Newbie advice for holiday Boston / Cape Cod (1 Viewer)

I am looking for advice about what to look out for and good places to go birdwatching during my summer holiday, which is late July / Early August. One week in Boston and a week in Cape Cod. I am fairly new to this game and just want to look out for the easy stuff!

Also, any advice about a bird ID book for this area.

Many thanks!

If you so to www.virtualbirder.com you can get weeklyish and daily updates of whats being seen in Mass - under the realbirds and b-mail section - you can also e-mail them and ask for advice. I'm sure you'll start to pick up on good sites - we do have some Mass birders on BF who will probably give you some advice. Also Try this website http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/usmassachusetts.htm

As you are new to US birds I'd recommend the Peterson Guide to Eastern Birds as the way he highlights key plumage details is a real aid when starting out, if you want to make a second purchase try the Sibley Guide to Eastern Birds which is to some degree a better book but I think a little over-complicated for begginers.

Luke

Neil,

There are many good places to bird in Massachusetts. Here is a site that provides a lot of information:

http://www.massbird.org/

I also recommend getting a book called "A Birder's Guide to Eastern Massachusetts" which describes numerous places to bird and what you are likely to see. It is available from the American Birding Association if you cannot find it locally:

http://americanbirding.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=ASBS&Product_Code=266

At that time of year, the most interesting birding is for shorebirds (called waders on your side of the pond), which are migrating south, terns and pelagic (open ocean) birds. The two best spots for shorebirds and terns are South Beach in Chatham on Cape Cod:

http://home.comcast.net/~odenews/SouthBeach.htm

and Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, aka Plum Island, near the northeastern corner of the state:

http://birdingamerica.com/Massachusetts/plum_island.htm

http://www.parkerriver.org/

For pelagic birding, Wilson's Storm-Petrel (and sometimes shearwaters) can often be seen from land at South Beach, Race Point in Provincetown on Cape Cod, Eastern Point in Gloucester and Andrew's Point in Rockport, the latter two north of Boston. All are described in the book and the site listed below. Your chances of seeing pelagic birds is even better if you get out on a whale watch boat, which operate from several locations in the state, including Boston. Even if you don't see any pelagic birds, seeing the whales is worthwhile. Local birding clubs have a couple of outings on whale watches scheduled during late July-early August. You are welcome to go even if you are not a member. Having other birders on board can be helpful if you are not familiar with pelagic birds -- shearwaters can be a little tricky at first and the naturalist working on the boat usually focus their attention on the whales. Lots of info about pelagic birding, including scheduled club trips, can be found here:

http://www.neseabirds.com/

Birding for land birds is not particularly interesting at that time of year, but if this is your first visit to the area, you should be able to find many of the more common resident species and summer breeders that would be new birds for you. In Boston itself, try the Arnold Arboretum and the Boston Nature Center.

http://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/visitors/visitors.html

http://www.massaudubon.org/Nature_Connection/Sanctuaries/Boston/index.php

Mt. Auburn Cemetery in nearby Watertown is more famous as a spring migration location, but it has many of the common residents in summer.

http://www.mountauburn.org/

All of these are accessible by public transportation. If you have a car and can get out of the city, there are many, many possibilities.

Re field guides, I agree with streatham's recommendations.

Good birding.

Glen

If you want to try the English Boston, nearby are Gibraltar point National nature reserve, RSPB Freiston shore and Frampton Marsh (at present busy with the "Full Monty"), and round the other side of the Wash RSPB Snettisham and Titchwell plus all the other Norfolk coastal reserves!

Hi Glen,

Thanks for such a comprehensive reply. My wife and I had planned to go whale watching and to combine that with some bird watching would be great.

Neil

streatham said:

As you are new to US birds I'd recommend the Peterson Guide to Eastern Birds as the way he highlights key plumage details is a real aid when starting out, if you want to make a second purchase try the Sibley Guide to Eastern Birds which is to some degree a better book but I think a little over-complicated for begginers.

