1975 STATISTICAL REPORT

During 1975 the Brookline Bird Club identified 804 species (plus two hybrids) and listed among these, 22 write-ins on the Massachusetts Audubon Society Check List. A selective list of these write-ins follows:

Western Tanager                                            Annisquam                                        1-4

White Pelican                                                  Harwich                                           1-25

Sandhill Crane                                                Eastham                                             2-1

Black-backed Three toed Woodpecker       Swampscott                                       2-2

Varied Thrush                                                 Athol                                                 2-15

Tufted Duck                                                    Salisbury                                           3-1

Ross’ Gull                                                        Newburyport                                    3-16, 4-5, 5-3

Kentucky Warbler                                           Mt. Auburn                                        5-6

Summer Tanager                                             Newburyport                                      5-24

Brewster’s Warbler                                          West Newbury                                   5-31

American Oystercatcher                                 Martha’s Vineyard                           5-31

Prothonotary Warbler                                      Plum Island                                        8-30

Caspian Tern                                                   Monomoy                                          8-31

LeConte’s Sparrow                                          Great Meadows                                9-1

Short-billed Marsh Wren                                 Plum Island                                        9-6

White Ibis                                                         Westport                                             9-7

Wheatear                                                          Nantucket                                           9-20

Clay-colored Sparrow                                      Plum Island                                        9-28

Boreal Chickadee                                             Plum Island                                        10-4

Sabine’s Gull                                                    Provincetown                                     10-25

Whistling Swan                                                Westport                                             11-23

Ivory Gull                                                         Salisbury                                            12-27

In 42 reported trips, Newburyport led the count with 255 species, plus Brewster’s Warbler and one hybrid teal. The oft-described celebration of Ross’ Gull was an exhilarating spectacle. Will you ever forget the masses of down-clad, bundled birders, standing in the biting cold, grasping fluttering pink paper “News Flash from Mass. Audubon” in one mitten and binoculars in the other? The reception was also splendid when an Ivory Gull appeared for a share of the adulation in December.

Our 15 Cape Cod ventures gained 181 species. American Oystercatchers were seen on all 4 Monomoy Island trips, 6 on July 19, 9 on August 2, 11 on August 16 and 9 on August 31. The BBC always hopes to see Caspian Tern, Black Skimmer and the large waders on the Cape. We weren’t disappointed in 1975. Adding White Pelican, Sandhill Crane and Sabine’s Gull to the list caused more than one member to remark, “This year the birds came to see us!”

Eight South of Boston cavalcades totaled 146 species; two trips were not reported. There were hundreds of Brant in March. Twenty White-rumped Sandpipers, Mourning Warbler and Lincoln’s Sparrow were added in September, and 10 Redheads and 43 Canvasbacks joined the list there on December 7th.

Westport’s 6 trips stretched over the entire season. January 31 Mute Swans swelled to 120 in April. A Whistling Swan was added in November. One Little Blue Heron, a Cattle Egret and a Clapper Rail were gained at Dartmouth on April 27, but Red-headed Woodpecker was missed. The September 7 trip visited a heron roost counting 20 Little Blues and 50 Great Egrets, among other species, and adding the White Ibis.

The BBC total “heron” count for 1975 was as follows:

Great Blue Heron          272                          Black-crowned Night Heron                246

Green Heron                 164                          Yellow-crowned Night Heron                1

Little Blue Heron           82                            Least Bittern                                         16

Cattle Egret                    23                            American Bittern                                  26

Great Egret                     79                            Glossy Ibis                                           180

Snowy Egret                  1030                        White Ibis                                             1

Mt. Auburn trips listed 110 species. A Worm-eating Warbler was heard and later verified. The best warbler tally was 19 on May 20. (PI birders saw 20 species on May 17.) No great waves appeared to torment and give stiff necks to the novice birders, but the sight of wings and tails high up in the foliage, late in the month, was enough to frustrate even Bob Stymeist, who reported, “can’t see a darn thing, even in the oaks. 80% of the birds, heard!”

