2007.04.14  Belle Isle Marsh 

10:30 am - 12:30 pm

George Cummings, Soheil Zendeh

High tide: 9 am,

Sky: Partly cloudy

Temperature: 52°F (11°C)

Wind: wnw 10 - 15 mph (16 - 24 kph)

Visibility: excellent

Notes: Cool and quiet today. One Osprey was hanging out on a pole in the marsh between Palermo Street and the Osprey platform. It flew around once but was then back on that pole, not moving for hours. George said he had seen another raptor arrive from the east and try to land nearby, only to have the Osprey become agitated and buzz it. I suppose this means the bird is being territorial. I wish I could figure out how to tell if it's a male or a female.

Geoff Wood is disturbed about these Ospreys attempting to nest so close to the airport. He believes one of the two males courting the female last summer was a bird that was reported by Logan Airport as killed by hitting a plane. He pointed out that Ospreys have a very high display flight that can take them right into the path of an approaching plane. I saw one of those flights last year, though there were no planes coming in at that point from our direction.

Very very high tide today. Great time for all the pans to get flushed out and restocked with creatures.  The two avian treats of the day were a pair of Gadwall hanging in the pool southwest of the Boardwalk and a male Northern Harrier cruising by over Saratoga Street. Other than that, and the dozens of Brant feeding in the creek, there was not a lot to report.

Number of bird species: 19

Brant (Atlantic) 65

Gadwall 2

Mallard 6

Red-breasted Merganser 12

Osprey 1

Northern Harrier 1

Red-tailed Hawk 1

American Kestrel 1

Wilson's Snipe 1

Ring-billed Gull 15

Herring Gull 10

Great Black-backed Gull 1

American Crow 3

Tree Swallow 14

American Robin 2

European Starling 5

Song Sparrow 4

Red-winged Blackbird 5

House Sparrow 3

Soheil Zendeh

42 Baker Ave

Lexington, MA 02421

home phone 781-863-2392

cell phone 617-763-5637

office phone 617-528-4013