Interested in taking action to protect horseshoe crabs in Massachusetts? Migrating shorebirds depend on their eggs for critical migration fuel and there are multiple ways you can get involved as a concerned citizen:
Take action today!
– Share comments on a current proposal to list the Horseshoe Crab as a Species of Special Concern
Comments are due by April 23rd at 5pm and may be sent via email to susan.sacco@mass.gov to the attention of the Fisheries and Wildlife Board
– Participate in the proposal to close Plymouth, Kingston, and Duxbury Bays to the Horseshoe Crab Take
Contact the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance (contact: Sharl Heller)
Ways to get involved:
– Massachusetts Horseshoe Crab Collaborative
Visit their website to learn more and join over 2,000 Massachusetts residents who have gone on record as wanting an end to taking horseshoe crabs for bait, even as they come ashore to spawn. Also visit their facebook page or contact Sharl Heller at the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance.
– Manomet
See their website and examples of their critical work with horseshoe crabs. Volunteer, make a donation, and more.
– Horseshoe Crab Recovery Coalition
Visit their website to learn more and take action.
Resources to learn more: (curated by the MA Horseshoe Crab Collaborative)
– When the Horseshoe Crabs are Gone, We’ll Be in Trouble. Deborah Cramer, The New York Times.
– Horseshoe crabs have roamed the planet for 450 million years, but they could be running out of time, Renée Loth, Boston Globe.
– The Horseshoe Crab Saved Us. Can We Save the Horseshoe Crab? I am BIO Podcast.
– Connecticut’s 2023 elimination of horseshoe crab commercial harvests and Governor Lamont’s call for neighboring states “to join this growing coalition and enact similar laws to protect the population in their waters.”
– Fishermen capturing spawning horseshoe crabs—Horseshoe Crab Capture: Video by Raymond MacDonald.
BBC 2020 Winter Meeting: Scott Weidensaul
Return to Wild America: A Yearlong Search for the Continent’s Natural Soul In 1955, naturalists Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher published their bestselling book Wild America, chronicling a now-legendary 30,000-mile trip across
Fundraising Effort to Memorialize Ida (update)
Ida at Plum Island, undated. The Board of Directors is pleased to announce 73 donations were received totaling $5,615 which far exceeded the goal set. 100% of the funds will go to
Closure of Hellcat Trail @ Parker River NWR
The Hellcat Trail at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is closed to all public access effective Monday, December 23, 2019 in order to facilitate replacement of the entire boardwalk system that supports the trail. The
Winter Birding on Cape Ann
seen above: Stage Fort Park by Fitz Henry Lane Dovekie at Gloucester Harbor by Phil Brown About once a week, from November into March, the BBC offers field trips to Gloucester and/or
Remembering Bill Drummond
We lost legendary and much-loved trip leader, Bill Drummond, 76, on October 30, 2019. Bill Drummond was a cornerstone and driving force behind the success of the Brookline Bird Club for many years. He served
Looking for new Membership Secretary!
The Brookline Bird Club is looking for a new Membership Secretary for April 2020 to replace our current secretary, Judy Hepburn, who is standing down at the end of her term. Judy has done
BBC 2020 Winter Meeting: Scott Weidensaul
Return to Wild America: A Yearlong Search for the Continent’s Natural Soul In 1955, naturalists Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher published their bestselling book Wild America, chronicling a now-legendary 30,000-mile trip across
Fundraising Effort to Memorialize Ida (update)
Ida at Plum Island, undated. The Board of Directors is pleased to announce 73 donations were received totaling $5,615 which far exceeded the goal set. 100% of the funds will go to
Closure of Hellcat Trail @ Parker River NWR
The Hellcat Trail at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is closed to all public access effective Monday, December 23, 2019 in order to facilitate replacement of the entire boardwalk system that supports the trail. The
Winter Birding on Cape Ann
seen above: Stage Fort Park by Fitz Henry Lane Dovekie at Gloucester Harbor by Phil Brown About once a week, from November into March, the BBC offers field trips to Gloucester and/or
Remembering Bill Drummond
We lost legendary and much-loved trip leader, Bill Drummond, 76, on October 30, 2019. Bill Drummond was a cornerstone and driving force behind the success of the Brookline Bird Club for many years. He served
Looking for new Membership Secretary!
The Brookline Bird Club is looking for a new Membership Secretary for April 2020 to replace our current secretary, Judy Hepburn, who is standing down at the end of her term. Judy has done
BBC 2020 Winter Meeting: Scott Weidensaul
Return to Wild America: A Yearlong Search for the Continent’s Natural Soul In 1955, naturalists Roger Tory Peterson and James Fisher published their bestselling book Wild America, chronicling a now-legendary 30,000-mile trip across
Fundraising Effort to Memorialize Ida (update)
Ida at Plum Island, undated. The Board of Directors is pleased to announce 73 donations were received totaling $5,615 which far exceeded the goal set. 100% of the funds will go to
Closure of Hellcat Trail @ Parker River NWR
The Hellcat Trail at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is closed to all public access effective Monday, December 23, 2019 in order to facilitate replacement of the entire boardwalk system that supports the trail. The
Winter Birding on Cape Ann
seen above: Stage Fort Park by Fitz Henry Lane Dovekie at Gloucester Harbor by Phil Brown About once a week, from November into March, the BBC offers field trips to Gloucester and/or
Remembering Bill Drummond
We lost legendary and much-loved trip leader, Bill Drummond, 76, on October 30, 2019. Bill Drummond was a cornerstone and driving force behind the success of the Brookline Bird Club for many years. He served
Looking for new Membership Secretary!
The Brookline Bird Club is looking for a new Membership Secretary for April 2020 to replace our current secretary, Judy Hepburn, who is standing down at the end of her term. Judy has done
News Categories
Upcoming Field Trips
Field Trips / Events
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RESCHEDULED to April 16 Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Concord RESCHEDULED
Due to weather, this trip is rescheduled to April 16.
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Fruitlands Museum, Harvard
Cosponsored with Boxborough Birders. We will look for local avian non-migratory species and early migrant arrivals. Expect to walk about two miles on trails through meadows and woods, with some steep sections. Prepare for ticks. We will bird at the meeting location for about 30 minutes so any latecomers can catch up.
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Westborough WMA in Two Parts
Part 1: 7 AM -10 AM / Part 2: 10:30 AM -1:00 PM. We will hike at a slow pace through mild moderate trails in search of sparrows and other migrants. For the first part we will hike the Eastern trails between Lake Chauncy and Little Chauncy(about 3 miles). Then we will again meet at
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Belle Isle Marsh and Vicinity
Led by DCR staff. We will search on foot up to one mile on flat, easy terrain, for migrating or resident songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, and marsh birds at this birding hotspot and state park. This is a traveling program by car or bike. Prepare for ticks and mosquitoes. Ages: Adults and kids 8 years+ with
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Millennium Park
Join us to observe resident birds and spring migrants in a unique urban habitat that is a favorite for many bird species, including uncommon and rare flycatchers, swallows & warblers. Birders of all levels welcome. The trails are generally flat and easy to walk, with some rough patches. A water bottle, sunblock, insect repellent, waterproof