[MASSBIRD] Prospect Hill, Waltham- No Summer Tanager

[Dougie Peebles]

  I spent a few hours this morning at Prospect Hill Park in Waltham hoping for a Summer Tanager reported to be heard but not seen yesterday. I hung out along Bond Trail for about an hour, and near the intersection with Sunset Trail, just up the hill from the "wet spot", heard what I thought was the Summer Tanager. I'm pretty good at picking out the Scarlet Tanager song (sounds to me like a hoarse Robin) and chip-burr call, but this song sounded more Vireo-like. It took a while to locate the bird, but it turned out to be, no doubt about it, a Scarlet Tanager with a slightly aberrant song. Could this be the same bird heard yesterday?

  I did hear the Raven calling in the distance as reported yesterday and, of note, saw:

Turkey Vulture

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Easter Wood Pewee

Great Crested Flycatcher (several)

Pine Warbler (many)

Blackpoll Warbler (at parking lot near "Little Prospect")

Indigo Bunting (three males, near water tanks at "Big Prospect")

Scarlet Tanager

Chimney Swift

House Wren

Red-eyed Vireos (many)

  plus there usual suspects.

There were a few other birders there who, also, had not seen the subject bird.

Doug Peebles

Wayland

peeb...@msn.com