Manchester birders gained an impressive 105 species during 8 trips. Gray-cheeked Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, and 4 Indigo Buntings were featured.

Ipswich reported, in 4 trips, a fine 90 species. On January 12, a Green-winged Teal was discovered with the Black Ducks in Norman’s Pond, and 3 Hooded Mergansers were at Clark’s Pond. That day there were also Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, Rough-legged, and Marsh Hawks, and 8 American Kestrels. Two Harbor Seals basked on the rocks at Little Neck.

Cape Ann’s count was 80 this year, as only 6 reports were available. One trip was cancelled due to snow, one group decided to go to Newburyport instead (then missed the Ross’ Gull), and a third trip did not report. Winter specialties did include 8 Guillemots, Razorbill, Harlequin Duck, Kittiwake and Purple Sandpiper. And two write-in species were much enjoyed.

The Martha’s Vineyard trip gave 78 species, including a Short-eared Owl and 12 Grasshopper Sparrows.

This year’s Berkshire Campout added a Turkey Vulture to the check list, and tallied 74 species. It was nice to see Gray-cheeked Thrush on the list.

From Weston, 4 trips reported 74 species, finding Goshawk, Prairie Warbler and twice, Worm-eating Warbler.

Five walks around Arnold Arboretum totaled 66 species in that lovely tree-park, including the year’s first Lincoln Sparrow.

Sherborn-Natick birders reported 64 varieties, with Broad-winged Hawk and a Louisiana Waterthrush.

Groton’s Pine and Blue-winged Warblers brought that count to 56, in 2 completed trips.

Only one Wayland trip was held. It listed 53 species.

The Newton birders found 50 species during 2 walks, and gained the year’s first Spotted Sandpiper.

Unfortunately, 2 trips to Mystic Lake were stormed out and one is missing. The total reached 47.

Boston Harbor Islands gave us 46 species on 4 trips, and featured Brant and other waterfowl, several Owls and Redpolls. Fresh Pond gained a similar 46 species in 10 trips. Three trips there were cancelled and 1, unreported.

Belmont reported the season’s first Woodcock and tallied 43 species in 6 trips. Two walks were cancelled and 1 not heard from this year.

Other areas contributed: Charles River, 42; Revere, 41; Middleboro, 40; Mt. Tom, 32 (with 428 Broad-winged Hawks); Lynnfield, 32; Wellesley, 32; Marblehead, 27; Lexington, 25; Quabbin, 20 (but including 2 Bald Eagles and a trek to Athol for Varied Thrush); Nahant, 17; and IRWS, 14.

Our trips to Needham, Milton and Andover were either cancelled or unreported in 1975.

High totals for the month depend partly upon luck, but usually upon the excellence of the leader and the persistence of the participants. Special mention is given to the following for a single day of birding:

January               44            Larry Jodrey, Cape Ann; Jim Berry, Ipswich; and Anne Clark, Falmouth

February             48            Dick and Dora Hale, Cape Ann

March                 49            Jerry Soucy, Newburyport

April                   69            Jim Berry, Ipswich to Newburyport

May                   111        Herm Weissberg, Newburyport

June                    78            Herman D’Entremont, Plymouth; Cy Simmons, Plum Island

July                     73            Bill Drummond, Plum Island

August                78            Bill Drummond (for Giriunas), Newburyport

September        130         Bill Drummond, Newburyport

October               92            Dick and Dora Hale, Newburyport

November          67            Rick Heil, Newburyport

December          52            John Nove, Manchester to Cape Ann

It is also interesting to note that at least one new species was gained each month during 1975.

January               90            May                       92            September       12

February             23            June                        6             October             7

March                 11            July                         4             November         6

April                    41            August                  11            December         1

Birds missing from the Massachusetts Audubon Society Check List, despite all efforts to find them, were: Louisiana Heron, Pomarine Jaeger, Red-headed Woodpecker, Lark Sparrow, European Widgeon, Thick-billed Murre, Western Kingbird.

