| Marj's Favorite Places
Email suggestions to Webmaster. Sign up for ArlingtonBirds (a listserve about local birding) List of all birds seen in Arlington |
Arlington
Reservoir, Arlington Arlington's Great Meadows, Lexington Brooks Estate/Fells, Medford Cummings Estate, Burlington Danehy Park, Cambridge Dunback Meadow Area, Lexington Horn Pond, Woburn McLennen Park, Arlington Meadow Brook Park, Arlington Menotomy Rocks, Arlington Rock Meadow, Belmont Sandy Beach, Winchester Shaker Glen, Woburn Spy Pond, Arlington Whipple Hill/Locke Farm Wildwood Cemetery/Horn Pond Brook, Winchester |
Arlington
Reservoir
Arlington Reservoir
Best birding
per square inch in the state! From fall to spring the water is drawn
down to manage water chestnut, and it results in lovely muck on the
north end, great for sandpipers and dabbling ducks, and deeper on the
southern side for diving ducks. Great for early spring migrants. The
adjacent farm fields are owned by the Busa family, and they welcome
birders (watch out for the crops). Unfortunately this farm is
threatened by possible conversion to soccer fields (!) so may not
always be available.
Not to be confused with Great Meadows in Concord, this East Lexington area is owned by Arlington. Spring to fall birding, especially good during breeding season. Entrances at the end of Sheila Road, behind the Golden Living Center at the end of Bryant Road, and behind the Waldorf School on Massachusetts Avenue.
Brooks Estate/Middlesex Fells
Brooks Estate
(Medford)
Good spot for spring migration.
Middlesex Fells - Ramshead section (Medford)
Four-season birding, excellent in spring migration. Boasts the first
Middlesex County breeding record for Red-bellied Woodpecker in 1990
Cummings Estate
(Burlington)
A favorite duriug fall migration. It's overgrown with fruit bearing
invasives, which the birds seem to like. Unfortunately discovered by
ATV enthusiasts and the trails can be tough walking. Although
Northeastern is private property, security personnel have always been
welcoming when I ask permission to park there. Good spot to start.
Ignore the "no trespassing" from the parking lot into the property;
this is a public park.
Danehy
Park, Cambridge
Great spot for
fall birding. In 2006 the second state record of Gray Flycatcher was
discovered and enjoyed by many.
Dunback Meadow/Waltham Street
Farms/Hayden
Woods
Dunback
Meadow (Lexington)
Large, open area in Lexington, that is a year-round treat. Woodcocks
display here in the spring. Explore the pine woods for owls. Explore
the
paths for songbirds. Great spot to look for raptors. I am partial to
the Allen Street Entrance, but the Clarke School has parking available
on weekends.
Waltham
Street
Farms
Conservation Area (Lexington)
These are farm fields leased to the Busa family by the town, but the
Busas are extremely birder friendly, and permit birding in these fields
(please use common sense when there are crops in the ground!). They are
excellent for fall birding. There are two entrances, one just
near the White House Farms store across from Allen Street, and the
other is immediately opposite
the traffic light for the entrance to the school.
Hayden
Woods (Lexington)
There are many entrances to this area, but I enter from Valleyfield
Street. This can be excellent in both spring and fall
migration, with a nice open understory which is good for looking for
ground-loving
warblers like oporornus. Breeding birds are fine also.
Horn Pond (Woburn)
Horn Pond (Woburn)
Great spot for a walk, and your reward is nice birds.There’s plenty of
street parking on Sturgis Street. Although
there’s a path around the main part of the pond, I prefer the path
around
the western section. Plenty of area to explore, including the power
lines that go
over Horn Pond Mountain, and the Community Gardens (which are on the
Lexington
Street end of Horn Pond). Almost anything could be found here.
McClennen Park
The area around the parking lot is all playing
fields, and is useless for birding, but behind the fields and down the
short embankment is a path running from Wright Street to Reed Street,
and
there are thickets, a small pond, and a weedy hillside that is
excellent
for fall sparrows.
Meadow Brook Park
Meadow Brook Park (Arlington)
This is the official name of the marshy area in back of Mount Pleasant
Cemetery in Arlington. The best Northern Waterthrush place in Arlington
(spring and fall).
Menotomy Rocks
Menotomy Rocks (Arlington)
Excellent in migration. Go past the flat area where the pond is and
work the pines up the hill.
Rock Meadow (Belmont)
Rock Meadow (Belmont)
Outstanding in the fall for sparrows, one day Bob Stymeist and I stood
in one spot and tallied a chat, Philadelphia Vireo, Connecticut
Warbler,
and Olive-sided Flycatcher. The community gardens are excellent, but
explore
the whole area for great birding. The parking lot can be hard to find,
but there is an inconspicuous sign.
Sandy Beach, Winchester
Sandy Beach (Winchester)
At first glance you see the grassy picnic and frisbee lawn and are
unimpressed, but walk back to the little pond, and further back to the
pine woods. Can be excellent birding, one of the best for early spring
migrants.
Shaker Glen (Woburn)
Shaker Glen (Woburn)
This area is just a strip of land climbing up
a hill along the edge of a stream. At the bottom there is a small
cattail
marsh (with the inevitable phragmites starting to encroach). As you
walk
up the hill, you enter a mixed woods that changes to largely hemlocks.
I haven't done a lot of birding here, but it has a lot of potential.
Spy Pond (Arlington)
Sometimes a good spot for winter ducks. There is a public parking area at the end of Pond Lane (off Mass. Ave.), but try lots of vantages around the pond.
Whipple Hill/Locke Farm
Whipple
Hill/Locke
Farm (Winchester/Lexington)
There is an entrance to the Whipple
Hill section from a pull-off parking area in Johnson Road in
Winchester
opposite Berkshire Drive, but I don't know this area well, but I offer
this from Andrea Golden. "Whipple Hill is a rocky hilltop with a great
view: good for watching migrating hawks, swallows, swifts, towhees.
Going
downhill with Boston on your left leads back to Locke (or Loche) Pond."
I myself enter from the Locke Pond section at the intersection of Cox
and High, and there is another entrance behind the llama farm on Lowell
Street.
Wildwood Cemetery/Horn Pond Brook Bikeway
Wildwood Cemetery (Winchester)
A fine spot in spring migration. It has a nice hill in the center,
where you can look down into the treetops on the hillside. Also, at the
back of the cemetery, the compost area has some nice weedy area for
sparrows
in fall migration. Take Route 3 from Arlington into Winchester, and
turn
right at the light at Church Street. Turn left at the light at Fletcher
Street, and then through the 4-way stop sign at Wildwood Street. The
entrance
is immediately after this intersection on the left.
Horn
Pond Brook Bikeway (Winchester)
It's funny, this is just a dinky little path that only goes a few
hundred
yards, but it can be incredibly productive. Two years running I have
found
Connecticut Warbler in fall migration, and in spring migration there's
always a nice collection of warblers. Follow the instructions to
Wildwood
Cemetery, but instead of turning left into the cemetery, keep going
straight,
turn left after the cemetery onto Middlesex Street, then right on
Fairfield
Place. At the end, there is a parking lot for the DPW. Park outside,
and
walk in, and at the back follow a small path down to the bikeway, and
turn
left.
