BBC New Year’s Day Birding Trip 01/01/2022
Happy New Year MassBirders!
Mark Burns and I led our 25th “official” Annual New Year’s Day Birding Trip for the Brookline Bird Club (BBC) yesterday! At 9:00AM, 19 BBCers met at Cashman Park in Newburyport where we toasted in the New Year with sparkling apple cider, introduced ourselves, and reported on where we traveled from and what our first bird of the New Year was. Of the 19 BBCers: a splinter group of 5 went to Maine see the Steller’s Sea Eagle (good move and success for all that went), 2 stayed for the toast and camaraderie, and the remaining 12 hearty souls birded for most of the day despite the heavy fog, rain, drizzle, and temperatures in the low 40s.
We birded Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, and River Road in West Newbury. We called it a day at 4:30PM and tallied 52 species for the Club list. Following is a complete list of the birds we saw:
Red-throated Loon – 9
Common Loon – 12
Horned Grebe – 17
Red-necked Grebe – 5
Great-blue Heron – 1
Canada Goose – 250
Gadwall – 35
American Black Duck – 130
Mallard – 40
Northern Pintail – 24
Common Eider – 60
White-winged Scoter – 1,200
Black Scoter – 120
Long-tailed Duck – 34
Bufflehead – 24
Common Goldeneye – 16
Barrow’s Goldeneye – 2 (River Road, West Newbury)
Red-breasted Merganser – 8
Northern Harrier – 6
Copper’s Hawk – 3
Red-tailed Hawk – 2
Merlin – 2
Peregrin Falcon – 1
Purple Sandpiper – 12
Herring Gull – 350
Ring-billed Gull – 100
Great Black-backed Gull – 15
Razorbill – 8
Black Guillemot – 2
Rock Pigeon – 6
Mourning Dove – 13
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 4
Blue Jay – 10
American Crow – 55
Horned Lark – 6
Black-capped Chickadee – 9
Tufted Titmouse – 1
Carolina Wren – 4
American Robin – 45
Gray Catbird – 1
Northern Mockingbird – 12
European Starling – 275
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 1
American Tree Sparrow – 14
Song Sparrow – 15
White-throated Sparrow – 2
Dark-eyed Junco – 12
Snow Bunting – 70
Northern Cardinal – 16
House Finch – 6
American Goldfinch – 15
Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Birdy 2022!
Laura H. de la Flor
News Categories
Upcoming Field Trips
Great Meadows NWR, Concord
Concord - Great Meadows Concord Unit, Entrance Rd, Concord, MA, United StatesWe will walk easy trails looking for shorebirds, ducks, wading birds, rails, and nesting songbirds. This is also a great time to look for butterflies and other interesting insects. Note that entrance fee or pass is required. Loaner binoculars available; please email trip leader to reserve a pair!
Whale and Seabird watching trip out of Gloucester
Gloucester - 7 Seas Whale Watch 63 Rogers Street, 7 Seas Wharf, Gloucester, MA, United StatesThe BBC is partnering with the 7 Seas Whale Watching Tour Company to travel to Stellwagen Bank - primary feeding grounds for the Humpback Whale, the endangered Right Whale, and other marine wildlife, including seabirds. With the help of onboard naturalists, we will search for seabirds - storm petrals, shearwaters, gulls and terns, gannets, and [...]
An Oasis for Birds at Belle Isle Marsh
East Boston - Belle Isle Parking Lot 1399 Bennington Street, Boston, MA, United StatesJoin DCR park staff for a relaxed, one-mile bird walk through flat, easy terrain at this Massachusetts State Reservation and birding hot spot. In July, At Belle Isle and at additional nearby locations—we’ll search for osprey, flocks of egrets, piping plover, migrating shorebirds, meadow and grassland nesting birds. Participants are responsible for their own transportation [...]
Charles River Path in Waltham
Waltham - Charles River Shaws Supermarket 130 River Street, Waltham, MA, United StatesStroll along an easy to walk paved path. Possible sightings include Wood Ducks, Yellow Warbler, Warbling Vireo, and Great Blue Heron. Cosponsored with Waltham :Land Trust and Menotomy Bird Club.
Birding Sketch Crawl – Summer Series
Leader's ChoiceCome and bird/sketch favorite patches around Essex and Middlesex Counties.