Reviewing the past year has been fun. There has been a wealth of material to choose from, as many more leaders made notes and included trip summaries in their reports. Thank-you. One small plea: please give a detailed description when you record write-in species, and most especially when you add a life bird to the BBC list.

As “the dusky night rode down the sky and ushered in the morn”, 30 birders grabbed check lists, pencils, binoculars, and scopes, and headed for the South Shore. New Year’s Day had arrived with a little snow and, alas, little else. They found 20 species, not even a bird apiece, with 200 Bonaparte Gulls foremost among them. But birders live on hope, and it was great to begin. 

On January 4, members met a Ruddy Duck at Mystic Lake, counted 20 Coot at Horn Pond, and entertained a good natured disagreeement over a female duck with hidden speculum, never satisfactorily identified. Meanwhile, Cape Ann birders wrote-in Western Tanager at Annisquam, watched a solemn Common Merganser, and played “he’s up, he’s down” with various Guillemots. And at Lexington feeding stations, 15 members added birds to the annual checklist from a panoply of Evening Grosbeaks, House Finches, Goldfinches, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, woodpeckers, nuthatches, Tufted Titmice, Chickadees, Mockingbirds, Blue Jays, Juncos and sparrows. A Fox Sparrow and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet were underlined. An American Kestrel did some watching of its own.

The January 11 Westport trip rained-out at noon. Luckily, the morning allowed views of 2 Redheads, 150 Canvesbacks, a Carolina Wren and a Common Yellowthroat.

Late on January 12, Philip Parsons and Herman Weissberg stopped at the clam shack, Newburyport, to look over some gulls. A small one, tinged pink, caught their attention. Then of course it vanished! The integrity of their observation became clear in March. For a great interview with the discoverers of Ross’ Gull, read “A Ross’ Gull Round Table” in the Jan.-Feb. Bird Observer, and to re-savor the details of the verification, see “The Massachusetts Ross’ Gull” in the June issue of American Birds, both 1975 publications.

A Short-eared Owl joined the list at Squantum on the 19th, and flocks and flocks of ‘Lapland Longspurs coursed the wind.

It was raining hard at Falmouth on January 25, but birders went anyway, for 4 Pied-billed Grebes, 12 Redheads, 90 Canvasbacks, 33 Ruddy Ducks, 11 Tufted Titmice and much more. By afternoon the rain let up and one of Falmouth’s famous fogs began to roll over the landscape, wrapping up birds and birders in a cold, damp blanket. Some of the group made it to Harwich just in time to see the White Pelican.

Happily the Long-eared Owl checked in earlier this year, on January 26. Snowy Owls kept Nature balanced at Plum Island. Rough-legged Hawk and Red-tail sky patrolled. It didn’t pay to be a “wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie”. Black-headed Gull and 50 Bonaparte Gulls were seen, but nary a pink feather.

So many waifs this year, fulfilling their destinies far from their own kind. Ice skinned Cape Cod ponds seemed strange hostelry for a Sandhill Crane, White Pelican and Little Blue Heron, all seen on February 1.

A Black-backed Three-toed Woodpecker was Swampscott’s celebrity on the 2nd of the month. Birders tried to find a King Hider off 40 Steps, Nahant, but 400 Common Eiders swam without one. The beaches were covered with ice and people, but 50 Sanderlings managed to run along the tide margin.

During a mild blizzard, Bill Drummond urged his February 9th trip “on to Rafe’s Chasm”, Magnolia. Snug on the rocks sat 6 Harlequin Ducks. A party of 10 “lords and ladies” cavorted in the surf there on the 16th, and 6 Red-necked Grebes, Razorbill, Western Tanager and Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Shrike and Snowy Owl gave birders a lively stop-go drive around Cape Ann.

Great Meadows is not just a summer place. On February 17, a Pileated Woodpecker flew over the woods at the SW end of the refuge, its large, white wing patches flashing a semaphore in the sky. A young Red-tail practiced take-off and landings near the sewer beds, where 5 Snipe were observed.

