Brookline Bird Club – America’s most active bird club!

Rock Meadow Conservation Area, Belmont, Middlesex, Massachusetts, US

Apr 12, 2025 6:30 PM – 8:06 PM

Protocol: Traveling

0.99 mile(s)

Checklist Comments:    BBC

I led a Brookline Bird Club walk today to Rock Meadow, for our annual Woodcock walk there.  Conditions were pretty misty/rainy/cold out, but that’s been a majority of the years really for this trip.  It’s a rainy often bitter time of year; that’s one of the things with Southern New England, you think of April as being “spring” but it’s really this transition period, and every year every single person (myself included) forget that.  We walked around a bit while the sky darkened, along the back edge I’m 80% certain we had a fox sparrow, but it dove into cover before I could really get a good look at the face, and it was shadowed by the fading sky.  After that we checked on Beaver Brook, which was exceedingly high, higher than I ever had. Along the way I shared tidbits about Rock Meadow, still one of my favorite places on Earth.  

After that we hit the high-point of the back field, and almost immediately heard the peenting start, really fantastic timing (completely on accident, I figured we had another 15-20 minutes). There were at least 5 males calling, a couple of which were closer to the front fields. We had a pair starting out doing a dueling flight which was a great crowd-pleaser. After that we had several going up up up up into the mist.  One of the group participants had a better eye than anyone I’ve ever seen.  She was able to pick them out up in the clouds after everyone else had lost them for several seconds, and keep tracking them seemingly in the blank sky.  Sure enough, they would come back down and she stayed on them the whole time. I’ve never seen anything like it really. 

The highlight was towards the end, one of the males that was launching from the foundation of the old farm house went right overhead, maybe 10 feet above us before whizzing around for a while, everyone gasped at the sight.  Things settled down pretty early, likely due to the cloud cover bringing darkness quicker. I was taking a video of the “peenting” and noticed none had gone up in about a minute, and then even the peenting trailed off. 

Great trip, everyone seemed to enjoy it, and the mist and wind were quickly forgotten once the woodcocks got going.  As always, I highly encourage folks to lead a walk, for the BBC or any club really, or just with friends. You don’t have to be an expert; I had never led one before my first Woocock Walk several years ago now; now this trip is one of the highlights of my year.

8 species

Canada Goose  X

Mallard  4

American Woodcock  5    Great show despite the weather

Black-capped Chickadee  2

American Robin  7

Song Sparrow  3

Red-winged Blackbird  8

Northern Cardinal  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S226018850

ANNUAL REPORT 1991

THE 1991 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, StatisticianDuring 1991, the Brookline Bird Club listed 291 species on 154 recorded field trips. A total of 192 trips were scheduled: 76 all day, 94 morning, 17 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1990

THE 1990 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1990, the Brookline Bird Club listed 286 species on 161 recorded field trips. A total of 196 trips were scheduled: 75 all-day, 94 morning, 24 afternoon or evening, and 3 weekend trips. Five trips were cancelled due to bad weather and 30 trips went unreported.          ' The following write-ins to the Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS) checklist were reported by the Club in 1990: Sandhill CraneNewburyportMay 27Clay-colored SparrowPlymouthJune 2Cerulean WarblerQuabbinJune 3Gull-billed TernPlum IslandJune 30Curlew SandpiperPlum IslandJuly 7Spotted RedshankWellfleetAugust 11Purple GallinuleFresh PondSeptember 26American AvocetNewburyportOctober 7MacGillivray's WarblerPeabodyOctober 13Le Conte's SparrowPeabodyOctober 13Lark BuntingPlum IslandOctober 28. The Spotted Redshank found at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on August 11 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1989

THE 1989 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1989, the Brookline Bird Club listed 284 species, two ad­ditional races, and a Black Swan on 163 recorded field trips. A total of 188 trips were scheduled: [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1988

THE 1988 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1988, the Brookline Bird Club scheduled 202 field trips: eighty-three all-day, ninety-one morning, and twenty-five afternoon or evening trips. In addition there were three BBC [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1987

THE 1987 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician During 1987, the Brookline Bird Club listed 290 species and one additional race on 198 recorded field trips. A total of 220 trips were scheduled; eleven [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1986

THE 1986 STATISTICAL REPORT by Mary Lou Barnett, Statistician During 1986 the Brookline Bird Club listed 307 birds including 21 write-ins. These unusual sightings included the following: Yellow-throated Warbler            Brewster           1-5 Hoary Redpoll                           Newburyport    3-15 Jackdaw                                    Nantucket         3-16 Eared Grebe                              North Scituate  3-22 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1991

