STATISTICAL REPORT-1984 

Our Life List is a storehouse of rich memories to which we added this year the monarch of shorebirds, the Long-billed Curlew, on the 9th of June. Like an echo, to the same magnetic sands of Monomoy, came the Eurasian Curlew on September 22nd; two wonderful celebrations for the Brookline Bird Club in 1984! If you missed them you probably encountered some of the 66 beautiful Whimbrels which came whistling through our trips to Plum Island, Dartmouth, and Cape Cod. 

Despite surprising misses, we listed 291 of the 302 species printed on the Massachusetts Audubon Society check list (CR4.83-5M). Birds not reported were Cattle Egret, Eurasian Wigeon, Wild Turkey, Dovekie, Long-eared Owl, Chuck-Will’s-Widow, Western Kingbird, Sedge Wren, Connecticut Warbler, and Lark Sparrow. Write-ins numbered 23 species, one hybrid, one subspecies, and one New Hampshire entry. . . giving us a total of 317 birds for the season. (Please note that the check list I used included Lesser Black-backed Gull, Royal Tern, and Blue Grosbeak—all seen by us in 1984.) Write-ins included the following: 

Ipswich Sparrow                                     Plum Island                                          1/1

Tundra Swan                                           Plymouth                                              1/8

Western Tanager                                      Plymouth                                              1/8

Varied Thrush                                          Quabbin                                                1/22

Golden Eagle                                           Quabbin                                                1/22

Bohemian Waxwing                                 Ware                                                     3/18

Mew Gull                                                 Falmouth                                               3/25

Kentucky Warbler                                    Mt. Auburn                                            5/9

Prothonotary Warbler                               Plum Island                                          5/12

Cerulean Warbler                                      Mt. Auburn                                          5/12

Summer Tanager                                       Mt. Auburn                                          5/12

Brewster’s Warbler                                    Ipswich                                                 5/27

Common Raven                                        Martha’s Vineyard                            5/27

Long-billed Curlew                                  Monomoy                                              6/9

Sandwich Tern                                          Monomoy                                              6/9

Audubon’s Shearwater                              At Sea                                                   6/10-12

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher                          Plum Island                                           7/7

Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker  New Hampshire                               7/15

Yellow-headed Blackbird                          Plum Island                                          8/19

American Avocet                                       Plum Island                                          8/26

Sabine’s Gull                                             At Sea                                                    9/9

Long-tailed Jaeger                                     At Sea                                                    9/9

Eurasian Curlew                                        Monomoy                                              9/22

Jackdaw                                                     Nantucket                                             10/7

Common Puffin                                         At Sea                                                   10/28

Skua                                                           At Sea                                                   10/28

Seen in 1983, but missed in 1984 were: Arctic Loon, Black-headed Grosbeak, Blue Goose, Cattle Egret, Clay-colored Sparrow, Egyptian Goose, Eurasian Wigeon, Golden Sparrow, Gray Jay, Gyrfalcon, Lark Sparrow, Long-eared Owl, Redhead, Spruce Grouse (New Hampshire), Thin-billed Murre (Maine), and White-faced Storm Petrel (At Sea). 

Gains over 1983 were: Common Redpoll, Dickcissel, Eurasian Curlew, Long-billed Curlew, Long-tailed Jaeger, Mew Gull, Pine Grosbeak, Red Crossbill, Royal Tern, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Skua, Tundra Swan, Varied Thrush, Western Tanager, White-winged Crossbill, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Bohemian Waxwing. 

We scheduled 235 trips divided among 99 All Day, 94 Morning, 14 Afternoon, 21 Evening, and seven extended ventures. Of these, 22 were not reported and nine were canceled. 

Trips to the Newburyport area tallied 252 birds in 62 reported visits. Sixteen Plum Island walks discovered 134 of these, the seven Morning walks listing 115 and the nine Evening events 95. High count was 124 on May 19th. Low count was seven, in pouring rain, on June 2nd. Some area misses were the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, Roseate and Royal Terns, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Saw Whet Owl, Philadelphia Vireo, Orange-crowned, Connecticut, Mourning, and Hooded Warblers, Pine Grosbeak, Redpoll, both Crossbills, and Vesper and Lark Sparrows. Pleasing area gains included Cooper’s Hawk, Barred Owl, Pine Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Indigo Bunting, all missed there in 1983. Noteworthy were Tri-colored Heron, Black Skimmer, Red-headed Woodpecker, Gray-cheeked Thrush, both Shrikes, Yellow-throated Vireo, Kentucky Warbler, Summer Tanager, and the aforementioned write-ins. 