Belmont walkers found February 22 “beautiful, but dull”. Bird news slowed a bit at the end of the month. In retrospect, it seems the calm did come before the storm.

Blustering March pounced in, lashing snow squalls into the faces of the Newburyport group. Two cars slid down the icy roads from Athol, to join members at Salisbury, where a Tufted Duck was favoring the salt water creek near the toll booth. Despite the low tide, there he was, in scarcely enough water to wet his long, beautiful tuft. Jim Baird and party had seen an Eared Grebe earlier in the day and BBC was alerted. Conditions deteriorated, and a “suspiciously different grebe” could not be identified positively by us. Good things did come, in threes: 3 Goldeneyes, 3 Glaucous Gulls and 3 Snowy Owls. Flocks and flocks of larks, longspurs, and Snowbunting, whirling into the sky, made feather flurries of their own.

An adult, winter plumaged Ross’ Gull was identified and verified at Salisbury on March 2nd; the pilgrimage of 1975 was underway. It was thrilling, a very special time. Two thoughts come to mind: how fortunate that the bird appeared where it did; how missed were certain faces in the crowd.

The Bird wasn’t the only bird around. There were more than enough Bonaparte, Black-headed and Little Gulls to bedevil the searchers. An albinistic Snowbunting at Salisbury, March 16, started a mild panic when someone wondered if it might be a McKay’s Bunting. It wasn’t.

Spring was returning, one rain drop at a time. Two skunks skulked along the marsh carefully avoiding birders. A Snow Goose joined the building flocks of Canadas at Newburyport and huge rafts of scaup and goldeneyes choked the mouth of the Merrimack.

Seventy-five Canada Geese were seen flying over Horn Pond in a perfect V formation. An early Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drilled in the pines at Plum Island. It was March 29, and members chuckled to view 2 Coots walking clumsily on the land. Some had never seen Coot feet. One asked, “How would you like to have feet that are yellow and green and huge like snowshoes?” At that, one Coot flew and landed on the ice, sliding a long way on its tummy.

Three Phoebes waved their tails like royal dames to April Plum Island trippers, despite weather described as “awful, miserable and atrocious”. Twenty-seven Snow Geese cheered hearts a little, 22 Killdeer and 5 Greater Yellowlegs made the best of it, and 500 Robins signaled Spring, somewhere. Redwings, Rusty Blackbirds, Grackles and Cowbirds turned up, as Leader Phil Parsons gallantly offered another look at Ross’ Gull.

The sun came out on April 12 and Plum Island birders finally found the Saw Whet Owl!

Winds shunted birders across the dikes at Great Meadows on the 21st, toward tail-wagging Palm Warblers and other Spring arrivals. A variety of swallows coursed the wind.

On the 26th, Sora Rail responded to a tape recording and walked up to members at the Ipswich Shopping Center. A Ruff was discovered at Sportsmen’s Lodge and a Louisiana Waterthrush appeared at Broadmoor Sanctuary. The list of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers grew and grew as the month ended.

May started cool and gray at Mt. Auburn. Even the birds were gray—Chimney Swifts, Phoebe, Mockingbird and 2 gray-headed Solitary Vireos. It seemed evident that “Man is ever weary, weary—waiting for the May’, even with the new page on the calendar.

The May 3 Crooked Pond to Plum Island trip recorded the first Green Heron, Lesser Yellowlegs and Pectoral Sandpipers. Another Ruff was seen, and no one minded another gaze at Ross’ Gull. For many, the prize was three-fold—Kestrel, Merlin and Peregrine, on one trip.

A Kentucky Warbler woke Bob Stymeist at 5:15 on May 6. He watched it for 45 minutes as it sang in the hawthorne tree outside his window. At 6:00 a.m., he dashed to the Mt. Auburn gate, gathered up the BBC, and sped them back to his house. Many lists gained a life bird that morning.

