Parker River NWR, Essex, Massachusetts, US
Aug 13, 2016 8:00 AM – 1:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
6.0 mile(s)
Comments: Brookline Bird Club trip led by Sabrina Hepburn, 9 participants
59 species
Cool overcast weather, modest crowds and some unusual birds combined for a great morning at Plum Island for the Brookline Bird Club trip. Highlights included the continuing AMERICAN AVOCET, seen from the Stage Island tower, along with Hudsonian Godwit, Black Tern, and Forster’s Tern at Stage Island and a Red Knot from the Bill Forward Blind. Roseate Terns from Sandy Point Beach. Complete ebird list below.
Canada Goose 20
American Black Duck 15
Mallard 80
Double-crested Cormorant 80
Great Blue Heron 3
Great Egret 8
Snowy Egret 100
Green Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 2
American Avocet 1 Continuing bird, seen from Stage Island tower
Black-bellied Plover 40
Semipalmated Plover 300
Piping Plover 20
Killdeer 5
Hudsonian Godwit 1 Stage Is
Ruddy Turnstone 1 Sandy pt
Red Knot 1 Bill Forward blind
Sanderling 3
Least Sandpiper 10
White-rumped Sandpiper 5
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 250
Short-billed Dowitcher 30
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Greater Yellowlegs 50
Willet 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 25
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull 15
Great Black-backed Gull 4
Least Tern 12
Black Tern 1 Stage Is.
Roseate Tern 5 Sandy Pt.
Common Tern 30
Forster’s Tern 1
Mourning Dove 1
Northern Flicker 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Eastern Kingbird 15
American Crow 2
Tree Swallow 5000
Bank Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 2
Black-capped Chickadee 2
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 8
Brown Thrasher 2
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 40
Cedar Waxwing 6
Common Yellowthroat 1
Yellow Warbler 2
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 5
Common Grackle 2
Baltimore Oriole 1
American Goldfinch 4
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
2024 Annual Report
The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 283 species for 2024, with 274 species in Massachusetts (four more than 2023), and nine additional species reported from New Hampshire and Maine. This total was based upon 262 [...]
US Fish & Wildlife Service Major Staff Cuts
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “The intentional dismantling of science and conservation is happening now. Hundreds of dedicated U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services employees—many of them biologists—have been fired, gutting an [...]
Avian Influenza Spreading in Massachusetts
Avian influenza is an increasing public health concern and is spreading across Massachusetts. In the past few days we have heard reports of waterfowl die offs in Cambridge, Amherst, Plymouth and Brockton. If you see [...]
eBird Tip – How to use eBird When Traveling
Thanks to Bob Ross for the following article, which started out as a MassBird listserv post: The eBird Alerts are an indispensable tool when traveling to a new city or region to go birding. I [...]
NEW! Young Adult Birding series
Young Adult Birding series specifically for birders in their 20's and 30's! Our first meeting will be held at Millennium Park on Sunday, March 2nd at 8:00 AM. We will walk about 2 miles around [...]
Applications Available for Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship
The BBC is pleased to announce that we will again offer two Bill Drummond Young Birder’s Scholarships to nurture interest in bird study and conservation among young birders. The 2025 scholarships will cover the full [...]
2024 Annual Report
The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 283 species for 2024, with 274 species in Massachusetts (four more than 2023), and nine additional species reported from New Hampshire and Maine. This total was based upon 262 [...]
US Fish & Wildlife Service Major Staff Cuts
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “The intentional dismantling of science and conservation is happening now. Hundreds of dedicated U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services employees—many of them biologists—have been fired, gutting an [...]
Avian Influenza Spreading in Massachusetts
Avian influenza is an increasing public health concern and is spreading across Massachusetts. In the past few days we have heard reports of waterfowl die offs in Cambridge, Amherst, Plymouth and Brockton. If you see [...]
eBird Tip – How to use eBird When Traveling
Thanks to Bob Ross for the following article, which started out as a MassBird listserv post: The eBird Alerts are an indispensable tool when traveling to a new city or region to go birding. I [...]
NEW! Young Adult Birding series
Young Adult Birding series specifically for birders in their 20's and 30's! Our first meeting will be held at Millennium Park on Sunday, March 2nd at 8:00 AM. We will walk about 2 miles around [...]
Applications Available for Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship
The BBC is pleased to announce that we will again offer two Bill Drummond Young Birder’s Scholarships to nurture interest in bird study and conservation among young birders. The 2025 scholarships will cover the full [...]
2024 Annual Report
The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 283 species for 2024, with 274 species in Massachusetts (four more than 2023), and nine additional species reported from New Hampshire and Maine. This total was based upon 262 [...]
US Fish & Wildlife Service Major Staff Cuts
According to the National Wildlife Refuge Association, “The intentional dismantling of science and conservation is happening now. Hundreds of dedicated U. S. Fish and Wildlife Services employees—many of them biologists—have been fired, gutting an [...]
Avian Influenza Spreading in Massachusetts
Avian influenza is an increasing public health concern and is spreading across Massachusetts. In the past few days we have heard reports of waterfowl die offs in Cambridge, Amherst, Plymouth and Brockton. If you see [...]
eBird Tip – How to use eBird When Traveling
Thanks to Bob Ross for the following article, which started out as a MassBird listserv post: The eBird Alerts are an indispensable tool when traveling to a new city or region to go birding. I [...]
NEW! Young Adult Birding series
Young Adult Birding series specifically for birders in their 20's and 30's! Our first meeting will be held at Millennium Park on Sunday, March 2nd at 8:00 AM. We will walk about 2 miles around [...]
Applications Available for Bill Drummond Young Birder Scholarship
The BBC is pleased to announce that we will again offer two Bill Drummond Young Birder’s Scholarships to nurture interest in bird study and conservation among young birders. The 2025 scholarships will cover the full [...]
News Categories
Upcoming Field Trips
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery 536 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge, MA, United StatesBoston Public Garden
Boston Public Garden - Charles St. Entrance Charles St., Boston, MA, United StatesThis is a two-hour walk exploring the four corners of the Public Garden, where a surprising number of interesting migrants have found their way in the springtime.
Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery 536 Mt Auburn St, Cambridge, MA, United StatesChestnut Hill Reservoir
Chestnut Hill Reservoir 2420 Beacon Street, Boston, MA, United StatesWe will walk one mile on good, mostly level trails, looking for early migrants, and checking for late ducks.
Annual Meeting & Lecture: South Asian Vultures: Crisis & Conservation – ALL ARE WELCOME
Harvard University Geological Lecture Hall 24 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, United StatesNot too long ago, the millions of vultures in South Asia were so common that no one had bothered to count them. Until the 1990s, when populations of three Gyps vultures collapsed by more than 97 per cent in a decade. It was the fastest avian decline ever recorded. Conservationists scrambled to find the cause [...]