BirdingGirl

I was excited to see a laughing gull for the first time on Cape Cod. When my friend Kristin got married on the Jersey Shore last year I saw plenty of them, but for some reason never in Massachusetts. I was waiting for my mom to meet me at the beach when I heard it- it really sounds like it's laughing. It was definitely not a regular herring gull, which made me take notice. I caught her before she left the house and asked her to bring my camera. For most birders, a laughing gull is not too exciting, but for me it was. He was a little itchy: Looking for food- of course:

It's been a while since I've been able to do this, but I went for a walk during lunch last Wednesday (April 9th) and was surprised at all of the birds I heard and saw. Unfortunately I didn't bring a camera but I'll do my best to report on what I saw. I came across several ducks, and interesting ones that included a Common Goldeneye pair (or so I think- male had a mostly white body and black head), as well as a pair I saw in which the male had white rings around its all-black neck. My Sibley Guide is really helpful since I encountered the ducks as they were taking flight, and it includes illustrations of ducks in flight. The Harlequin Duck has the same white rings I saw, but according to the description it's a coastal bird, so it's unlikely I would have seen it in an inlet of the Charles River. But currently, that's the best guess I can make. I heard many red-winged blackbirds throughout my walk. At this part of the Charles River the banks are very close to o...