quickly and
both pedestrians and drives have a limited view.
The bird was not there over the
weekend or Monday morning, so he must have come in during the day
yesterday. (report from Tom Pirro).
- 3/30/99 -- Broad Meadow Brook Sanctuary, Worcester
- Highlights included 1 KILLDEER (flying over),
2 EASTERN PHOEBE,
1 Carolina Wren,
1 Eastern Bluebird,
and 6 Brown-headed Cowbird. (report from John Liller).
- 3/29/99 -- Round Meadow Pond, Westminster
- The TUFTED DUCK has been located
again, this time in Round Meadow Pond in Westminster. It was seen
by Tom Pirro in the early evening 3/29/99, along with
a female Lesser Scaup.
Directions: Round Meadow Pond is at the junction of rts. 2 and
140, just north of rt. 2. Rt 2A borders the pond on the west side,
and this is probably the best place to view the duck. Good luck!
(report from Fran McMenemy, fide Tom Pirro).
- 3/28/99 -- Coachlace Pond, Clinton
- Update on the TUFTED DUCK , taken
from MASSBIRD:
Date: Sun, 28 Mar 1999 12:23:59 -0400
We checked Coachlace and the Waushacum Ponds at 4pm yesterday and did not
find the Tufted Duck I checked Coachlace this morning at 11am and the Tufted
Duck was not present. Still lots of Scaup!
Steve Moore
Northboro, Ma
barb620@world.std.com
- 3/28/99 -- Pond Survey, Worcester/Westboro/Northboro
- LEESVILLE POND, CITY OF WORCESTER (AM): Killdeer (pair).
Virtually no ducks here as there were two
bass fishing boats tooling around!
NOTRE DAME CEMETARY, WORCESTER: Wood Duck (5); Mallard (7); A. Black Duck (3); Eastern
Phoebe (1); A. Tree Sparrow (20); Song Sparrow (14).
HOPE CEMETARY, WORCESTER: Turkey Vulture (2 on the ground!).
BIOTECH POND, WORCESTER: Mallard (2); A. Robin (200+).
SUASCO, WESTBORO (PM):
Pied-Billed Grebe (1); MUTE SWAN (4 all ad.: an unusual location for this
species);Canada Goose (4); Wood Duck (1); Mallard (3); Ring-Necked Duck
(81); Common Goldeneye (5); Bufflehead (7);Common Merganser (5); Great Blue
Heron (6 birds/5 occ.nests); Red-Bellied Woodpecker (1m);Tree Swallow (7);
Tree Sparrow (8). Note: we did not see the Great Horned Owl on the nest BUT it
was cold and wet today and generally the bird hunkers down to protect the
eggs/young in such weather. Also, the nest chosen this year is particularly
deep, so perhaps, despite reports to the contrary, the owl may still be on the
nest that we originally saw her on.
CHAUNCY POND, WESTBORO:
Bufflehead (2); Common Merganser (8); Killdeer (1).
LITTLE CHAUNCY POND WMA, NORTHBORO:
Pied-Billed Grebe (2); Wood Duck (1); Mallard (10); A. Black Duck (2); Ring-
Necked Duck (38); Hooded Merganser (2); Red-Tailed Hawk (1); A. Kestrel (1);
Killdeer (1).
BARTLETT POND, NORTHBORO:
Pied-Billed Grebe (1); Great Blue Heron (1); Canada Goose (6); Wood Duck
(pair); Mallard (17); Ring-Necked Duck (50);Belted Kingfisher (1); Tree
Swallow (10+). (report from Mark Lynch).
- 3/27/99 -- Gardner Area
- Highlights from this weekend in the Gardner area were an Eastern
Phoebe , 6 Tree Swallows , 1 Winter Wren (singing) , at least 2 Horned
Larks (back at the Gardner Airport where they typically breed)
and a Turkey Vulture in flight during yesterday's heavy rains(!).
(report from Tom Pirro).
- 3/27/99 -- Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Worcester
- Highlights included 1 male Red-bellied Woodpecker,
1 Northern Flicker,
1 Carolina Wren, and
2 Eastern Bluebird. (report from John Liller).
- 3/27/99 -- Hodges Village ACE, Oxford
- Highlights from the census today included:
6 Wood Duck;
2 Green-winged Teal;
2 Hooded Merganser;
1 Killdeer;
1 Red-shouldered Hawk;
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk;
1 Eastern Phoebe;
4 Tree Swallow;
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch;
2 Eastern Bluebird. (report from Paul Meleski).
- 3/27/99 -- Edmund Hill Conservation area, Northboro
- At the Edmund Hill Conservation area in Northboro, Saturday, March 27,
7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m.. Of the 20 species of birds, notable were 2 Wood
Ducks, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers, 1 Eastern Phoebe, 1
Eastern Bluebird, 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1 Brown Creeper, and 1
Winter Wren.
