Yesterday's trip to Mt. Auburn was a happy success. Although it was slow for Mt. Auburn, a slow day at Mt. Auburn pretty much beats a good day anywhere else. 
May Day began at 6:30 AM when I dragged myself out of bed and into the shower. It had been a lonely restless night–my family had gone to visit relatives for the weekend leaving me with the house to myself (well myself and our pets!)
After showering I quickly saw to it that the animals were fed and watered and given the necessary outside time. I had packed my birding scope, field guides, and optics into the car the night before. So all I needed to do was grab some quick directions from the 'Net and then hit the road. Stopping only for some cash and some fruit juice and snacks, I headed off to Chelmsford to pick up my friends. Sadly Brian could not come as he had commitments that required he stay home, but his wife Lynnea (not to be confused with my daughter Lynnea) and her daughter Maya (not to be confused with my cat Maya) were still able to go.
So we piled into the Purple Rocket and headed for Mt. Auburn, arriving there almost exactly at 9 AM. The sky was basically clear, and it was very sunny and warm. The trees were very much abud and some even leafy, and it wasn't too windy. All in all, perfect weather.
I parked at my favorite spot on Palm Ave right near the cemetery tower overlooking ”the Dell” (a terraced basin with a pool at the bottom). I always like to start in the Dell, as there's usually a lot of activity there. Once out of the car we listened to the birdcalls and then I helped Lynnea and Maya get their optics calibrated.
Our first bird was an Eastern Towhee (formerly the Rufous-sided Towhee) poking about in the detritus under a large forsythia bush about 10 yards from where we parked. It was a pretty good view of the normally shy bird, and a good opportunity for Maya and Lynnea to practice sighting the bird through their optics. After a minute or two, Maya said “Okay we saw the Towhee, let's go.” 
Birding is tough for young kids–so much standing still and waiting doesn't tend to sit well with little ones who wanna be on the go.
The Dell was basically silent without much activity. I overheard a few birders remarking that the real action was over at Halcyon Pond today, and so I planned to swing that way later. After moving through the Dell we had some really good spots of our first two warblers of the day: Black and White Warbler and the ubiquitous Yellow-rumped Warbler. We got some upclose time with a boisterous Northern Mockingbird, and enjoyed a number of common birds.
From there we made our way to Willow Pond, where some other birders directed us to a gorgeous male Baltimore Oriole in full breeding plumage. He was a sight to see with his tangerine breast all puffed out while he sang (throughout the day we would see a lot of male Baltimore Orioles.)
As it was Lynnea's first time birding, she looked with fresh eyes on many common birds. It's always nice to reflect on common birds that we often dismiss after birding for awhile. Common Grackles, Blue Jays, European Starlings, and Northern Cardinals may not be as exciting as Cerulean Warblers or Louisiana Waterthrushes but they are all lovely in their own way.
Its always more fun to bird with company than to bird alone, and yesterday's excursion was no exception. It's nice to have someone else to chat with or share the experience of a really great spot with. It doesn't matter whether they are a birder or not. People who've never birded before will oft make observations that might never occur to you. At one point I noted a Blue Jay flying directly overhead and Lynnea remarked, “But he's not blue at all!” She's right. Viewed from underneath a Blue Jay is black and white. I'd never really thought about that before.
The birders at Willow Pond also suggested Halcyon Lake (or as they called it “Eddy Pond”, for the Mary Baker Eddy memorial there). We stopped and interacted with several groups of birders on the way there, and managed to pick up a Black-throated Green Warbler singing the classic zee zee zee zoo zee song. We also got to get a close look at some Chipping Sparrows, and faintly heard a White-throated Sparrow (old whitethroat) singing his pleasant little song. Later I was lucky enough to spot one, but unfortunately he wandered away a little too quickly for Lynnea to get to see him.
We stopped at Spectacle Pond (also called Auburn Lake) where I recalled to Lynnea the time I was attacked by a rogue Canada Goose at that very spot. While there we chatted with a birder who was using (of all things) the 'Golden Guide to Birds'… he confided that it was something he'd had since he was a kid. Then with him we got to enjoy a Palm Warbler that was ground feeding under a nearby tree. Not far from there Lynnea made a great spot that netted us our only Cedar Waxwing, one of my favorite birds.