Mt. Auburn birders polished their lenses and spotted a Great Egret in a tree at Willow Pond on the 7th, and a few days later, some watched a Herring Gull catch and eat a goldfish there.

Betty Cushman located a Phoebe’s nest in back of the Polaroid Building in Newton on May 10th.

Three American Bitterns were seen standing together in the grass by the Sudbury River on May 17, and 5 Nighthawks called and flew overhead.

Crows on the wing mobbed a large white bird at Mt. Auburn on May 27. This report was offered in support of a Barn Owl sighting there that day.

Our Southern Weekend listed 78 species in Maryland and 80 species in Virginia, with many highlights; Blue Grosbeak, Wilson’s Plover, Black Vulture, Gull-billed Tern, Swainson’s Warbler and other area specialties, plus 4 Black Rails.

Best birds on the Cape Cod trip of May 31 were 15 Sooty Shearwaters, moving north off Nauset Beach. A Bank Swallow colony, an occupied Kingfisher hole, and a nest of House finches were noted. A partial albino Chipping Sparrow joined the long list of aberrant birds seen this year.

Virginia Rails and Pied-billed Grebes, both chicks, delighted members on the last May Newburyport trip. This developed into a super trip, with Brewster’s and Mourning Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, King Rail, 2 Willets and anything else you wanted!

Whippoorwill walkers tried the Dover Dump this June since Sherborn’s own night-jars seem to be either thinning out or getting wise to whistling birdwatchers. Two birds responded at the dump. A Veery was also heard. The leader wondered if 2 species constituted a record for the BBC. I seem to recall a blushing “one confusing fall warbler” from Marblehead, but that trip was declared a rain-out!

Steve Grinley’s comments are too good to be missed. From the Berkshire Campout comes this: “On Saturday, while looking for the Mourning Warbler along the road to the summit, one member was asked to move his car to allow someone to jump off the mountain. All 16 members watched in awe as not one, but 6 men jumped off the mountain—on hang gliders! Several members had to assist the last flyer as he fell into a bush on his first attempt. But like a young fledgling just out of the nest, he gave it a second try and was soaring with a pair of Red-tails!” The Mourning Warblers were located, together with 2 Barred Owls, and a number of nesting species.

The Plum Island boat trip of June 21 frolicked with 3 whales and a Manx Shearwater, and managed to list 6 Wilson’s Storm Petrels—the grand day and sunset-return to port making up for the dearth of birds.

Hot, dusty, Plum Island might have been home to a singing White-eyed Vireo, but birders, scratching away the bugs, felt dirty and itchy on the 23rd. A White-tailed deer, running through the marsh at dusk, brought a moment of beauty.

A Kingbird celebrated July 4 at Broadmoor by landing on a Broad-winged Hawk and riding it piggy-back for 80 feet. Much later, while driving away from Waseeka Sanctuary in Hopkinton, Eliot Taylor saw two pink eyes at the side of the road. He stopped the group, and whistled out a Whippoorwill that flew up and down the road and landed in a near-by tree.

A Plum Island evening trip by-passed the dike for the first time on July 21, to keep a Royal Tern watch at Emerson’s Rocks. Members watched and watched and nothing turned up. When the leader reached home he had a phone call. “Sorry I missed you at the airport. Did you see the 2 Black Skimmers at the dike?”

An Osprey, fishing at Great Meadows on July 19, held the attention of a group bent on counting waterfowl children. Their tally: 4 Woodduck with 18 ducklings, 3 Gadwalls with 16 ducklings, Black duck with 10 young, and 2 Virginia Rails with 5 little black chicks.

The objective of another Plum Island trip was a Curlew Sandpiper. Never has an assemblage of shore birds received such scrutiny. Each time a fresh flock arrived, hopes raised and lowered with the row of binoculars. It just wasn’t to be seen.

