Brookline Bird Club – America’s most active bird club!

Crane Pond WMA, Essex, Massachusetts, US
Jul 11, 2021 7:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
5.0 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:    1 hour at south end of JB Little Road; 1.75 hr Centre Street Marsh; quick stop at end of Crane Neck Rd / Little Crane Pond; remainder of time at Ash St swamp;  High water levels from recent heavy rains and young birds made for high counts on some species; This checklist probably has an undercount in species and numbers for most passerines as the focus was wetland species.
49 species (+2 other taxa)
Canada Goose  2
Wood Duck  8    after official end of trip, saw a mother and 6-8 babies while leaving the Ash st swamp (they are not included in the total count)
Mallard  9
Mourning Dove  18    estimate
Virginia Rail  25    This and sora were only species I counted carefully.  The actual number was probably around 30, but I’m trying to be conservative.  At south end of JB Road, an adult (assumed to always be the same one) dashed out onto the path multiple times throughout the visit.  23 individuals at centre st swamp (11 black fuzzy young, 5 juveniles, 6 adults – all on west side of road plus sporadic calls coming from east side of road that are conservatively counted as 1 here).  A heard-only rail at Ash st swamp.  Most birds giving fairly close and unobstructed views.  What a great day for Virginia Rails!
Sora  3    2 juveniles at the southwestern portion of the centre st swamp while one adult heard calling from the central- or north-western portion of the centre st swamp.  One of the juveniles finally came out and provided relatively unobstructed viewing, although from longer ranges than most of the Virginia Rails.
Herring Gull  1
Great Blue Heron  5    probably more
Great Egret  3
Green Heron  4    conservative estimate
Turkey Vulture  2
Barred Owl  1    2 brief, sequential, distant calls seemingly from trees on back side of center st swamp
Belted Kingfisher  5    probably more
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Pileated Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  3
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill’s Flycatcher)  1    silent and seen briefly
Eastern Kingbird  8    possibly more
Warbling Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  3
crow sp.  2
Tufted Titmouse  2
Tree Swallow  12
Barn Swallow  4
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
House Wren  1
Marsh Wren  7
Gray Catbird  6
Northern Mockingbird  1
Eastern Bluebird  4
Veery  1
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  16
Cedar Waxwing  8
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  7
Chipping Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  4
Swamp Sparrow  8
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  25    rough estimate; widely spread and flying about; many young
Common Grackle  6
Ovenbird  2
Common Yellowthroat  4
Yellow Warbler  2
Scarlet Tanager  2
Northern Cardinal  5
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S91795130

ANNUAL REPORT 2025

Brookline Bird Club 2025 Statistical and Year-End Report By David Scott, Club Statistician The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 284 species for 2025, with 275 species in Massachusetts (one more than last year) and nine [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2025

Brookline Bird Club 2025 Statistical and Year-End Report By David Scott, Club Statistician The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 284 species for 2025, with 275 species in Massachusetts (one more than last year) and nine [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2025

Brookline Bird Club 2025 Statistical and Year-End Report By David Scott, Club Statistician The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 284 species for 2025, with 275 species in Massachusetts (one more than last year) and nine [...]

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