Final days Birdwatching in Ipswich and East Boston, Inner Boston Harbour

The next morning on the 20th June 2018, I again woke early and went out on the balcony to see what birds and wildlife were in my Ipswich cousin's back garden.  There were at least three White-tailed Deer grazing along with Eastern Cottontail Rabbits.  The morning birds included American Goldfinches, Brown Cowbirds, House Finch, and Common Grackle, and across the water at the edge of the Crane Estate, I could see a Great Egret,  

At the furthest end of the garden, really in the neighbours' back garden, there were a number of small birds hopping around in the trees and I got distant, indistinct, zoomed photos of them, and they were partly hidden behind branches.

At least two of the birds were most likely Empids according to some American birders I consulted on the American Birding Association (ABA) Facebook Group "What's this Bird?", which is short for Empidonax Tyrant Flycatchers, and these flycatchers are all very similar looking and notoriously difficult to identify by sight, and like the Fish Crow, the only way to definitively identify them is by call or song.

I didn't hear or record their calls but the most likely possibilities in this part of Massachusetts were either Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) or the almost identical Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) or the slightly smaller Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus).  These three species all have grey-green caps and napes, greyish, olive green backs, white throats, white wing bars, white edging on the primary wing feathers, with indistinct white eye rings.  

Most of these Empidonax species look very similar. and up until 1973, Alder and Willow Flycatchers were grouped as one species called Traill's Flycatcher, but their different vocalisations, supported by later DNA analysis, led to the realisation that they were two different species.  I couldn't positively identify these Empids but they were interesting birds to catch a tantalising glimpse of.

I spent the rest of the day with my cousin exploring Boston city and the places in Boston where my great grandmother's brother lived, and in the city I saw a black, melanistic Grey Squirrel (Sqiurus carolinensis) on a tree beside the Charlestown Working Theater. And birds seen in the city included European House Sparrows, American Robins, Feral Pigeons and Mourning Doves. 

Back that evening in Ipswich when out in the back garden, I saw two pale Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) soaring overhead and their circling pattern overhead reminded me of our European Buzzards, but these birds looked bigger.  The resident American Crows started to mob one of them and here is a photo montage of these birds:

The next day my cousin's wife and I visited Greenwood Farm in Ipswich which is 60 acres of farmland and protected saltmarsh with historical farm buildings that date back to the early settlers, on the estuary opposite the Clark Estate, with interesting flowering plants, fields and great views of the saltmarsh.  In the car park we saw a Grey Squirrel, and our first birds seen included House Sparrow and American Robin hopping around. 

While walking around the fields near hedgerows, kudos have to go to my cousin's wife who spotted a brightly coloured, orange and black bird in the hedge and it was a male Baltimore Oriole (Icterus gallbulla) and this was my last new bird seen on this trip.  I was thrilled to see it as I had hoped to see these in Baltimore, so it was a nice surprise to finally see Baltimore Oriole in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and they really are a beautiful bird.

Walking a little bit further I got my best views on the trip of an Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) sitting very upright in a thorny bush, in front of a backdrop of the Ipswich River estuary and the Clark Estate, and the Eastern Phoebe is another Tyrant flycatcher species, and it is a summer migrant to North East America and winters in Central America.

And in the distance I got more views of an even bigger Tyrant flycatcher, the Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) who winters in Central and South America, sitting on a black box Greenhead Fly trap.  These boxes have four legs like a grazing animal, and the female Greenheads, who need to bite an animal and have a blood meal to reproduce, enter the "underbelly" of the trap where they are physically trapped, preventing further reproduction, reducing the numbers of Greenhead Fly (Tabanus nigrovittatus).  

About 400 of these traps are placed in the marshes of coastal towns and regions every year to remove millions of flies without the use of poisons and pesticides.  These flies are a nuisance and cause a very nasty bite, but they do not transmit any diseases, so one must wonder what the effect of removing so many flies from the environment is having on birds like flycatchers and swallows for example, even using a relatively ecological method like this. 

After Greenwood Farm, we headed into Ipswich village which is a very old village or town dating from the earliest European Settlers, with wooden houses that date from the 1600s, to do some sightseeing and we visited the John Whipple House which dates from 1677.  In the middle of the village beside the Ipswich River there is a pond called the Sally Pond and it is covered with white water lilies, and around the pond, flowers such as Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) and Purple Lupins (Lupinus perennis) have been planted to attract butterflies. On the Sally Pond I saw and photographed a lovely male Blue Dasher Dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis) resting on a lily pad, and Blue Dashers are members of the skimmer family of dragonflies.

That evening my cousin drove me to East Boston near Logan Airport where I was staying overnight to be in time for my plane back to Ireland the next day and I was sad to say goodbye to my cousins and Ipswich and its estuary, birds and wildlife.

