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

  • Midweek Hunt for Alcids and Seabirds

    Rockport - Halibut Point State Park Halibut Point State Park, Rockport, MA, United States

    Join us for a mid-week hunt for alcids and other wintering seabirds. Be prepared for cold and windy weather. If bad weather is predicted, contact the leader by 6:00 pm the previous evening.

  • Millennium Park

    Boston - Millennium Park Canoe Launch 300 Gardner Street, Boston, MA, United States

    Join us to look for birds in a unique urban habitat that often draws numerous uncommon and rare birds. Birders of all levels will enjoy this trip. The trails are flat and easy to walk. We may offer optional 30-60 minute trip extensions to adjacent locations such as West Roxbury High School Marsh and/or Brook [...]

  • Sconticut Neck and West Island, Fairhaven

    Fairhaven - Sconticut Neck and West Island 209 Huttleston Ave,, Fairhaven, MA, United States

    We will make several stops on the neck and then onto West Island to search for winter ducks, loons, grebes and shorebirds.

  • Belle Isle Marsh and Vicinity

    East Boston - Belle Isle Parking Lot 1399 Bennington Street, Boston, MA, United States

    Led by DCR staff. We will search on foot up to one mile, on flat, easy terrain for snowy owls and other raptors, native sparrows, finches, waterfowl, and other birds. This is a traveling program by car or bike. Prepare for ticks. Ages: Adults and kids 8 years+ with adult chaperone. Binoculars recommended. ADA/Reasonable Accommodations [...]

  • Race Point Beach

    Provincetown - Race Point Beach

    Let’s start the year with some awesome birds! We will bird from the beach close to the parking lot. We may walk the beach depending on participants interest. Several species of alcids are possible as well as gannets, Iceland and Glaucous Gulls and three loon species. Dress for cold windy weather. We may try other [...]

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