Parker River NWR–Hellcat Dike, Essex, Massachusetts, US
Oct 10, 2021 7:10 AM – 6:10 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:    Brookline Bird Club: Big Sit at Plum Island Hellcat Tower, Parker River NWR. Leader Nickilas Paulson. Mostly cloudy, fair temperate, cooling later, A few minor sprinkles, moderately windy atop the tower. Some others joining throughout the day, mostly I was pointing out the Snow Goose and Hudsonian Godwits.
86 species (+4 other taxa)
Snow Goose  3    One white juvenile at Bill Forward Pool most of the day. Another heading south in a flock of cormorants. One dark juvenile heading north.
Canada Goose  120
Mute Swan  5
Blue-winged Teal  2
Northern Shoveler  1
Gadwall  60
American Wigeon  8
Mallard  30
American Black Duck  240
Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid)  2
Northern Pintail  25
Green-winged Teal (American)  80
Greater Scaup  5
Hooded Merganser  14
Red-breasted Merganser  6
Ruddy Duck  2
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Virginia Rail (Virginia)  1
Black-bellied Plover  13
American Golden-Plover  2
Semipalmated Plover  1
Hudsonian Godwit  4
Marbled Godwit  1    Larger godwit, long bicolored upturned bill. Buffy overall, more speckled back than Hudsonian. In mud flats during low tide early, disappeared after one of the Peregrines came through.
Red Knot  1
Sanderling  14
Dunlin  500
Least Sandpiper  2
White-rumped Sandpiper  5
Pectoral Sandpiper  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper  40
Western Sandpiper  1    A little larger and longer than Semipalmated with dropping bill. Possibly a second bird.
Short-billed Dowitcher  1
Long-billed Dowitcher  2
American Woodcock  1
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  64
Lesser Yellowlegs  7
Bonaparte’s Gull  8
Laughing Gull  2
Ring-billed Gull  20
Herring Gull (American)  60
Great Black-backed Gull  6
Common Tern  4
Common Loon  14
Northern Gannet  8
Great Cormorant  2
Double-crested Cormorant  160
Least Bittern  1    Singing before 7:30am. Cul cul cul.
Great Blue Heron (Great Blue)  13
Great Egret  68
Snowy Egret  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  5
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1    Juvenile in flight. Dark gray flight feathers.
Northern Harrier  3
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern)  3
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  2
American Kestrel  1
Merlin  2
Peregrine Falcon  1
Peregrine Falcon (North American)  2
Peregrine Falcon (Tundra)  1
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue Jay  7
American Crow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  4
Horned Lark  1
Tree Swallow  14
Marsh Wren (palustris Group)  7
European Starling  1
Gray Catbird  3
Northern Mockingbird  1
Hermit Thrush (faxoni/crymophilus)  1
American Robin  10
Cedar Waxwing  30
American Pipit  2
House Finch  3
American Goldfinch  1
White-throated Sparrow  3
Savannah Sparrow (Savannah)  11
Song Sparrow (melodia/atlantica)  8
Eastern Towhee  2
Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged)  4
Rusty Blackbird  1
Common Grackle (Bronzed)  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  50
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
warbler sp. (Parulidae sp.)  40
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S96091420

Bring Back Bobolinks!

Bring Back Bobolinks! This year the BBC is introducing new Endangered Species Program. Each year we plan to focus on a single bird species facing serious threats in Massachusetts and elsewhere. With this effort we

Bring Back Bobolinks!

Bring Back Bobolinks! This year the BBC is introducing new Endangered Species Program. Each year we plan to focus on a single bird species facing serious threats in Massachusetts and elsewhere. With this effort we

Bring Back Bobolinks!

Bring Back Bobolinks! This year the BBC is introducing new Endangered Species Program. Each year we plan to focus on a single bird species facing serious threats in Massachusetts and elsewhere. With this effort we

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Upcoming Field Trips

  • Hydrographer Canyon Overnight Pelagic (Trip #1)

    Hyannis - Pelagic - Helen H 137 Pleasant St, Hyannis, MA, United States

    Join the BBC on the Helen H out of Hyannis, MA to search for pelagic birds on an overnight trip to the Hydrographer Canyon area. For more information, fee, and registration info see: https://www.brooklinebirdclub.org/bbc-news/hydrographer-canyon-overnight-pelagics-registration/

  • Hydrographer Canyon Overnight Pelagic (Trip #2)

    Hyannis - Pelagic - Helen H 137 Pleasant St, Hyannis, MA, United States

    Join the BBC on the Helen H out of Hyannis, MA to search for pelagic birds on an overnight trip to the Hydrographer Canyon area. For more information, fee, and registration info see: https://www.brooklinebirdclub.org/bbc-news/hydrographer-canyon-overnight-pelagics-registration/

  • Parker River Marsh Cruise

    Newburyport - Yankee Clipper Tours Waterfront Promenade Park, 36 Merrimac Street, Newburyport, MA, United States

    Explore Parker River National Wildlife Refuge from a new perspective on a cruise through the Parker River marshes! Join us on the Yankee Clipper docked in Newburyport Harbor for a leisurely cruise through the Refuge. Enjoy close views of shorebirds, gulls, terns, and Saltmarsh Sparrows on this tour. Group discount tickets are available by registering

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    The BBC has reserved a limited block of discounted group tickets on these public tours. These tours are open to all. Register online at https://www.brooklinebirdclub.org/civicrm/event/info/?reset=1&id=330  Registration opens June 19. Co-sponsored with the South Shore Bird club. The parking for multiple hours that you need is not near the town wharf. Allow extra time to find

  • Nighthawk Watch at Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge

    Harvard - Oxbow NWR Tank Rd, Harvard, MA, United States

    Join us for a pleasant evening of watching nighthawk migration along the Nashua River valley. Bring a lawn chair or a camp stool. Rain date: Sunday August 30.

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