Parker River NWR–Hellcat Dike, Essex, Massachusetts, US

07-Oct-2023 06:57 – 16:57

Protocol: Stationary

Checklist Comments:    Brookline Bird Club- Big Sit Hellcat Tower, Plum Island. Leader Nick Paulson. Windy and overcast with occasional showers. Generally dryer than forecast as the post tropical storm and the front to the west kept each other away from this slice of area.

84 species (+5 other taxa)

Canada Goose  15

Blue-winged Teal  4

Northern Shoveler  1

Gadwall  30

American Wigeon  8

Mallard  40

American Black Duck  120

Mallard x American Black Duck (hybrid)  1

Northern Pintail  75

Green-winged Teal (American)  150

Red-breasted Merganser  4

duck sp.  100

Pied-billed Grebe  2

Mourning Dove  1

Virginia Rail (Virginia)  2

Sora  1

Common Gallinule  1    Continuing, present and in view from tower most of the day.

Black-bellied Plover  18

American Golden-Plover  1

Semipalmated Plover  80

Hudsonian Godwit  1

Sanderling  8

Dunlin  140

White-rumped Sandpiper  8

Pectoral Sandpiper  3

Semipalmated Sandpiper  6

Short-billed Dowitcher  3

Long-billed Dowitcher  1

Greater Yellowlegs  150

Willet (Western)  1    Continuing. Was initially close with a group of yellowlegs, but quickly flew off.

Lesser Yellowlegs  40

Bonaparte’s Gull  1

Ring-billed Gull  25

Herring Gull (American)  75

Lesser Black-backed Gull  1

Great Black-backed Gull  3

Red-throated Loon  1

Common Loon  3

Double-crested Cormorant  250

American Bittern  1

Great Blue Heron (Great Blue)  5

Great Egret  30

Snowy Egret  3

Black-crowned Night-Heron  2

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  1    Juvenile flew from other side of dike into North Pool. Dark gray outer wings, less bulky than BCNH.

Turkey Vulture  11

Osprey (carolinensis)  1

Northern Harrier  3

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Northern)  1

Red-tailed Hawk  7

Belted Kingfisher  2

Downy Woodpecker (Eastern)  1

Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  3

Peregrine Falcon (North American)  2

Peregrine Falcon (Tundra)  1

Eastern Phoebe  2

Blue Jay  16

American Crow  1

Common Raven  3

Tree Swallow  11

Barn Swallow (American)  1

Golden-crowned Kinglet  1

House Wren  1

Marsh Wren  2

Gray Catbird  2

Eastern Bluebird  1

Hermit Thrush (faxoni/crymophilus)  1

American Robin  12

American Pipit  5

House Finch  2

Purple Finch (Eastern)  3

Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)  1

White-throated Sparrow  2

Nelson’s/Saltmarsh Sparrow (Sharp-tailed Sparrow)  2

Savannah Sparrow (Savannah)  16

Song Sparrow (melodia/atlantica)  24

Swamp Sparrow  4

Eastern Towhee  3

Bobolink  2

Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged)  3

Common Grackle (Bronzed)  1

Tennessee Warbler  1

Nashville Warbler  1

Common Yellowthroat  6

Cape May Warbler  1

Palm Warbler  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  35

new world warbler sp.  20

Dickcissel  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S151847096