THE 1991 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, StatisticianDuring 1991, the Brookline Bird Club listed 291 species on 154 recorded field trips. A total of 192 trips were scheduled: 76 all day, 94 morning, 17 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1990

THE 1990 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1990, the Brookline Bird Club listed 286 species on 161 recorded field trips. A total of 196 trips were scheduled: 75 all-day, 94 morning, 24 afternoon or evening, and 3 weekend trips. Five trips were cancelled due to bad weather and 30 trips went unreported.          ' The following write-ins to the Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS) checklist were reported by the Club in 1990: Sandhill CraneNewburyportMay 27Clay-colored SparrowPlymouthJune 2Cerulean WarblerQuabbinJune 3Gull-billed TernPlum IslandJune 30Curlew SandpiperPlum IslandJuly 7Spotted RedshankWellfleetAugust 11Purple GallinuleFresh PondSeptember 26American AvocetNewburyportOctober 7MacGillivray's WarblerPeabodyOctober 13Le Conte's SparrowPeabodyOctober 13Lark BuntingPlum IslandOctober 28. The Spotted Redshank found at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on August 11 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1989

THE 1989 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1989, the Brookline Bird Club listed 284 species, two ad­ditional races, and a Black Swan on 163 recorded field trips. A total of 188 trips were scheduled: [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1988

THE 1988 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1988, the Brookline Bird Club scheduled 202 field trips: eighty-three all-day, ninety-one morning, and twenty-five afternoon or evening trips. In addition there were three BBC [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1987

THE 1987 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician During 1987, the Brookline Bird Club listed 290 species and one additional race on 198 recorded field trips. A total of 220 trips were scheduled; eleven [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1986

THE 1986 STATISTICAL REPORT by Mary Lou Barnett, Statistician During 1986 the Brookline Bird Club listed 307 birds including 21 write-ins. These unusual sightings included the following: Yellow-throated Warbler            Brewster           1-5 Hoary Redpoll                           Newburyport    3-15 Jackdaw                                    Nantucket         3-16 Eared Grebe                              North Scituate  3-22 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1991

THE 1991 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, StatisticianDuring 1991, the Brookline Bird Club listed 291 species on 154 recorded field trips. A total of 192 trips were scheduled: 76 all day, 94 morning, 17 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1990

THE 1990 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1990, the Brookline Bird Club listed 286 species on 161 recorded field trips. A total of 196 trips were scheduled: 75 all-day, 94 morning, 24 afternoon or evening, and 3 weekend trips. Five trips were cancelled due to bad weather and 30 trips went unreported.          ' The following write-ins to the Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS) checklist were reported by the Club in 1990: Sandhill CraneNewburyportMay 27Clay-colored SparrowPlymouthJune 2Cerulean WarblerQuabbinJune 3Gull-billed TernPlum IslandJune 30Curlew SandpiperPlum IslandJuly 7Spotted RedshankWellfleetAugust 11Purple GallinuleFresh PondSeptember 26American AvocetNewburyportOctober 7MacGillivray's WarblerPeabodyOctober 13Le Conte's SparrowPeabodyOctober 13Lark BuntingPlum IslandOctober 28. The Spotted Redshank found at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on August 11 [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1989

THE 1989 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1989, the Brookline Bird Club listed 284 species, two ad­ditional races, and a Black Swan on 163 recorded field trips. A total of 188 trips were scheduled: [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1988

THE 1988 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician In 1988, the Brookline Bird Club scheduled 202 field trips: eighty-three all-day, ninety-one morning, and twenty-five afternoon or evening trips. In addition there were three BBC [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1987

THE 1987 STATISTICAL REPORT by Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician During 1987, the Brookline Bird Club listed 290 species and one additional race on 198 recorded field trips. A total of 220 trips were scheduled; eleven [...]

ANNUAL REPORT 1986

THE 1986 STATISTICAL REPORT by Mary Lou Barnett, Statistician During 1986 the Brookline Bird Club listed 307 birds including 21 write-ins. These unusual sightings included the following: Yellow-throated Warbler            Brewster           1-5 Hoary Redpoll                           Newburyport    3-15 Jackdaw                                    Nantucket         3-16 Eared Grebe                              North Scituate  3-22 [...]

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