Excellent leadership and good fortune brought our Ipswich trips into second place this year with 146 sightings. Highlights included Tri-colored Heron, Piping Plover, Upland Sandpiper, Forster’s Tern, Caspian Tern, and Screech and Great Horned Owls. 

Two Nantucket trips, March with 50 species and October with 131 species, totaled 145 species and assumed third position. Western Tanager was an exciting gain. Other finds were Clapper Rail, Razorbills, and Orange-crowned Warbler. There was also one Vesper Sparrow, a bird listed by us on but three other occasions (one in Manchester on May 5th, 13 in Maine on September 8th, and two in South Wellfleet on September 30th). The Vesper was an abundant summer resident when our fields bloomed with agriculture and was expected on Plum Island when much of the refuge was ploughed and seeded. It has become a challenge for us. Note the travel time for our 1984 sightings. Vespers love to take dust baths and frequent areas which offer this delight. They are numerous in agricultural areas, enjoy the sides of dirt roads and old gravel pits, and sometimes frequent beach grass. (And I missed one in 1984, which accounts for all this meandering!) 

Our four South Shore trips logged 141 species this year, an excellent record. Highlights were Lesser Black-backed Gull and Ipswich Sparrow on October 20th, and an amazing number of Bobolinks at Dwyer’s Farm, estimated at over 300, on the 20th of May. 

The trip to Martha’s Vineyard included a Common Raven in its tally of 130 species. Two Red-shouldered Hawks, a Barn Owl, two Red-bellied and one Red-headed Woodpecker, Hooded Warbler, and 10 Grasshopper Sparrows were seen. 

Ten Monomoy visits gained 120 species with exceptional views of the rare curlews, Sandwich Tern, and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (a different bird from the Plum Island one) seen at Morris Island. And of course there were throngs of shorebirds like 44 American Oystercatchers on August 11th, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Royal and Black Terns, and Black Skimmers. 

Mt. Auburn reported 117 species from 46 completed trips. Highest warbler count was 22 on May 13th. Worm-eating, Hooded, Kentucky, and Cerulean Warblers were spotted this year. Some misses were Whip-poor-will, Nighthawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, House and Winter Wrens, Prairie and Mourning Warblers, and Louisiana Water-thrush. 

Cape Ann’s eight reported trips listed 114 species. Highlights were two Black-headed Gulls and two Barrow’s Goldeneyes, six Harlequin Ducks, Kittiwakes, Thick-billed Murre, six Black Guillemots, six Razorbills, and two Common Puffins. A Red Phalarope at Halibut Point on December 1st was icing on the cake! 

Two Westport trips tallied 106 species. Twenty Ospreys were counted. Special gains were Carolina Wren, White-eyed Vireo, Worm-eating Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows, and two Bluebirds at Plymouth. Our visits to Outer Cape Cod found 101 species including Razorbill, Thick-billed Murre, six Manx Shearwaters, and two Cooper’s Hawks. 

Bridgewater totaled 99 on three visits. Ring-necked Ducks (1500), and 50 Ruddy Ducks were impressive on November 11th. 

Manchester listed 99 species in four visits, with Pileated Woodpecker and Pine Warblers. 

Great Meadows’ six trips listed 91 species, gaining Pied-billed Grebe, Least and American Bittern, Great Egret, Virginia, Sora, and King Rails, Solitary Sandpiper, both Cuckoos, and Common Nighthawk. 

Other totals were Bolton 83, Millis 72, Falmouth 71, Granville 70, Mt. Greylock 76, West Roxbury 66, Quabbin 57, Boston Harbor 56, Essex 56, Saugus 53, Maine 48, Andover 46, Wayland 40, Mystic Lakes 39, Tyngsboro 37, Fresh Pond 35, Lincoln 35, New Hampshire 32, Natick 32, Belmont 29, Lynnfield Marsh 19, Plymouth Beach 18, IRWS 11, Mt. Wachusett 11, Owl Prowl 8. No reports were received from Squantum, Canton, or BBC Belle Isle visits. 

Five sea trips reported as follows: 

June 3rd, Harwichport Trip, 31 species: six Greater, 16 Sooty, and one Manx Shearwater; 39 Wilson’s Storm Petrels; 23 Gannets, and one Red-necked Phalarope. 

