BwBTC Trip

What a fine day out!  Met some great people, shared birding pics, ideas, methods, jokes, and life stories.  You really can't get any better then that.  I'll take all the bird nerd jokes you can throw at me if every birding adventure was as spectacular.  I took my sister, Jane with me on the trip.  Great addition.....always a hoot...a little birding joke.  Her enthusiasm is always contagious.  They say people change when you get older, but I'm not so sure.  Jane was putting frogs in her pocket and losing them in the house from the time she was 3 and I think she picked one or two up on this trip.  Ribit!!!

Back to the trip....Dawn, of Dawn's Bloggity Blog organized the trip with her husband Jeff.  What a fabulous idea!!!  Also in attendance was my sister Jane @ The Backyard Naturalist, Catie from Birdinggirl;
Larry from the Brownstone Birding blog; Dan @ Nature Observances by Forestal and Susan from the Nature of Framingham.

Charlestown Breakway was interesting.  Got alittle concerned seeing the current coming in to the breakway, but we skirted the area until we got in to the sandbars.  There was a group of birders already on the sandbar and they shared what they found. 

Bairds Sandpiper ? 

We had a fun debate while all together whether this was a immature Sanderling or a Bairds Sandpiper. 

What are your thoughts now? 

White Rumped Sandpiper....got alittle embarrassed checking out her rump!  Is it white?  Yup

Great Blue Heron

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Following the breakway, we went and had lunch together.  I shared some photos from my Mississippi trip which I'll be posting shortly.  We had a tough time IDing a Blue-gray gnatcatcher.  Once we finished lunch we migrated over to Trumstum Pond.  It was really slow at first.  One bird at a time, but by the end of the day, the trees exploded with Warblers, Vireos and associated small perching birds.  There were so many I couldn't even focus.  Jane got a headache from trying to follow them(warts too from the frogs in her pocket.)  I got some fairly decent pictures. 

Black-billed Cuckoo

Immature Magnolia Warbler

Immature Ringnecked Pheasant

And the final news, I found a little friend embedded in my thigh today.  Took a visit to the doctors with symptoms of Lyme Disease.  With out much tripidation, the doctor said yep you have it.  Small tick, big red blotch!  Shit-This is the third time.  I need a new hobby.  Video games maybe.  Probably get carpal tunnel.  :)  I can't wait to go out with this group again. Birding anybody?