Crane Beach, Essex, Massachusetts, US
Jun 6, 2018 6:15 PM – 8:55 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.75 mile(s)
Comments:     I led my annual BBC walk on Crane Beach to look for nesting piping plovers, least terns, bank swallows, and (at dusk) whip-poor-wills. Tonight turned windy and cool, cool enough for gloves.  This might explain why the whip count was down from the other night when I heard 4 of them.  We walked less than a mile down the beach, as a large tern colony begins half a mile down.
27 species

Double-crested Cormorant  3
Great Egret  1
Snowy Egret  9     flock near dusk flying inland, though they may have been heading for Kettle Island
Osprey  2
Piping Plover  20     Including 4 tiny young of one pair, of course painfully cute.  Jeff Denoncour, the TTOR ecologist, told me today that about 42 pairs are on the beach, the third highest count since they started keeping track in 1986.
Semipalmated Sandpiper  7
Willet (Eastern)  4
Herring Gull  33
Great Black-backed Gull  4
Least Tern  100     Rough estimate at the one colony we visited.  Jeff told me there are from 100 to 150 pairs at the beach this year, or 200 to 300 birds. They are beginning to nest, and we saw several birds on eggs.  (We saw the eggs in at least one case.)
Common Tern  10
Mourning Dove  4
Eastern Whip-poor-will  1     One or two heard singing–only one for sure.
Northern Flicker  1     not seen (thus cannot report it as yellow-shafted)
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  2
Tree Swallow  8
Bank Swallow  0     We didn’t go far enough down the beach to see the colonies, though in my previous visits there have been few to no swallows despite the presence of numerous burrows.
Gray Catbird  3
Cedar Waxwing  1
Common Yellowthroat  1
Yellow Warbler  2
Savannah Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  4
Common Grackle  1
American Goldfinch  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S47242722

ANNUAL REPORT 2022

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 276 species for 2022, based upon 204 reported trips. Of those, 264 species were recorded in Massachusetts, with 12 additional species reported from the out-of-state trips to New Hampshire [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2021

Brookline Bird Club 2021 Statistical and Year-End Report By David Scott, Club Statistician The Brookline Bird Club recorded 270 species for 2021, based upon 206 reported trips. Two-hundred and sixty-five species were recorded in Massachusetts, [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2022

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 276 species for 2022, based upon 204 reported trips. Of those, 264 species were recorded in Massachusetts, with 12 additional species reported from the out-of-state trips to New Hampshire [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2021

Brookline Bird Club 2021 Statistical and Year-End Report By David Scott, Club Statistician The Brookline Bird Club recorded 270 species for 2021, based upon 206 reported trips. Two-hundred and sixty-five species were recorded in Massachusetts, [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2022

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 276 species for 2022, based upon 204 reported trips. Of those, 264 species were recorded in Massachusetts, with 12 additional species reported from the out-of-state trips to New Hampshire [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2021

Brookline Bird Club 2021 Statistical and Year-End Report By David Scott, Club Statistician The Brookline Bird Club recorded 270 species for 2021, based upon 206 reported trips. Two-hundred and sixty-five species were recorded in Massachusetts, [...]

News Categories

Upcoming Field Trips

Great Meadows NWR, Concord

Concord - Great Meadows Concord Unit, Entrance Rd, Concord, MA, United States

We 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 States

The 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 States

Join 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 States

Stroll 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.

Go to Top