Happy New Year MassBirders!

Mark Burns and I led our 28th Annual New Year’s Day Birding Trip for the Brookline Bird Club (BBC)! At 9:00AM, 18BBCers met at Cashman Park in Newburyport where we toasted in the New Year with sparkling apple cider, introduced ourselves, and reported on where we traveled from and what our first bird of the New Year was.  We had rain and drizzle for most of the day, temps that hovered around 44df, and little to no wind. We birded the Merrimack River, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, and Salisbury Beach State Reservation and called it a day at 4:15PM.  We tallied 64 species for the Club list. Following is a complete list of the birds we saw:

Red-throated Loon –  3 

Common Loon –  1 

Horned Grebe –  7 

Red-necked Grebe –  1 

Great Cormorant – 1 

Great Blue Heron –  1 

Canada Goose –  64 

Mute Swan –  5 

Gadwall –  9 

American Black Duck –  125 

Mallard –  89 

Northern Pintail – 40 

Green-winged Teal –  2 

Ring-necked Duck – 10 

Greater Scaup – 2 

Lesser Scaup – 2 

Northern Gannet – 4 

Common Eider –  313 

Surf Scoter – 252 

White-winged Scoter –  313 

Black Scoter –  401 

Long-tailed Duck –  13 

Bufflehead –  5 

Common Goldeneye –  87 

Hooded Merganser – 11 

Common Merganser –  15 

Red-breasted Merganser –  82 

Northern Harrier –  7 

Red-tailed Hawk –  1 

Merlin –  2 

Killdeer – 1 

Sanderling –  2 

Purple Sandpiper – 3 

Dunlin – 25 

Herring Gull –  108 

Ring-billed Gull – 86   

Great Black-backed Gull –  5 

Black-legged Kittiwake –  1 

Rock Pigeon –  3 

Mourning Dove –  3 

Barred Owl – 1 

Short-eared Owl – 1 

Red-bellied Woodpecker –  1 

Downy Woodpecker –  1 

Blue Jay – 2 

American Crow – 8 

Comon Raven –  1 

Black-capped Chickadee –  4 

Tufted Titmouse – 1 

White-breasted Nuthatch –  1 

Horned Lark – 12 

Carolina Wren – 2 

American Robin –  3 

Northern Mockingbird – 2 

Hermit Thrush – 1 

European Starling –  3 

American Tree Sparrow – 2 

Song Sparrow – 4 

White-throated Sparrow –  2 

Dark-eyed Junco – 5 

Northern Cardinal – 2 

House Finch – 2 

American Goldfinch – 3 

House Sparrow –  20 

Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Birdy 2025!

Laura H. de la Flor

ANNUAL REPORT 2023

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 275 species for 2023, based upon 200 trips reported from Massachusetts, and those from out of state.  We recorded 267 species in Massachusetts, three more than 2022, with 8 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2023

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 275 species for 2023, based upon 200 trips reported from Massachusetts, and those from out of state.  We recorded 267 species in Massachusetts, three more than 2022, with 8 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 2023

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 275 species for 2023, based upon 200 trips reported from Massachusetts, and those from out of state.  We recorded 267 species in Massachusetts, three more than 2022, with 8 [...]

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