Parker River NWR, Essex, Massachusetts, US
Aug 28, 2017 4:50 PM – 7:35 PM
Protocol: Traveling
4.0 mile(s)
Comments: Sunny and 67 degrees. We stayed until dusk. My sister Margaret and I joined the Brookline Bird Club walk at 5:30 PM led by Dave Williams. Stops at main salt pans, North Pool Overlook and Hellcat dike.
40 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose 7
Gadwall 7
Mallard 4
American Black Duck 16
Green-winged Teal 1
Double-crested Cormorant 101
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 180 Mostly at Hellcat staging for the evening. Probably many more than this.
Snowy Egret 200 Staging at Hellcat- still coming in for the evening. Conservative count. Probably many more than this.
Glossy Ibis 16 North Pool Overlook and small groups flying into Bill Forward Pool at dusk. Distinctive long curved bill.
Osprey 3 Seen from Hellcat looking toward Pines platform.
Black-bellied Plover 19
Semipalmated Plover 36
Least Sandpiper 38
White-rumped Sandpiper 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper 120
peep sp. 200 Seen from lot one flying over the dunes but too far to ID
Short-billed Dowitcher 11
Spotted Sandpiper 1 Hellcat- on edge of Bill Forward Pool
Greater Yellowlegs 52
Lesser Yellowlegs 16
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 2
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Mourning Dove 4
Belted Kingfisher 1 Sitting in tree at North Pool Overlook
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 2 One flew over Bill Forward Pool and chased many of the shorebirds away.
Eastern Kingbird 2
American Crow 1
Tree Swallow 1000000 Amazing spectacle at dusk at Hellcat dike. Tree Swallows as thick as I have ever seen over North Pool. As far wide, deep and high as the eye could see. Photos cannot capture the full effect of the staging swarm.
Marsh Wren 1 Hellcat
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 5
European Starling 40
Northern Waterthrush 1 Seen by a few of the group from Hellcat dike on the mudflats of North Pool.
Common Yellowthroat 1
Saltmarsh Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 3
American Goldfinch 3
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38927696