June 10th, Deep Sea Trip, 20 species: four Northern Fulmar and one Black Tern; 55 Leach’s and 525 Wilson’s Storm Petrels; 27 Cory’s, 2850 Greater and 2525 Sooty Shearwaters; one Audubon’s and nine Manx Shearwaters; five Pomarine and one Parasitic Jaeger; 38 Fin, six Sei, five Sperm and four Minke Whales; 27 Humpback Whales, two Ocean Sunfish; 275 Common and 90 Bottlenose Dolphins; 200 White-sided Dolphins; three Blue and one Basking Shark. 

July 29th, Harwichport Trip, 37 species: three Cory’s, seven Greater, ten Sooty, and two Manx Shearwaters; 750 Wilson’s Storm Petrels, and one Gannet. 

September 9th, Pelagic Trip to Stellwagen, 17 species: 45 Greater, five Sooty, and 16 Manx Shearwaters; 500 Wilson’s Storm Petrels; one Gannet, four Sabine’s Gulls; 14 Parasitic and one Long-tailed Jaeger. 

October 28th, Plymouth Trip, 35 species: 35 Northern Fulmar, 400 Gannets; two Cory’s, 2000 Greater, two Sooty, and 12 Manx Shearwaters; 10 Pomarine Jaegers, one Skua; 400 Gannets, 11 Common Puffins; one Lesser Black-backed Gull. 

Monthly entries to the check list were: 

January 102                       May 91                                  September 9

February 11                       June 22                                  October 5 

March 23                           July 8                                     November 0 

April 38                             August 4                                December 4 

Top trips during 1984, limited to one full day afield follow: 

January 56                     Falmouth                             Timberlake

February 58                    Newburyport                     Nielsen

March 54                     Falmouth                             Bryant

Newburyport                     Bouchard

April 72                     Crooked Pond to P.I.  Nielsen 

May 124                    Newburyport                    Drummond 

June 78                     Newburyport                    Blaisdell 

July 66                     Newburyport                    d’Entremont 

August 77                    Newburyport                     Resnick 

September 95                 Newburyport                    Blaisdell 

October 91                    Nantucket (Sunday)    Davis 

November 67                  Outer Cape Cod             Drummond 

December 41                   Cape Ann                          Smith 

Savoy-Windsor                Lynch, Carroll 

The Morning walk with the highest total was 93 at Ipswich, Giriunas, on May 27th. The Afternoon walk of July 8th, Newburyport, led by Drummond had 60, and the top Evening count was Drummond, July 16th at Plum Island with 61.

To the Leaders and participants of our trips this year, a warm thank you for excellent field work, hospitality, and superb reporting. The final section of this report reflects the jottings, footnotes, and memories of a very good year. 