The next morning before my flight home, I had time to go out for a walk near my hotel along the Boston inner harbour front, starting at Piers Park and I saw a lovely mix of birds on my walk.  In the park I saw American Robins, Mourning Doves, House Sparrows, and Common Grackles and when I went to the water's edge I saw Herring Gulls, Great Blacked Gulls and Canada Geese including one that was having a snooze.

Looking out to sea and East Boston on the way to Porzio Park, I saw Double-crested Cormorants, flying, fishing and perched on various buoys and floating platforms and objects.

And also out at sea there were Common Terns flying, diving and fishing and others were perched with chicks on floating platforms and pallets covered with empty lobster pots and fishing gear.

And in Porzio Park itself I saw Eastern Cottontail Rabbit.

I headed towards the Massport Harborwalk Park, where I got great. close up views of a Great Egret (Ardea Alba Egretta) and these really are impressive looking birds with a very, very long neck.

I walked to the end of Massport Harborwalk and out at sea there was a flock of female Eider Duck swimming and here is a photo of one of them.

As I walked back along the Massport Harborwalk, the Great Egret took flight, and soon I would be doing the same from Logan Airport.

I thoroughly enjoyed this trip to the North East USA, meeting and visiting my cousins in Baltimore, Annapolis and Ipswich, and getting a chance to birdwatch as well as go sightseeing, and I really have to thank all my cousins in Baltimore, Annapolis and Ipswich for their warm welcome and for their incredible hospitality, without which this trip would not have been possible, and I really cannot thank them enough for everything.

And a big thank you to many other people I met during my travels, particularly in New York where complete strangers gave me directions, helped me on buses and showed me how to use the subway, and for the chivalrous, volunteers who carried heavy bags containing scopes and tripod up and down subway stairs without even being asked.  And a thank you to the people I just got talking to on my trip and to the man in Long Island City who gave me a heads up on falcons and to the people on the American Birds Association Facebook group who helped me figure out the identification of some of the new birds I saw.

During my thirteen days on a holiday to visit cousins, that was not primarily a bird-watching trip, I saw 50 different species of birds of which 36 species were new bird ticks for me and here is my bird list on this trip.

No Name                                 Latin Name

1 Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon         Columba livia

2 House Sparrow                         Passer domesticus

3 Starling (Common)                 Sturnus vulgaris

4 Cedar Waxwing                         Bombycilla cederum

5 American Crow                         Corvus brachyrhynchos

6 Northern Flicker                         Colaptes auratus

7 American Robin                         Turdus migratorius

8 Northern Mockingbird                 Mimus polyglottis

9 Mallard                                 Anas platyrhynchos

10 Double-crested Cormorant         Phalacrocorax auritus

11 Turkey Vulture                         Cathartes aura

12 Common Grackle                 Quiscalus quiscula

13 Osprey                                 Pandion haliaetus

14 Mourning Dove                         Zenaida macroura

15 Herring Gull                         Larus argentatus

16 Northern Rough-winged Swallow Stelgidopteryx serripennis

17 Black Vulture                         Coriagyps atratus

18 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher         Polioptila caerulea

19 Red-bellied Woodpecker         Melanerpes carolinus

20 Barn Swallow                         Hirundo rustica erythrogaster

21 Northern Cardinal                 Cardinalis cardinalis

22 House Finch                         Carpodacus mexicanus

23 American Goldfinch                 Carduelis tristis

24 Song Sparrow                         Melospiza melodia

25 Brown-headed Cowbird         Molothrus ater

26 Great Egret                         Ardea alba egretta

27 Canada Goose                         Branta canadensis

28 Eastern Phoebe                         Sayornis phoebe

29 Gray Catbird                         Dumetella carolinensis

30 Great Black-backed Gull         Larus marinus

31 Eider (Common)                 Somateria mollissima

32 Chipping Sparrow                 Spizella passerina

33 Purple Martin                         Progne subis

34 Willet                                 Tringa semipalmta

35 Least Tern                                 Sternula antillarum

36 Red-winged Blackbird                 Agelaius phoeniceus

37 Green-winged Teal                 Anas crecca carolinensis

38 Ring-billed Gull                         Larus delawarensis

39 Common Yellowthroat                 Geothlypis trichas

40 Gadwall                                 Anas strepera

41 Eastern Kingbird                 Tyrannus tyrannus

42 Tree Swallow          Tachycineta bicolor

43 Snowy Egret                         Egretta thula

44 Common Tern                         Sterna hirundo

45 Mute Swan                         Cygnus olor

46 Marsh Wren                         Cistothorus palustris

47 Blue Jay                                 Cyanocitta cristata

48 Wild Turkey                         Meleagris gallopavo

49 Red-tailed Hawk                         Buteo jamaicensis

50 Baltimore Oriole                         Icterus gallbula

I hope you enjoy the blog and photos and maybe this might help other birders out there who are visiting or planning to visit the North East USA. Stay safe everyone and best regards, Rosena.