On the trail with Michael Pappone

The calls of redwing blackbirds dominated the winds in Weston in late April as a group gathered in the parking lot of the Sears Conservation Land.

Michael Pappone, a member of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, the Brookline Bird Club and the Weston Observer’s Backyard Naturalist, led a Brookline Bird Club walk along Weston Station Pond for a group of 11 birders on April 27.

“I love this time of spring because the leaves aren’t obscuring the birds as much as they might in two weeks, but at that point there will be more birds,” Pappone said. “It’s a real trade-off.”

The pond is an excellent spot for birding throughout the year, according to Pappone. In late September, hundreds of wood ducks dot the water, while rose-breasted grosbeaks can be spotted in the treetops in May. In a few weeks, the spot will be good for eastern flycatchers, but at the moment, the best species to look for are herons and migrating warblers.

Pappone told the group the pond – sometimes called Duck or Frog Pond – is not a natural one. It is leftover from a quarry and the days of extracting stone from the area.

He trained his scope on a great blue heron gliding through the water to give the others a chance to see the bird up close. As some birders took their turns to watch, others looked through their binoculars to examine the nests in the trees. The area serves as a rookery this time of year – a breeding ground for birds like herons. The group stayed for a few minutes before Pappone slung his scope back over his shoulder and said that while many birders will sit and wait for nature to come to them, it was time to keep moving.

“I’m the restless type and I promised you a walk,” Pappone said.

With that, he led the group to the Mass Central Rail Trail to look for bluebirds. None were to be found, but house sparrows could be seen perched on a bird box by the solar array near the trail. Crows settled on the transmission lines and turkey vultures circled above the woods looking for lunch. Pappone identified a mockingbird by its call before one came into view. He caught the bird as it shifted from mimicking a wood sparrow to a northern cardinal.

As the group walked back to the pond to look for more herons and wood ducks, Pappone called out, “Maids! Maids! Maids! Bring more tea!” imitating the call of a song sparrow.

“If I lapse into something nonsensical, I’ll blame jet lag,” he said.

Pappone had recently returned from a birding trip to Taiwan and Okinawa, Japan. For all the excitement of globetrotting and new feathered friends, he said he is glad to be back in Weston.

“I’m almost always ready at the end of a foreign birding trip to come back … and catch up on what I’ve missed,” he said. “It’s different every day; it’s different every week.”

Appreciating the beauty of home is part of being a birder, he said. Pappone grew up around nature in South Dakota. The sound of eastern meadowlarks was common as he went through the back door of his childhood home.

Even after growing up around the natural world, birding opened Pappone’s mind to appreciate other living creatures in a way he could not imagine.

“There was so much I had never even thought to look for before,” he said.

As the group trekked back along the pond and toward the parking lot, Pappone stopped to phish – making a noise by puckering the lips to try to attract birds, but he never played or imitated a call. During migration season, he said it is important not to add any additional stress to the birds.

“Anything that uses their energy is counterproductive,” Pappone said.

The group headed back to the parking lot, voices low to keep from startling any palm warblers nearby. Even footsteps stopped when a bird was spotted low in the branches. Pappone held back as he watched the rest of the group creep down the path to catch a glimpse of the bird flitting from branch to branch.

“Good things come to those that wait,” Pappone said.

The Brookline Bird Club will be hosting more birding walks around the Weston Station Pond Rookery on May 11 and 18. For more information, visit the website at brooklinebirdclub.org.