When the “plumed goldenrod flaunts her train and lifts her golden head along the way”, you will find a funfilled coterie of birders exploring the kettle holes, squishing in the marsh, and brushing away the flies and mosquitoes on Plum Island evening trips. It’s a special time. On August 3, a sneak through aromatic “soup” led to 7 Sharp-tailed and 4 Seaside Sparrows in the tall marsh grass beyond Plum Bush. Singing out Whimbrel, Willet and Godwit was almost as delightful as seeing them. 250 Snowy Egrets flapped in, to roost for the night at Stage Island Pool. Final reward was a Black Skimmer, sitting on the sand at South End as the setting sun flamed the sky.

The August 9th boat trip logged 2 Greater, 2 Sooty’s and a Manx Shearwater, about 300 Wilson’s Storm Petrels and 35 Northern Phalarope.

Monomoy birders noted their gains very carefully on August 16: 159 Semipalmated Plovers, 67 Piping Plovers, 94 Red Knots, 5 Marbled and 80 Hudsonian Godwits, 1470 Great Black-backed Gulls, 45 Laughing Gulls, 72 Roseate Terns and dozens of other species.

A motorcycle and 10 cars made up the August 23 parade from Newburyport to Pikes Bridge Road. Two Buff-breasted Sandpipers caused a celebration. Swallows filled the air. Finally, a Solitary Sandpiper was gained for the annual list, as well as the year’s only Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Three Wilson’s Phalarope and a Black Tern made this a superb trip. 

The month ended back at Monomoy. Stiff northeast winds had blown most of the shore birds away. A Ruddy Duck, in molt, proved interesting. The piece de resistance was a Kentucky Warbler, identified by John Wall.

On September 6, Evelyn Pyburn found a Short-billed Marsh Wren at Plum Bush, setting the morning off to a good natured challenge cup race. Larry Jodrey announced, “Yellow-crowned Night Heron flying over” at Hellcat. From then on it was frantic for the tally keeper, as 130 species appeared, best of 1975.

At Westport, a White Ibis posed for club members on the 7th, at 6:50 p.m. It flew from Allen’s Pond to the heron roost on Big Ram Island in the Westport River. Bob Stymeist saw a Louisiana Heron in the area, but it was missed by the BBC. The group did enjoy 25 Whimbrel at Dartmouth, and skies and skies of swallows.

Birders watched a weasel at the Warden’s, Plum Island on September 18, while a Connecticut Warbler favored Stella Garrett with a solo appearance. The species was also gained by the September 20 group, along the new elevated marsh walk at Hellcat. A Western Tanager stopped traffic between Kettle Hole and the compound.

Nantucket fog disrupted plans for the pelagic bird search—just one Manx Shearwater was seen. The highlight of the year’s trip was discovered when Dick Hale made a wrong turn, separating his car from the main party, but joining up with a Wheatear. The leaders of the trip were at their cottage, wondering what was keeping the group. A handsome photograph resulted from co-leader Jerry Soucy’s successful dash to the bird!

A card from Great Meadows listed 29 Golden Plovers for the 21st, but commented on the low numbers of waterfowl, “due to the warden’s having frightened them away because of mysterious waterbird kill in the area.”

September ended on an exuberant note. The boat trip from Harwichport, on rainy, foggy September 27, gave us 8 Red Phalarope and 2 Parasitic Jaegers, plus views of 3 Cory’s, 75 Greater and 6 Sooty Shearwaters. The next day, a Clay-colored Sparrow and 3 Peregrine Falcons astonished Plum Islanders.

And then bright, blue, brisk October began. Boreal Chickadee was easy to find in the Old Plum Island Pines, and 24 Shovelers, Peregrine, Osprey, Willets and Winter Wren satisfied members who had missed them. A Clapper Rail ended the trip.

Belmont-at-Highland-Farms trips are routinely plagued with noisy people and dogs. Due to the first American League play-off baseball game, all the people were at home, watching TV. The dogs must have been with them. Thus a peaceful stroll ensued, featuring a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Palm Warblers, a Scarlet Tanager and a flock of White-throated Sparrows.