REVIEW OF 1984 

• Twenty-seven members rose before dawn and traveled empty roads to Newburyport, carrying binoculars, scopes, and empty check lists. “A great way to start the New Year,” cheered leader Ann Blaisdell. Prizes were Bald Eagle, Ruffed Grouse, Snowy Owl, Northern Shrike, Pine Siskin, and the Ipswich Savannah Sparrow. Fifty-three was the tally, with 264 birds to go! 
• January 7th was a “right lively day of eager anticipation” at Cape Ann. The Hales cast an optimistic eye on the rain and wet snow flurries. Two Black-headed Gulls and two Barrow’s Goldeneyes were seen from the Fishermen’s Monument, and an unexpected Killdeer ran on the grass at Eastern Point Coast Guard Station. 
• Falmouth trippers, yet to find deep winter’s cold, were listing six Ring-necked Ducks, 12 Canvasbacks, 22 Hooded Mergansers, 12 Coot, Catbird, Meadowlarks, Redwings, Towhees, and at Plymouth the Tundra Swan and Western Tanager on the 8th. 
• On January 14th, the Newburyport trip spent the whole morning going to and from Durham, New Hampshire, “where we did NOT see a Great Gray Owl.” 
• Bill Drummond worked diligently to find Harlequin Ducks on the 21st at Gloucester, including a “miserable walk into Rafe’s Chasm;’ all to no avail. That evening he learned that they were in Rockport behind the Emerson Inn, where he did not look. 
• On January 22nd the temperature at the start of the Quabbin hike was 25 below zero! It was so cold that nobody’s binoculars worked and Mark and Sheila and 11 other members were in real danger of frostbite. “Yipes!” was the cry, but four Bald Eagles, one Golden Eagle, Varied Thrush, Ruffed Grouse, Redpoll and Pine Siskins made things bearable. 
• January ended as Bill Foley saw one Lapland Longspur at the Salisbury boat ramp. 
• February 4th was a white on white day. . .white fog and white fields. Visibility at Plum Island was 30 feet Boreal Chickadee was best bird. Rain terminated the trip early. 
• February 18 gave Jim Berry hard luck at Castle Hill. The snowfall was pleasant but the driving was treacherous and only one companion arrived. “When a Brown Creeper is the highlight of your walk.. . !’ 
• A spectacular assembly of northbound Red-necked Grebes off Bass Rocks, Cape Ann, made the day on February 26th. 
• March 4th was disappointing. The refuge at Plum Island was closed. Six Barrow’s Goldeneyes lined up off the coal yard, in perfect light. A trip to Boxford was put into action, gaining Fox Sparrow at the Thomas’s feeder. 
• Owl Prowling, from 2:30 to 6:30 a.m. on March 11th, located two Screech and two Great Horned in Weston, three Screech and two Great Horned ins Wayland, and one Great Horned in Sudbury. 
• The Nantucket boat ride on St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t for landlubbers. The weather was awful. Northeast winds blew all weekend, with intermittent rain. Twenty-nine Razorbills were seen. Most interesting was a very white gull with adult Herring Gull bill, presumed to be an albino (close observation). 
• Quabbin lured two members over icy roads on the 18th of March, to see a Bohemian Waxwing at Ware airport and a Raven at Enfield lookout. Dave Bigwood provided lobster rolls for all participants! 
• March 25th Falmouth birders easily identified a Mew and a Little Gull at Salt Pond, but were startled to discover a Yellow-throated Vireo along the Coonamesset River at an area called Dutchman’s Ditch. 
• Plum Island roads were open again on March 28th but many blow-downs were evident in the pines, to say nothing of the road into Crooked Pond, which looked like a giant-sized game of pick-up-sticks. 
• April arrived, with Plum Island watchers viewing the pair of Great Horned Owls and nest through the rain. 
• On April 21st a subadult Golden Eagle was seen across from the new pines on Plum Island. One April trip card bears the legend, “No one attended this trip. I saw one Broad-winged Hawk on Route 1. Am writing this report from Wilmington, North Carolina where there are lots of birds.” 
• April 28th found over 50 birders slogging the salt marshes in Essex, looking for a White-faced Glossy Ibis. We did not find it. We did surprise two Ruffed Grouse in Willowdale State Forest, spot a Willet on the isthmus between Great and Little Necks, Ipswich, and hold a discourse about the huge Snapping Turtles at Norman’s Pond. 
• Not a single warbler could be found in Lincoln at the end of the month. Mt. Auburn walkers found the warbler of the day to be a Yellow-rumped. Luckily we had good looks at Hermit Thrushes and Rough-winged Swallows. 
• May bounded onto the calendar and spirits began to shine. A skunk was sauntering through Mt. Auburn on the 3rd, and three Juncos were seen on the 5th. 
• And the bright-ones of Spring returned, to set everyone dashing to and fro. On May 15th we found a Summer Tanager at Newburyport’s Oak Hill Cemetery, and two Least Bitterns at Plum Island. Orchard Orioles at Rowley and the Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers at Pikes Bridge Road were favorites. 
• On the 20th, Mark and Sheila led a BBC walk to Oxbow and Bolton Flats in the midst of an all-day Bird-a-Thon for the Worcester Science Center. By the time they met our group at 6 a.m. they had already been birding for three hours. Eighty-three species were found, featuring a fantastic close look at a Black-billed Cuckoo, two male Indigo Buntings in a territorial dispute, and an array of Bobolinks displaying in a vast field with golden dandelions. Goshawk, Screech Owl, and Yellow-throated Vireos were nice too. 
• May 20th birders found a nesting pair of Orchard Orioles at West Roxbury, and the Acadian Flycatcher was seen and heard at Mt. Auburn on the 21st 