Luke

Click to expand...

Luke / Glen - thanks for your very helpful advice. I am on day 3 of my two week holiday now. I checked out the books and chose Sibley's, mainly because the format is quite similar to the Collins Bird Guide I use for British birds. The first bird my wife and I identified, in the hotel grounds, was a Northern Mockingbird. Next up was a 'what the heck is that very very bright red bird ?' - a Northern Cardinal - again seen from the hotel, along with a Downy Woodpecker (f) near the hotel entrance!! A visit, as suggested, to the Arnold Arboretum, was great fun. We think we saw the following: Blue Jay, Brown Thrasher, a pair of Cardinals, Downy Woodpecker (?m, ?juvenile), Northern Flicker, Catbird. Two yellow finch-like birds seen, probably American Goldfinch. Also an unidentified grey topped, white underneath bird flitting around the lily pond - will have to post picture on return for ID! At the Boston Common we saw American Robin, a thrush I was unable to identify (? Wood Thrush - but had a lot more red on belly than Sibley's suggests), and two Double Crested Cormorant. My wife thought she saw a red bird with black wings accompanied by a yellow/green bird - too fast to positively ID but the best we could come up with is Scarlet Tanager. Is that possible, just outside Boston?

I have photos of most and will post some when I return home and have means to upload. These are all probably kids stuff to you US birdwatchers, but look very exotic to me.

Hi Neill,
You seem to be having a great time and I'm sure you'll find ID'ing the new birdlife gets easier with familiarisation.
It's a fine Country,have a wonderful time.

Neil Grubb said:

Two yellow finch-like birds seen, probably American Goldfinch.

Click to expand...

Neil - Good to hear you are having a good time and finding birds. American Goldfinch is the only yellow finch in the area and is common. If you are not sure it was a finch, Yellow Warbler would be a possibility.

Neil Grubb said:

Also an unidentified grey topped, white underneath bird flitting around the lily pond - will have to post picture on return for ID!

Click to expand...

Take a look at Eastern Kingbird in your book.

Neil Grubb said:

At the Boston Common we saw American Robin, a thrush I was unable to identify (? Wood Thrush - but had a lot more red on belly than Sibley's suggests)

Click to expand...

Sounds like a juvenile American Robin. No other local thrush has a red breast/belly, and no other thrush would be likely on the Common at this time of year.

Neil Grubb said:

My wife thought she saw a red bird with black wings accompanied by a yellow/green bird - too fast to positively ID but the best we could come up with is Scarlet Tanager. Is that possible, just outside Boston?

Click to expand...

Yes, they are fairly common breeders in wooded areas. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Glen

Hi Glen,

I am sure you're right on most counts! My photo of the Boston Common thrush does look like a juvenile American Robin. Also the Eastern Kingbird looks good for the lily pond bird. Not sure about the yellow birds, but did see a flock of American Goldfinch yesterday which I photographed - very pretty!

Will keep you posted as the holiday progresses!

Neil

Glen has already mentioned it, but can I just second the recommendation of the ABA guide. Nearly every state worth visiting for birds has one of their excellent guide books. A must-have.

Thanks Alastair, I will get hold of one.

Yesterday had a good couple of hours - new species include Chipping Sparrow and White Breasted (?chested) Nuthatch. Also, I have now seen and photographed both male and female Northern Flicker. I have photo'd a couple of sparrow-like birds I cannot confidently ID at present - will post on Birdforum on my return home, along with details of where seen. I think one of them may be a Song Sparrow.

Anywhere but grasslands and saltmarshes, Song Sparrow is by far the most likely sparrow at this time of year, along with the introduced House Sparrow. Glen

To all:

Thanks for all the helpful advice . I have just returned to Scotland today after a great holiday. All in, I think I saw around 30 new species, and got photographs of many of them. I will post a summary on the vacation reports section, if you are interested!