Date: 4/20/26 11:11 am From: John Edmondson <johnhedmondson...> Subject: [Arlington Birds] Arlington reservoir
Hi All,
We had a trip to Arlington Reservoir yesterday morning (BBC and MBC combined). Foggy but not really raining. Poor light. Water levels were up. I wish I knew the schedule. While we checked, there was little chance of shorebirds. We looked for snipe too and didn't manage to find any. On the plus side there were so many Yellow-rumped Warblers that it was hard to count and that delicate song was with us constantly on one side of the reservoir. We only manage to see one Palm Warbler though I would have expected more. The only ducks were Mallards, a few Bufflehead and a few Green-winged Teal. We had Tree Swallows and a few Northern Rough-winged Swallows and a Barn Swallow or 2 were spotted by people in the group. A first year Cooper's Hawk visited us twice. Near the Hurd Field path from the reservoir, we saw a Fox. It dropped its prey (3 dead very young rabbits) because it was startled by us and by a person with a dog coming from the other direction. We were able to spot it waiting for us to leave the area so it could retrieve its food. It did come back after most of us had moved off a ways. I think someone got a photo of it coming back for the food. As far as I could see, it looked healthy.
Arlington Reservoir, Middlesex, Massachusetts, US Apr 19, 2026 6:58 AM - 8:59 AM Protocol: Traveling 1.074 mile(s) Checklist Comments: 12 including leader. BBC walk, Menotomy BC too 33 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 22 Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 2 Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 8 Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 5 Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 4 Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 4 Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 4 Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 2 Cooper's Hawk (Astur cooperii) 1 Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) 2 Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 2 Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 4 American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 1 Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1 Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 5 Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 2 Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 2 White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 2 Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 1 European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 2 American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 26 Estimate House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 10 House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 1 American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 2 Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 1 Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 2 Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 9 Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 25 Estimate Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 6 Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 20 Estimate Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 30 Estimate, many here Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 3
