North Eastham brush dump, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 7:00 AM – 9:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
31 species (+1 other taxa)
Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 35
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) 3
Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern) 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 6
Orange-crowned Warbler (Gray-headed) 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Palm Warbler (Western) 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 3
Chipping Sparrow 75
Field Sparrow 10
White-throated Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 6
Swamp Sparrow 4
Eastern Towhee 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Indigo Bunting 3
Baltimore Oriole 1 ad male, unusual
American Goldfinch 2
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047562
High Head, Pilgrim Heights, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
3 species
Virginia Rail (Virginia) 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
American Robin 10
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047567
Beech Forest, Provincetown, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
14 species
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 5
Black-capped Chickadee 10
Tufted Titmouse 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern) 2
House Wren 1
American Redstart 1
Blackpoll Warbler 2
White-throated Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 2
Northern Cardinal 1
Common Grackle 30
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047568
Race Point Beach, Provincetown, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
24 species
Common Eider (Dresser’s) 50
White-winged Scoter (North American) 350
Black Scoter 5
Common Loon 1
Red-necked Grebe 1
Cory’s Shearwater (borealis) 50
Great Shearwater 1750
Sooty Shearwater 25
Manx Shearwater 50
Northern Gannet 3
Double-crested Cormorant 300
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) 1
Turkey Vulture 9
Sanderling 150
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Parasitic Jaeger 30
Black-legged Kittiwake 4
Laughing Gull 200
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull (American) X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Roseate Tern 2
Common Tern (hirundo) 400
Tree Swallow 150
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047828
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
28 species
Canada Goose 6
Wild Turkey 3
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) 2
Green Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Harrier 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Greater Yellowlegs 19
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 imm
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) 2
Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern) 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 25
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern) 2
Gray Catbird 3
American Redstart 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 6
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) 3
Common Grackle 5
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow X
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047571
First Encounter Beach, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.25 mile(s)
Comments: SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
17 species (+3 other taxa)
Common Eider (Dresser’s) 200
Surf/Black Scoter 500
scoter sp. 1500
Black-bellied Plover 44
Semipalmated Plover 11
Whimbrel (Hudsonian) 4
Sanderling 50
Dunlin 50
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 1
Greater Yellowlegs 10
Parasitic Jaeger 10
Long-tailed Jaeger 8 Someone said “Is anyone looking at these jaegers that are coming overhead?” at around 4:45ish p.m.. Looking up I saw five birds up a few hundred feet and thought these aren’t them, they are terns. However, the birds appeared darkish underneath and had a long tubular tail and the one I concentrated on showed two pointed tail streamers beyond that tail almost the same length. The others did not had tail streamers of that length, the all five had the same shape and size. With the small headed appearance and the long body appearance beyond the wings they were not shaped like the Parasitics (kind of like the difference between Common and Arctic Tern) we had seen most of the day (30 at Race Point beach and another 10 at First Encounter). All five appeared dark on the underwing with no obvious white patches which all the jaegers of the day prior showed easily.
They quickly made their way over Cape Cod Bay and were joined by at least three others which looked very similar in size and shape. I watched via scope and even though the late day lighting was marginal I never saw any obvious white flashes for the five or so minutes I was continuously watching. Eventually they drifted too far to see anything additional and they kept high in the sky the whole time unlike all the other jaegers I have seen, perhaps ever. It was interesting to see the them struggle against the rather modest wind seemingly not making any progress and constantly drifting away in the direction of the prevailing wind. Quite different from all the jaegers I have seen this year. The heads of these birds were small and the extension behind the wing was longer than the jaegers we had seen during the day.
All the literature, images and drawings I have looked at never shows Parasitic with those body proportions. The only conclusion is that they were all Long-tailed.
Is that possible?
Laughing Gull 300
Common Tern (hirundo) 100
Forster’s Tern 50
Sterna sp. 200
Palm Warbler (Western) 2
Song Sparrow 1
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047578
BBC Global Big Day Count – May 10
BBC Global Big Day Count On May 18, 1974 Bob Stymiest led the BBC trip with the all time largest species count for the club - 162 birds seen during 20 hours across Essex County. [...]
Camp Edwards Grassland Bird Tours
The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Natural Resource Program is hosting grassland bird tours in May on Camp Edwards. This is an unusual opportunity for avid birders, naturalists and photographers to walk through the Camp Edwards [...]
2025 BBC Teen Birder Scholarship Awards
2025 BBC Teen Birder Scholarship Awards The BBC Conservation and Education Committee is pleased to announce our two annual Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship recipients, Sydney Beard of Cambridge and Jonas Johnson of Canaan, CT. [...]
US Fish & Wildlife Service Major Staff Cuts
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “The intentional dismantling of science and conservation is happening now. Hundreds of dedicated U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services employees—many of them biologists—have been fired, gutting an [...]
