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

Halibut Point SP, Essex, Massachusetts, US
23-Dec-2023 12:01 – 13:59
Protocol: Traveling
1.539 mile(s)
Checklist Comments:    A Brookline Bird Club walk led by Shilo McDonald. Blue skies mostly. Slight breeze. ~40 ºF.
31 species (+2 other taxa)
Mallard  40    Estimate. In the quarry.
American Black Duck  5    With Mallards in the quarry.
Common Eider  5    Not as many as we expected.
Harlequin Duck  45    Estimate.
White-winged Scoter  30    Estimate. A few here. A few there.
Long-tailed Duck  30    Conservative estimate.
Red-breasted Merganser  16    Estimate.
Horned Grebe  1
Purple Sandpiper  3    At least 3. Difficult to count due to their location. They were staying mostly on the down slope side of the water facing rocks. A couple documentation photos attached.
Black Guillemot  0    Tried as we did, we could not find a Black Guillemot. Marking as quantity zero with this notation for record.
Razorbill  1    Scope views only.
Herring Gull  10    An immature bird seen chasing after an adult who was carrying a fresh catch. Photos attached.
Great Black-backed Gull  1    Flying by.
gull sp.  12    Distant.
Red-throated Loon  1    Flying by. Low to the water.
Common Loon  2
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Northern Flicker  1    Heard only, “Kyeer.”
Ash-throated Flycatcher  1    Spotted by Elaine. Seen perched in the thin island row of trees and bushes directly between the parking lot and the road. Looking quite a bit like a Great Crested Flycatcher, except overall smaller and paler. Photographs attached.
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  2
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  2
Carolina Wren  2
Gray Catbird  1
American Robin  20    Estimate. Most of these birds were seen flying together.
Cedar Waxwing  16    Estimate. Flying together.
House Sparrow  10    Estimate. Heard only. Chirping in the yard with the feeders.
House Finch  2    Heard only. Sharp cheeps.
American Goldfinch  2
White-throated Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  2
passerine sp.  1    Mimi and I both saw a small bird which quickly flew out of sight, while we were on the edge of the lookout. We agreed it was small and had yellow underneath, but beyond that neither of us were quite sure what it was. Marking as passerine with this notation as a matter of record.
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S156991874

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