7/4 The Great Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Search

[Paul Peterson]

Recently, there had been reports from both Belle Isle and the Suffolk Downs Oasis of Yellow-crowned Night-Heron sightings. So, yesterday I headed out. I arrived at about 9:00 a.m. at the Lawn Ave. Trail at Belle Isle Marsh. I flushed two Black-crowned Night-Herons upon arriving at the observation platform. Also, there was a very nice adult male American Kestrel flying and being harassed by swallows. Next, I went to the main section of Belle Isle, and then I went to The Key section (in Revere). No luck. I then went to the Suffolk Downs Oasis, where I saw three Black-crowned Night-Heron. Next, I walked over to the Winthrop Greenway. No luck. I then decided to walk to places in Winthrop where I had seen Yellow-crowned night-Herons in the past. That meant going to Fishermen's Bend, and finally, to Lewis Lake. No luck at the former, and it looked like I was goung to have no luck at Lewis Lake either. I had scanned the entire edge of both halves. At the last minute, I decided to check out the shady corner near the duck-feeding area (just up the path from the tot lot). Here, the branches of the trees block most of the view. I raised my binoculars to look through a little opening in the branches, and I became dumbfounded! There, eating what looked like a Downy Woodpecker, was an adult YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON! Shortly afterwards, a fellow birder arrived to look for Monk Parakeets. She explained that they had been reported from Lewis Lake. Sure enough, in crab apples next to the tot lot, were five beautiful Monk Parakeets.It was nice to watch the adults feeding the young with regurgitated apples. This was at 4:00 p.m., at which time I had been completely transformed from a human being to a lobster: This woman birder was very nice, as she drove me all the way home. (I had been quite sun burnt, thirsty, and hungry by that point). Unless noted, all birds are from Belle Isle, where I had spent a good deal of my time:

Black-crowned Night-Heron 3             Suffolk Downs Oasis
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1            Lewis Lake
Great Egret 2
Snowy Egret 1
egret sp. 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Osprey 6                                       including two chicks
American Kestrel 2                         adult male and adult female or young bird
Killdeer 8                                      including five Fishermen's Bend Winthrop
Spotted Sandpiper 1                      Fishermen's Bend
American Oystercatcher 2             also four at Fishermen's Bend/Snake Island
Willet 2
Least Tern 1                                 Lewis Lake
Monk Parakeet 5                          Lewis Lake
Yellow Warbler 4+
Common Yellowthroat 1
Saltmarsh Sparrow 4+
Baltimore Oriole 1+

Paul Peterson
peterso...@yahoo.com
Boston