Parker River NWR, Essex, Massachusetts, US

Oct 12, 2021 7:20 AM – 12:04 PM

Protocol: Traveling

7.5 mile(s)

Checklist Comments:    Mostly sunny. 64-72 degrees with winds South 2 mph to WSW 5 mph. Outgoing tide with low tide at 10:42 am.  With Brookline Bird Club walk led by Dave Williams. Stops at main pans, Wardens Maintenance area, where we walked the dike to North Pool Overlook from Wardens. Also stopped at Lot 7 Emerson Rocks, Hellcat dike, and Hellcat boardwalk to old blind, finishing along road by Goodno Crossing back to Hellcat parking lot.

54 species (+4 other taxa)

Snow Goose  1    Continuing immature at Hellcat Bill Forward Pool

Canada Goose  29

Mute Swan  13    12 in main pans and another Hellcat

Blue-winged Teal  1    Bill Forward Pool Hellcat dike

Gadwall  4    North Pool from Hellcat dike

Mallard  8

American Black Duck  83

Northern Pintail  5    Hellcat Bill Forward Pool

Green-winged Teal  20    Bill Forward Pool

White-winged Scoter  50    Lot 7

Wild Turkey  4    Just outside refuge entrance when I arrived about 7:15 am.

Horned Grebe  1    Lot 7

Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  3

Mourning Dove  3

Black-bellied Plover  1    Calling several times at Lot 1 boat ramp

Killdeer  2    One in middle of Lot 1 parking lot and another on mud in pans

Semipalmated Sandpiper  2    Pans

Greater Yellowlegs  19

Lesser Yellowlegs  1    Standing next to a Greater Yellowlegs at Lot 1 boat ramp. Good comparison of body size and bill length.

Ring-billed Gull  3    Lot 7

Herring Gull  36

Great Black-backed Gull  4    Emerson Rocks Lot 7

Common Loon  1    Lot 7 Emerson Rocks

Northern Gannet  1    We were surprised to see an adult Northern Gannet on the beach at Lot 7. The Gannet was able to walk (waddle) but since it is so unusual to see on land, perhaps it was sick. No obvious injuries seen.

Double-crested Cormorant  3

Great Blue Heron  5

Great Egret  27

Northern Harrier  1

Cooper’s Hawk  2    1 large female chasing 3 crows roadside. At times it perched giving good looks at size similar to the crows. Another smaller Coopers Hawk seen perched not too far away but obviously smaller than the other Cooper’s Hawk.

Bald Eagle  1    Adult on Osprey platform  Lot 1 boat ramp

Downy Woodpecker  4

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1

Peregrine Falcon  1    Flying over Hellcat parking lot

falcon sp.  1    A fast falcon flew over us at Hellcat parking lot but only a couple of us got a brief look. Probably a Merlin.

Blue Jay  4

American Crow  4    1 at Lot 1 and 3 being harassed by a large Cooper’s Hawk roadside

Black-capped Chickadee  6

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2    Hellcat boardwalk marsh trail

Golden-crowned Kinglet  5    Hellcat boardwalk trail toward old blind

White-breasted Nuthatch  1

Marsh Wren  1    Scolding calls at old blind area at end of Hellcat boardwalk marsh trail

Carolina Wren  1

European Starling  25    On telephone wires outside refuge entrance

Gray Catbird  1

Northern Mockingbird  2

American Robin  9

thrush sp.  1    Seen quickly by leader Dave Williams along Hellcat marsh boardwalk trail, but we could not relocate

House Sparrow  2    By entrance to refuge

House Finch  2    Wardens

American Goldfinch  4

White-throated Sparrow  3

Savannah Sparrow  4    Wardens

Song Sparrow  10

Eastern Towhee  1

sparrow sp.  2    Possibly Saltmarsh or Nelson’s Sparrow at edge of marsh opposite Lot 1 boat ramp.

blackbird sp.  30    Flock flying at Lot 1. Probably Red Winged Blackbirds but not sure

Blackpoll Warbler  2

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  25

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96091422