Crane Beach and Trails, Essex, Massachusetts, US

Jun 5, 2019 6:10 PM – 8:20 PM

Comments:    A family of 4 (with delightful boys aged 5 and 4) joined 4 others of us for our annual BBC evening walk at Crane Beach.  Alas, it was rather cold with a NE wind blowing off the water, the variety was low, and there were no special highlights beyond the nesting least terns and piping plovers.  We walked the beach but no dunes; all songbirds near gate and parking lot.  No swallows.  We did not stay late to listen for whips.

22 species

Mallard  2    pair in the ocean

Mourning Dove  1

Piping Plover  11    All adults; no nests seen.  Jeff Denoncour of TTOR staff told me they have counted AT LEAST 45 active pairs this year!

Sanderling  1

Semipalmated Sandpiper  40    exact count; nothing else with this flock

Willet (Eastern)  1

Ring-billed Gull  1

Herring Gull  45

Great Black-backed Gull  12

Least Tern  125    Estimate–a big colony.  Not a large number for this site.  One bird seen on nest.  No other terns seen.

Double-crested Cormorant  5

Great Crested Flycatcher  1

Eastern Kingbird  1

Gray Catbird  1

American Robin  1

Song Sparrow  2

Eastern Towhee  2

Orchard Oriole  1    adult male at gate

Red-winged Blackbird  6

Common Grackle  3

Common Yellowthroat  1

Yellow Warbler  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S58877668