Members counted 51 Great Blue Herons at Fort Hill, and added number 52 behind the Acme Laundry, during a drive from Chatham to Truro on October 5. A Pectoral Sandpiper fed in the pig pen at Corn Hill, running the gamut from Lesser Yellowlegs to Upland Sandpiper, before it took a bath in the brook and revealed its true identity. Two Bluebirds, scarce this year, were seen at Truro. Ten species of Sparrows were recorded including a Vesper, 1000 Juncos, 10 White-crowned, 50 Whitethroats and a Lincoln’s. The season’s only Hooded Warbler was gained on this trip.

On the anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America, one birder explored The Glades, Scituate. He discovered 15 Water Pipits before heavy rain sent him home. A Hermit Thrush lingered behind him, in appropriate solitude.

Osprey and Kingfisher fished Mystic Lake giving the birding party the hope that the water is clearing there. Not seeing or even hearing a chickadee or nuthatch was considered noteworthy.

Great Meadows once again stirred with waterfowl on October 13. An immature Double-crested Cormorant was surprised at Borden’s Pond.

Rainy day birding is hard to endure, and the Westport October 19th trip could endure it only till 11:30 am. Before everyone left for home, 8 Gannets passed close by Gooseberry Neck, one unbelievably close. A Red-necked Grebe was a fine acquisition for the area.

This year’s weekender on the lower cape was dazzling, from 100 Common Loons to Snowbuntings. On the list were 5 Cory’s, 105 Greater and 1 Sooty Shearwater, 610 Gannets, 2 Turkey Vultures, 16 Kittiwakes, Forster’s Tern, 2 Razorbills, 3 Dovekies and 2 Dickcissels. For members who already had these, came a Sabine’s Gull.

Plum Island enchanted some with a whirl of 42 Red Crossbills, singing, flitting and spiriting a merry chase through the pines, old and new. A line of Snow Geese made black and white poetry.

Pine Grosbeaks and White-winged Crossbills met Plum Island birders on November trips, and vast flocks of Snowbuntings rose up on twinkling, twittering wings at Salisbury. One group, satiated with Snowy Egrets, was glad to see but one remaining, and enjoyed the more wintry fare. Some people talked about measuring wooly bears, noted the height of hornet nests and predicted a wild winter. But the weather was warm and the company, mellow. A fellow birder from Ohio checked off 8 lifers, giving everyone a share of his excitement!

Cape Ann’s ocean was covered with gulls on the 22nd, thousands of them. Rough-winged and Barn Swallows appeared on one hand; Kittiwakes and a Leach’s Storm Petrel, the other. At Horn Pond, 11 Canvasbacks cruised their elegant profiles across a perfectly lit surface.

On the 23rd, three Ipswich-type Savannah Sparrows appeared at Dartmouth. Autumn was closing. Swallows were still flying, but Purple Sandpipers had repossessed the rocky shore. An adult Whistling Swan drifted like snow at Richmond Pond. At Arnold Arboretum, 2 Boreal Chickadees led the report, another harbinger of winter.

Yet the warm Fall prevailed. At East Boston, 7 Great Blue Heron stood around in no apparent hurry.

The December 7th trip to Quincy Bay was terminated at noon because the leader’s car and 8 passengers became marooned on Long Island with a Barn Owl.

From the Plum Island Polio Camp came another sighting of Kittiwakes, on the 18th. 4 Snowy Owls stared with yellow tiger eyes. Both Crossbills and 4 Boreal Chickadees were available. At Squaw Rock, Squantum, 8 Redpolls fed daintily upon birch seeds.

The north winds suddenly arrived, with a memorable snowstorm, just in time to postpone the Annual Christmas Bird Census. Snow and Ice put a crunch into the walking and excitement into the driving.

December and 1975 ended in elegance, with the sublime grace of a young Ivory Gull at Salisbury. It flew with power from the jetties, rode the ice floes and glided low over the heads of assembled birders. On the 27th, a Barred Owl sat hunched in the bend of the old willow tree near the boat ramp, bringing a premier year of birding to a memorable conclusion.

Mary Lou Barnett, Statistician