While staying in Boston for 4 days we visited Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge after hearing on rec.birds that it was 'the' place to go birding in Boston.

After the taxi dropped us at the entrance we took the path which would lead us past Halcyon Lake. There was no sign of any birdlife at all until we reached a small area where there were a number of birds flitting amongst the trees and bushes. The first bird we spotted was a White-breasted Nuthatch scouring a tree trunk for grubs. A handsome Blue Jay was in a tree nearby and a couple of American Robins were on the ground while a Black-capped Chickadee made a brief appearance.

We walked a little further on and saw a few American Crows before we turned up Larch Avenue and stopped to watch the birds visiting a bird table next to Auburn lake. There were a few Mallards on the lake but our interest really centered on the bird table. There were Tufted Titmouse, a couple of Blue Jays and a pair of Red Cardinals shuttling back and forth. The surrounding trees and bushes held White-throated Sparrows, House Finches and a single Mourning Dove. A Red-tailed Hawk soared overhead and I heard it's call, so familiar from countless American films. A Red-bellied Woodpecker made a noisy entrance when it came to feed on a ball of suet. The local birder standing next to me got quite excited when this bird appeared and it sounded as if it was unusual for the area so I counted myself lucky for having seen it.

There was a large flock of American Crows and hundreds of Starlings in the trees fruther on along the path. A couple of local birders told us that a Great-horned Owl had been regularly seen in a nearby dell but despite a good search of the conifers there we failed to spot it.

Just a single Canada Goose on the edge of Willow pond wasn't very promising but we sat on a bench overlooking the pond to see if anything else would come along. We didn't have to wait long before a large blue bird flew across the water and landed on the opposite bank. It was a handsome Belted Kingfisher with a large fish in it's beak. It perched on a branch for at least ten minutes, periodically striking the fish on the branch. I don't think it needed to bother as the fish was long dead. Unless the bird was trying to remove spines from the fish before swallowing it. Another White-breasted Nuthatch appeared on a nearby tree.

Later in the day I had some very close views of Ring-billed Gulls outside a shopping mall in Cambridge.

Other birds seen during our visit to the States included a pair of Peregrine Falcons from our room on the 24th floor of the Boston Sheraton. The male flew past the window before alighting on a ledge on the top floor of the tower block across the street to join it's mate which was already perched there.