Also, the Fox Sparrow continues to visit the shrub in my Northboro backyard.
(report from Ann Boover).
- 3/26/99 -- Coachlace Pond, Clinton
- The
TUFTED DUCK was seen again this morning (3/26) on Coachlace pond in Clinton.
The tuft on the Tufted Duck is quite
obvious, and it was seen along with Gr. Scaup
and a few Lesser Scaup. A brief scan of Wachusett Res.
from the large earthen barrier
(used for flood control by civil engineers ) off Rte 110 in Sterling
yielded nothing notable. (report from Tom Pirro).
Also last night in Gardner (3/25), 1
Saw Whet Owl responded to whistles off Kelton Street and 2 Great
Horned Owls were also calling (unprovoked) in the area.
(report from Tom Pirro).
- 3/26/99 -- Hodges Village ACE, Oxford
- Highlights this morning (3/26) at Hodges Village ACE in Oxford:
1 Swamp Sparrow;
12 Tree Swallow;
6 Wood Duck; and
2 Eastern Bluebird. Also, a night hike last night (3/25)
yielded 3 staging American Woodcock. (report from Paul Meleski).
- 3/25/99 -- Coachlace Pond, Clinton
- The TUFTED DUCK
was present on the pond at 9:00 am this morning.
It was in with a group of about 50 Scaup (both Greater and Lesser).
The tuft is quite long and the bird is easy to pick out. The lighting
is perfect in the morning, with the sun behind you, and you can also
study the head color of Greater vs. Lesser Scaup.
Directions: Go to the Clinton Middle School on rt. 110, near the border
of Sterling and Clinton. From there, go 0.1 miles north (toward
Clinton) to a parking lot on the right marked "Head Start". Park there,
and you will find a path directly across the road which leads down to
the pond. [Caution: there is a dog at the house on your left which
may bark at you and act aggresively, but I found that it was more
interested in making noise than biting my leg. To avoid the dog, you
can walk south along the road to a path directly across from the first
school driveway, and follow this around the other side of the house to
the pond.] (report from Rick Quimby).
- 3/24/99 -- Waushacum Ponds, Coachlace Pond, Sterling/Clinton
- A TUFTED DUCK
has been found again in the ponds just northwest
of the Wachusett Reservoir. It was found on East Waushacum Pond by
Bart Kamp on Tuesday evening (3/23), and was seen leaving the pond
flying southeast. The following morning (3/24) Fran McMenemy found
the TUFTED DUCK in Coachlace Pond, which is on the west side of route
110 in Clinton. It was with a group of about 30 Scaup that it often
associates with.
Also at East Waushacum Pond there was an Iceland Gull on Tuesday
(3/23) and both an Iceland and Glaucous Gull on Sunday (3/21).
(report from Fran McMenemy).
- 3/21/99 -- Pond Survey, Worcester
- In a survey of the city ponds, there were:Great Blue Heron (1);
Mute Swan (3);
Canada Goose (128);
Wood Duck (22);
Green-Winged Teal (10);
A. Black Duck (24);
Mallard (161);
Ring-Necked Duck (1);
Hooded Merganser (18);
Common Merganser (30);
Killdeer (2);
Ring-Biled Gull (137);
Herring Gull (18);
Great Black Backed Gull (1);
Belted Kingfisher (1). Other (non-water) birds included:
Turkey Vulture (1); Red-Tailed Hawk (4); Northern Flicker (1);
and Yellow-Rumped Warbler (1 still at Leesville Cemetary). (report from
Simon and Lisa Hennin, fide Mark Lynch).
- 3/23/99 -- Fish and Wildlife area, Westboro
- 8 American Woodcock were seen Tuesday evening, March 23, at The Westboro
Fish and Wildlife area off Rte. 135. The birds exhibited their wonderful
Woodcock flight display against the backdrop of a firey sunset.
(report from Ann Boover).
- 3/22/99 -- Rowley Hill, Sterling
- There were 2 great horned owls, 1
kestrel, 2 ruffed grouse , 8 golden crowned kinglets, 300 grackles , and 50
red winged black birds. (report from Richard Spedding).
- 3/20/99 -- Wright's Reservior, Gardner/Westminster line
- Highlights included 20 Ring-Necked Duck,
2 C. Goldeneye,
1 Bufflehead ,
4 Hooded Merg.,
5 Comm. Merg.,
and 1 Turkey Vulture.
An evening walk into the Smith Street entrance to High Ridge WMA
the following were highlights:
approx 25 Comm. Grackle,
approx 50 Red-Winged black bird,
2 Am. Woodcock, and
2 Barred Owl (calling).
Most bodies of water where still 80-95% ice covered but last
night's/today's warm rain should open things up a bit.
(report from Tom Pirro).
For previous sightings, see
Winter 1998/1999 Archives or
Archive Index