Starting the Year Off with the BBC
On January 1 Laura de la Flor and Mark Burns led their our 29th (maybe 30th) Brookline Bird Club New Year’s Day birding trip! I’ll let Laura take it from here…
We started leading this trip on the cusp of the ‘technological boom’ so some of our earliest records are either in notebooks or an old AOL account (remember dial-up modems!). Nonetheless, one of our oldest and dearest birding friends came up to me and said: “You do know this is your 30th year!”… I’m checking our records.
It was a perfect winter day with snow squalls in the morning, temps that hovered around 23°F, and winds that gusted throughout the PM. We birded Cashman Park, the Merrimack River, Salisbury Beach State Park, and Parker River NWR, and tallied 59 species for the club list.
Highlights include: 3 Barrow’s Goldeneye and 4 Bald Eagles seen along the river during a snow squall, a Long-eared Owl roosting in cedars, 2 Snowy Owls hunkered down in the marsh among ice and snow chunks, and both a Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl hunting the marsh beneath a near full moon.
eBird trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/457805




As always, I loved spending time with old friends and new. Here’s to a very Happy New Year! 


News Categories
Upcoming Field Trips
Field Trips / Events
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Scusset Beach State Reservation
Sagamore - Scusset Beach Pier Parking Lot MA, United StatesOffered by the Cape Cod Bird Club! and co-sponsored by Brookline Bird Club. We'll spend the morning exploring the thickets on the wooded trails for fall migrants, walking the bike path along the canal where wintering waterfowl should just be coming in and exploring the campground area. We’ll finish up at the beach and scope [...]
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Fresh Pond, Cambridge
Cambridge - Fresh Pond - TD Bank 235 Alewife Brook Pkwy, Cambridge, MA, United StatesAn easy 2-mile walk through pondside meadows and forest paths at Fresh Pond. The over-wintering waterbirds have started to arrive, and we may see Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks and both Hooded and Common Mergansers. Meadow and forest species may include year-round residents as well as seasonal visitors from the north (e.g. White-throated Sparrows, Juncos).
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Franklin Park – Scarboro Pond (Early Birders Series)
Boston - Franklin Park Tennis Courts (Meeting Spot) MA, United StatesJoin fellow birders in their 20s-30s as we visit Franklin Park! Located in Roxbury, Boston’s largest open space is home to a plethora of natural features, including miles of trails, playing fields, a pond, and plenty of birds! Here we will look for all sorts of songbirds, including late fall migrants and early winterers. Whether [...]
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An Oasis for Birds at Belle Isle Marsh
East Boston - Belle Isle Parking Lot 1399 Bennington Street, Boston, MA, United StatesLed by DCR staff. We will search on foot up to one mile, on flat, easy terrain for snowy owls and other raptors, native sparrows, finches, waterfowl, and other birds. This is a traveling program by car or bike. Prepare for ticks. Ages: Adults and kids 8 years+ with adult chaperone. Binoculars recommended. Cosponsored by [...]
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Arlington Reservoir with Arlington Open Space Committee and Arlington Reservoir Committee
Lexington - Arlington Reservoir 210 Lowell Street, Arlington, MA, United StatesGetting into late fall, we'll look for interesting ducks and perhaps lingering shorebirds. We'll also check the gardens for remaining fall migrants. Cosponsored by the Arlington Open Space Committee and Arlington Reservoir Committee, and Menotomy Bird Club. For late arrivers, this time we'll circle the reservoir in the clockwise direction looking for interesting ducks first. [...]