• June was a busy month. Patience on a King Rail search at Plum Island gave a brief glimpse of one as the bird flew over the road on the 4th. The Least Bitterns were nesting near the Hellcat dike and seen during most trips. 
• June 10th was a hot, dry day and Plum Island was crowded with beach people. A Caspian Tern at the salt pannes was the find of importance. 
• June 17 brought to Jim Berry one of the finest BBC evening trips in years. Over a hundred Little Terns were counted, from three active colonies on Ipswich Beach, the most since 1977. Great Egret, Bonaparte’s Gull, Piping Plovers, Tri-colored Herons, and three red Red Knots appeared. A Foster’s Tern in basic winter plumage sat on the beach, to be joined by a Caspian Tern in breeding plumage complete with black cap. Walking back into a fiery sunset, with Black-crowned Night Herons flapping over, Least Terns calling, and a misplaced Canada Goose strolling down the beach, Jim recalled his dad’s expression, “every blind pig finds an acorn once in a while:’ (Not many find the whole oak tree or can write so eloquently about the experience.) 
• June 17 also featured the trip to the Tyngsboro Bluebirds, which were seen, but no count was given. The trip was quite productive of beautiful summer residents—Indigo Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, Blue-winged and Black-throated Green Warblers, Northern Oriole, Kingbird, and the Solitary Vireo. At the waterfall many enjoyed watching the Bank Swallow colony holed up in a sandbank. 
• The June 24th Granville trip succeeded despite rain and fog. Breeding Bluebirds, Grasshopper Sparrows, Acadian and Olive-sided Flycatchers, and a fantastic display by three Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are cited. The trip ended by looking at a pair of Yellow-breasted Chats and being invited for herb tea and cake by the property owner. 
• July was Scissor-tailed Flycatcher month, with one at Plum Island on the 7th and a differently plumaged bird at Chatham on the 14th. 
• We heard, but never saw, a King Rail at Great Meadows on the 1st, a very tantalizing experience. The bird moved under a canopy of grasses in response to a tape recorder, while thirteen pairs of eyes peered in vain. 
• A walk down Barker Road, North Andover, found an orange-plumed Scarlet Tanager (the young male bird with such startling coloration) on July 8th. 
• Three Least Bitterns, seen simultaneously at Plum Island, included one with downy feathers still evident. Willow Flycatchers were calling, making their identification official. Stilt Sandpipers, Hudsonian Godwits, and continual discussions over dowitcher plumages marked August at Plum Island. The immature male Yellow-headed Blackbird was discovered as someone on the walk asked, “what is that bird with all the color on it?” The bird posed for photographs on the Hellcat Dike, left of the tower, and was absurdly tame.
• September at Plum Island acquired 58 species including Cooper’s Hawk, Merlin, Golden Plover, Whimbrel, Solitary Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Black Tern, and Loggerhead Shrike. 
• On September 15th, seven sturdy members braved a north-east rain stormy day, but the Marbled Godwit seen by others at Plum Bush was missed by us. The Avocet was seen, however, and the Black Tern, the Great Horned Owl, Baird’s Sandpiper, and 17 Red Knots. Best was “the peace of having Plum Is-land all to ourselves again.” 
• The Essex County Greenbelt Safari located yet another Cooper’s Hawk, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and an Orange-crowned Warbler. Helen Rocca, Botanist, pointed out Closed (Bottle) Gentians, and White Turtlehead, as well as other autumnal wildflowers.
• Newburyport trippers officially welcomed Fall on the 23rd with 95 species, hosts of migrating shorebirds and their attendant Peregrines, and a flock of 38 Water Pipits.
• Gradually the flocks of summer drained away toward the south. October found South Shore birders examining another Lesser Black-backed Gull and counting Sharp-tailed Sparrows. Warren Harrington was reminded of his own boyish enthusiasm as he noted, “Best was having three fourteen-year-old boys sharing their excitement at getting 25 life birds each and all reaching 100 lifers!” 
• My favorite footnote of October reads like a mystery: Missed BB3TW at Topsfield. Found WCS, BBC, 5GCK, 4 RCK. Cred- it YBC to NS. (They saw a Chat, but left the cuckoos both blank. non. sec. ed.) 
• November 3rd found the Ipswich Beach parking lot populated by Snow Buntings, a happy change. 
• On the 4th, two Hooded Mergansers, four Ruddy Ducks, and four Pied-billed Grebes made Natalie King’s afternoon walk a real treat at Mystic Lakes. 
• The long trip to the outer Cape Cod was well worth the effort on November 24th as five Manx Shearwaters, Razorbills, Thick- billed Murre, two more Cooper’s Hawks, and Black-headed Gull were logged. 
• Remembering the winter joys of the Quabbin area, December birders turned their hopes inland. How right they were. Delighted with a personal conversation with a Saw Whet Owl (many had never heard one before) the group was even more thrilled with a flock of 49 White-winged Crossbills, life birds for many on the trip. A Pileated Woodpecker, Common Raven, Northern Shrike, and two Red Crossbills were added before the day and another busy year ended. 
• Again a warm thanks to all of our superb leaders. What you write on your cards makes the year come alive in retrospect. These jottings are just a few of the many. Hope to hear your glad tidings in the New Year now upon us. Good luck and great birding. 

Mary L. Barnett, Statistician