Happy New Year MassBirders!
Mark Burns and Laura de la Flor led our 23rd Annual New Year’s Day Birding Trip for the Brookline Bird Club (BBC) today! At 9:00AM, 37 BBCers joined us at the Newburyport  T  Station parking lot where we toasted in the New Year with sparkling apple cider. During the toast, introductions were made and folks told us where they traveled from and what their first bird of the New Year was. (Mine was Black-capped Chickadee and Mark s was American Crow.)
We birded Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, and Cape Ann [Jodrey Fish Pier, Eastern Point, Niles Pond, and Bass Rocks] and called it a day at 4:00PM. The temperature ranged from 41df to 53df with wind gusts up to 35mph. We tallied 57 species for the Club list. Following is a complete list of the birds we saw:
Canada Goose – 55
Gadwall   9
American Wigeon – 4
American Black Duck   66
Mallard   40
Ring-necked Duck – 4
Greater Scaup   7
King Eider   1
Common Eider   63
Surf Scoter   70
White-winged Scoter   45
Black Scoter   16
Long-tailed Duck   12
Bufflehead   34
Common Goldeneye   16
Red-breasted Merganser   20
Red-throated Loon   2
Common Loon   12
Horned Grebe – 14
Great Cormorant   3
Bald Eagle   1
Northern Harrier   3
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1
Cooper s Hawk   1
Red-tailed Hawk   2
Rough-legged Hawk   1
Sanderling   6
Ring-billed Gull   24
Herring Gull   340
Great Black-backed Gull   68
Black Guillemot – 1
Rock Pigeon   130
Mourning Dove   18
Eastern Screech Owl   1
Snowy Owl – 1
Downy Woodpecker   6
Hairy Woodpecker   1
Merlin   1
Peregrine Falcon   2
Blue Jay   25
American Crow   35
Black-capped Chickadee   20
Tufted Titmouse   5
White-breasted Nuthatch   3
Eastern Bluebird – 1
American Robin   14
Northern Mockingbird   8
European Starling   4
Yellow-rumped Warbler   2
Fox Sparrow – 1
American Tree Sparrow  7
Song Sparrow   10
White-throated Sparrow   2
Dark-eyed Junco   4
Northern Cardinal   16
House Sparrow   30
What make this trip so much fun to lead each New Year s Day are those who participate   Thank you for spending part or all of your day birding with us!
Wishing you a very Happy, Healthy, and Birdy 2019!

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Upcoming Field Trips

Quabbin Reservoir

Quabbin Reservoir - Gate 10 235 Daniel Shays Hwy, Pelham, MA, United States

Join Glenn on a 5-to-6-mile walk through a very birdy area with species ranging from Broad-winged Hawk to Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blue-headed Vireo, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, and lots of stuff in between. (Maybe a moose or a bobcat!) Co-sponsored with the South Shore Bird Club.

The Quiet Beauty of Birding at Winthrop Beach

Winthrop - DCR Winthrop Beach Reservation - Sturgis St 59 Winthrop Shore Drive, Winthrop, MA, United States

Join DCR park staff for a leisurely walk across sandy stretches and areas of loose rocks at this Massachusetts State Reservation, a well-known hot spot for birdwatching. We'll be on the lookout for shorebirds, waterbirds, and gulls. Binoculars are recommended. Suitable for adults and children ages 8 and up (with an accompanying adult). Sponsored by [...]

Fruitlands Museum, Harvard

Harvard - Fruitlands Museum 102 Prospect Hill Rd., Harvard, MA, United States

All the nesting birds will still be around, with good views of young out of the nest being fed by parents: Veery, Indigo Bunting, Catbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Tree Swallow, Bobolink, Wood Thrush, Baltimore Oriole, and Warblers. Expect to walk about 2 miles on trails through meadow and woods with some steep sections. Heavy rain cancels [...]

Birch Hill WMA

Royalston - Birch Hill WMA Royalston, MA, United States

Includes three to five miles of walking relatively flat terrain. Might include some bushwacking. Driving on hard packed dirt roads. Co-sponsored with the Athol Bird & Nature Club.

Southwick WMA

Southwick WMA - Suffield WMA entrance Point Grove Road, Suffield, CT, United States

We will hike the fields focusing on grassland breeders, particularly Eastern Meadowlark and Grasshopper Sparrow.

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