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

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 2022

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 276 species for 2022, based upon 204 reported trips. Of those, 264 species were recorded in Massachusetts, with 12 additional species reported from the out-of-state trips to New Hampshire [...]

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 2022

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 276 species for 2022, based upon 204 reported trips. Of those, 264 species were recorded in Massachusetts, with 12 additional species reported from the out-of-state trips to New Hampshire [...]

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 2022

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 276 species for 2022, based upon 204 reported trips. Of those, 264 species were recorded in Massachusetts, with 12 additional species reported from the out-of-state trips to New Hampshire [...]

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