BBC Massachusetts Big Day Count Follow Up

BBC members birded every county and every corner of the state this year, recording a total of 193 species. (See the eBird trip report.)Essex County led the way over Plymouth, but only by a single species. Suffolk was third, helped by a couple of county Big Day efforts. The first birds of the day were reported from Savery Pond in Plymouth County (Whip-poor-will, Eastern Screech Owl and Great Horned Owl), with an American Woodcock at Marconi Station on Cape Cod the last to be added to our list.

Here is the count by county:

1. Essex – 136 Species
2. Plymouth – 135 Species
3. Suffolk – 126 Species
4. Middlesex – 122 Species
5. Barnstable – 99 Species
6. Bristol – 84 Species
7. Berkshire – 84 Species
8. Worcester – 74 Species
9. Norfolk – 74 Species
10. Nantucket – 62 Species
11. Hampshire – 57 Species
12. Hampden – 30 Species
13. Dukes – 9 Species

Highlights include

• Summer Tanager (Mt Auburn Cemetery)
• American Golden-Plover (Scituate)
• Razorbill (Stellwagen whale watch)
• Wilson’s Phalarope (Plum Island)
• White-faced Ibis (Scotland Road, Newbury)
• Little Blue Heron (Nantucket)
• Sandhill Crane (Burrage Pond)
• Prothonatory Warbler (Wompatuck)

Top 10 reported species by number of checklists:

• 1st -American Robin
• 2nd -Song Sparrow
• 3rd – Gray Catbird
• 4th – Red-winged Blackbird
• 5th – Northern Cardinal
• 6th/7th – Blue Jay, American Goldfinch (tie)
• 8th – Common Grackle
• 9th – Baltimore Oriole
• 10th – Mourning Dove

Species appearing on a single checklist or at a single location:

• Black-billed Cuckoo
• Whimbrel
• American Woodcock
• Wilson’s Snipe
• Purple Sandpiper
• Manx Shearwater
• American Bittern
• Least Bittern
• Black Vulture
• Eastern Screech-Owl
• Winter Wren
• Pine Siskin
• Lincoln’s Sparrow
• Worm-eating Warbler
• Canada Warbler
• Cerulean Warbler

What did we miss? Not much, but Broad-winged Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Hooded Merganser, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Sora, Horned Lark and Blue-winged Teal would have taken us to 200 for the day. Saltmarsh Sparrow and Eastern Wood-Pewee reached the state in decent numbers just a day or two later.