2024 Annual Report
The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 283 species for 2024, with 274 species in Massachusetts (four more than 2023), and nine additional species reported from New Hampshire and Maine. This total was based upon 262 [...]
April 25 Annual Members Meeting – All Welcome
April 25 Annual Members Meeting - All Welcome Please join us on April 25 for our Annual Members Meeting. The evening begins with a social hour at 6:30. The program starts at 7:00 with the [...]
BBC Global Big Day Count – May 10
BBC Global Big Day Count On May 18, 1974 Bob Stymiest led the BBC trip with the all time largest species count for the club - 162 birds seen during 20 hours across Essex County. [...]
Camp Edwards Grassland Bird Tours
The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Natural Resource Program is hosting grassland bird tours in May on Camp Edwards. This is an unusual opportunity for avid birders, naturalists and photographers to walk through the Camp Edwards [...]
2025 BBC Teen Birder Scholarship Awards
2025 BBC Teen Birder Scholarship Awards The BBC Conservation and Education Committee is pleased to announce our two annual Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship recipients, Sydney Beard of Cambridge and Jonas Johnson of Canaan, CT. [...]
US Fish & Wildlife Service Major Staff Cuts
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “The intentional dismantling of science and conservation is happening now. Hundreds of dedicated U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services employees—many of them biologists—have been fired, gutting an [...]
2024 Annual Report
The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 283 species for 2024, with 274 species in Massachusetts (four more than 2023), and nine additional species reported from New Hampshire and Maine. This total was based upon 262 [...]
April 25 Annual Members Meeting – All Welcome
April 25 Annual Members Meeting - All Welcome Please join us on April 25 for our Annual Members Meeting. The evening begins with a social hour at 6:30. The program starts at 7:00 with the [...]
BBC Global Big Day Count – May 10
BBC Global Big Day Count On May 18, 1974 Bob Stymiest led the BBC trip with the all time largest species count for the club - 162 birds seen during 20 hours across Essex County. [...]
Camp Edwards Grassland Bird Tours
The Massachusetts Army National Guard’s Natural Resource Program is hosting grassland bird tours in May on Camp Edwards. This is an unusual opportunity for avid birders, naturalists and photographers to walk through the Camp Edwards [...]
2025 BBC Teen Birder Scholarship Awards
2025 BBC Teen Birder Scholarship Awards The BBC Conservation and Education Committee is pleased to announce our two annual Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship recipients, Sydney Beard of Cambridge and Jonas Johnson of Canaan, CT. [...]
US Fish & Wildlife Service Major Staff Cuts
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “The intentional dismantling of science and conservation is happening now. Hundreds of dedicated U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services employees—many of them biologists—have been fired, gutting an [...]
2024 Annual Report
The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 283 species for 2024, with 274 species in Massachusetts (four more than 2023), and nine additional species reported from New Hampshire and Maine. This total was based upon 262 [...]
April 25 Annual Members Meeting – All Welcome
April 25 Annual Members Meeting - All Welcome Please join us on April 25 for our Annual Members Meeting. The evening begins with a social hour at 6:30. The program starts at 7:00 with the [...]
News Categories
Upcoming Field Trips
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery 536 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge, MA, United StatesFruitlands Museum, Harvard
Harvard - Fruitlands Museum 102 Prospect Hill Rd., Harvard, MA, United StatesCo-sponsored with Boxborough Birders. We will look for resident species including Indigo Bunting, Savannah Sparrow, Hermit Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, Veery, Blue-headed Vireo, Wild Turkey, American Kestrel, and a variety of warblers. Expect to walk about two miles on trails through meadows and woods, with some steep sections. Prepare for ticks. We will bird at the [...]
Caratunk Wildlife Sanctuary
Seekonk - Caratunk Wildlife Sanctuary 301 Brown Avenue, Seekonk, MA, United StatesJust two miles from the Rhode Island border, Caratunk Wildlife Refuge in Seekonk, MA offers six miles of nature hiking trails through nearly 200 acres of fields, forests, streams and ponds. A Purple Martin colony can be observed nesting in the gourds in the main field. Trails are easy to moderate in difficulty. Expect 2.5 [...]
Belle Isle Marsh and Vicinity
East Boston - Belle Isle Parking Lot 1399 Bennington Street, Boston, MA, United StatesLed by DCR staff. We will search on foot up to one mile on flat, easy terrain, for migrating or resident songbirds, raptors, shorebirds, and marsh birds at this birding hotspot and state park. This is a traveling program by car or bike. Prepare for ticks and mosquitoes. Ages: Adults and kids 8 years+ with [...]
Franklin Park – Scarboro Pond
We will look for warblers, orioles, and other migratory birds in the Scarboro Pond section of Franklin Park. Beginners welcome and encouraged. Expect to walk up to two miles on paved paths. Co-sponsored with the Franklin Park Coalition, Franklin Park Tennis Association, and the Emerald Necklace Bird Club. Limited number of loaner binoculars available.