On Indian Ridge Path we found a large group of birders staring at a stand of spruce. We asked what they had and it turned out that a Cape May Warbler had been intermittently spotted that day in these very spruces. One elderly birder there told me he had been waiting for an hour to catch a glimpse of the little bird. Cape May would be a life-bird for me, since I had never seen it before, and I asked Lynnea if she would mind waiting around a bit. She said she wouldn't mind at all.. Maya (having long since lost interest in birding) was occupied with a book in the shade. Fortunuately our wait was only 10 minutes or so. I had moved down the path and was examining the top of the last spruce when I saw the silhouette of a bird hop from it to the next tree. Almost immediately a birder in the group to my right said “I've got it, in the second spruce from the left.” As evidenced from what I was hearing from the other birders around me, we all caught very short glimpses of the bird, which stayed mostly out of sight, but I saw enough of it to confirm it a Cape May to my satisfaction.
I had mentioned to Lynnea that Mt. Auburn swarmed with birders during migration. We easily must have seen 50 people birdwatching that day. In fact it was here at these spruces, after being at the cemetery for 2 hours, that we saw a couple who were not birding. I said “Look Neya, two people *without* binoculars.” I can only imagine what these folks were thinking because they were clearly wondering why the heck we were all standing around craning our necks to stare at some spruces. They stopped a moment and tried to see what it was we were all looking for but soon shook their heads and wandered away.
From there we finally arrived at Halcyon Lake to try and find the Pine Warblers and Orchard Oriole we had heard was in the area. We picked up some typically frenetic Ruby-crowned Kinglets here and another Black-throated Green warbler, but no Pine Warblers and no Orchard Oriole. 
Oh well, it had been a pretty good day nonetheless. After about 3 hours and 15 minutes of birding, I was getting somewhat tired, and though I would have gladly pushed on for a full day, I had promised that the trip wouldn't last past 1 PM. All in all we had a decent haul for a few hours:
- Eastern Towhee
- American Robin
- Blue Jay
- Mouning Dove
- Mallard
- Northern Cardinal
- Downy Woodpecker
- Black-and-White Warbler
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Northern Mockingbird
- Blue-headed Vireo (formerly Solitary Vireo)
- Chipping Sparrow
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Common Grackle
- American Goldfinch (heard)
- Baltimore Oriole
- Black-throated Green Warbler
- Northern Flicker
- Killdeer (heard)
- White-throated Sparrow
- Brown-headed Cowbird
- House Sparrow
- Black-capped Chickadee
- Palm Warbler
- House Finch
- Cape May Warbler (* life bird)
- Gray Catbird
- Ruby Crowned Kinglet
- Cedar Waxwing
- Turkey Vulture
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Warbling Vireo
- European Starling
Since I had set a goal of 30 species, I was reasonably satisfied. Birds that had been reported in the area that day which I didn't see were Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Orchard Oriole. I may go back sometime soon and try again for those.
On the way back to Rancho Weissman, we saw Rock Doves (a.k.a. pigeons), and once there in the pond behind the building I spotted some Canada Geese, Mallards, American Black Ducks, and a domesticated Muscovy Duck At least I think it was a Muscovy Duck, it looked a lot like one but Lynnea said that the man who cares for it called it a “Malcovian Duck”.
Then I took Brian out for a spin in the Purple Rocket to get lunch and later again to drop off his wife's car at the dealership for service. Finally one last time because Joshua wanted to go for a ride. We took a trip over to our mutual friend Jay's house to say hello but he wasn't home.
Then after a relaxing afternoon sitting outside sipping cold drinks and watching the kids play, Brian and I took a quick stoll to a nearby pond to do a little birding. Joshua tagged along and while there we saw Mallards, domestic geese, Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, and a rare visiting Fox Sparrow! Brian got to get a real good look at a perched American Goldfinch, and we got to see a Savannah Sparrow.
While strolling Brian managed to pick up 4 ticks and Joshua picked up 1. Strangely I got none and we puzzled over that for awhile. It didn't occur to me until this morning why, Brian and Josh were walking in front of me the whole time, and had thus swept the tall grass clear of ticks.
Earlier, while sitting in front of their building the Weissmans and I spotted a Turkey Vulture and we also had a Great Blue Heron fly over, bringing the species total for the day to 39 (not counting the domesticated geese or Muscovy Duck.)
Lynnea prepared some awesome hearty burgers on the grill for dinner and a good time was had by all. I hung out at their place for awhile after dinner and got to play some games with Brian and just hang out and enjoy his company. By 10:30 PM, I was beat, and we called it a night.
All in all a very good day, and when I crawled into bed, my arms, neck, and legs sore from birding all day, I was satisfied and slipped almost immediately into a deep and grateful sleep.