Fall Meeting and Webinar with Amar Ayyash Author of The Gull Guide
2025-11-07 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Harvard University Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Join us on November 7 for our hybrid in-person/webinar fall meeting with speaker Amar Ayyash, author of The Gull Guide. There will be a social hour starting at 6:30 and the meeting itself will start at 7:00PM. Free parking at Harvard’s 52 Oxford Street Garage starting at 5:30PM. The garage is entered across from the intersection of Oxford and Everett Streets.
Register for the Zoom webinar broadcast of the meeting.
Among the world’s “seabirds,” gulls are the most accessible to humans, invading our most immediate surroundings. Gulls are sometimes perceived as second class avian creatures. This, along with the identification challenges they present and their readiness to hybridize, creates a love-hate relationship for many birders. Yet some gull species are among the most coveted birds on any birder’s list (think Ross’s Gull and Ivory Gull). This makes for an interesting juxtaposition. Do we like some gulls and look past others?
Amar Ayyash is both an expert on the gulls of North America and an evangelist for “gull recreation.” He coordinates the IOS Annual Gull Frolic on Lake Michigan, hosts the popular website anythinglarus.com, and he speaks at birding events throughout the continent. Much of his free time is dedicated to traveling the world to photograph and study gulls. Amar is the author of the authoritative guide to North American Gulls, The Gull Guide.
Copies of The Gull Guide will be for sale by the author.
Following up on the evening’s presentation, the BBC will offer two field trips focused on gull identification:

11/15 at Revere Beach, 10AM
12/6 at Winthrop Beach, 7:30AM

BBC Winter Meeting February 7 – Social Hour, Used Book Sale & Norman Smith!
2026-02-07 14:00 - 17:00 | Bedford – John Glenn Middle School, 99 McMahon Road, Bedford, MA, 01730, United States
Mark your calendar for Saturday, February 7 at 2PM for the BBC’s annual in-person Winter Meeting featuring a social hour with refreshments, our popular used bird book sale table, and our speaker Norman Smith, Director of the Snowy Owl Project. The Winter Meeting is free and open to all. There is plenty of free parking. Please note that this event will be in person only, with no Zoom link.
We will meet up once again at the John Glenn Middle School in Bedford, MA at 99 McMahon Rd. This year we are trying something new. Our winter meeting will take place during the afternoon to make the event more family friendly and make driving there and back easier on our members.
For more information:
https://www.brooklinebirdclub.org/bbc-news/bbc-winter-meeting-february-7-social-hour-book-sale-norman-smith/
Optional Registration
As we all know February weather in New England can be an… adventure. Make sure you get up to the date info on weather related changes by registering in advance. Registering is completely voluntary and will help both us and you plan for the event. Thanks!

Annual Members Meeting & Lecture with Hyla Howe: Bobolinks on the Brink
2026-04-24 19:30 - 21:00 | Harvard University Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States
Please join us on April 24 for our Annual Members Meeting. The evening begins with a social hour at 6:30. The program starts at 7:30 with the BBC’s annual business meeting and the election of new officers and board members. Once we have concluded with club business and announcements we will go the evening’s speaker.
This meeting is open to all and held at the Harvard Geological Lecture Hall at 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge. (This is next door to the Museum of Comparative Zoology.)
Concerned about parking? Don’t Be!! Starting at 5:30 PM there will be free parking for all at the Harvard Oxford Street Garage entered off Oxford Street across from Everett Street. Just tell the attendant that you will be going to the BBC meeting.
While we hope that you will be able to join us in person there will also be a Zoom link for those who cannot make it into Cambridge.
Introducing the BBC’s 2026 Species of Concern – The Bobolink
At the meeting we will kick off a new BBC initiative, our annual Species of Concern. Each year we will designate a bird that is facing challenges in Massachusetts.
For 2026 our Species of Concern will be the Bobolink, a grassland bird that faces challenges across the state. You will learn about the Bobolink during the evening’s lecture – see more below – and you will hear about field trips and other activities to learn about and support the Bobolink.
Lecture: Bobolinks on the Brink: What do Bobolinks Tell Us about Our Relationship with the Land, and How Can We Protect Them?
Hyla Howe, Grassland Bird Biologist at Mass Audubon and Program Manager for the Bobolink Project will join the Brookline Bird Club to discuss our first endangered species spotlight: the Bobolink!
Mass Audubon’s Grassland Bird Biologist will join the Brookline Bird Club to discuss our first endangered species spotlight: the Bobolink! Bobolink populations are closely intertwined with shifting land use patterns and agricultural practices, and conservation solutions to protect them are complex. Hyla will share observations from the field, insights from conversations with farmers and landowners, takeaways from efforts to improve and scale the Bobolink Project, and results from a regional land use change analysis to describe where bobolink conservation stands today, and what you can do to help.
About the Speaker
Hyla Howe is Mass Audubon’s Grassland Bird Biologist and the Program Manager for the Bobolink Project. Hyla received her M.S. from the University of Vermont, where she studied grassland birds and hayfield management in New York’s Champlain Valley. She is still based in Vermont, where she works closely with farmers, landowners, and regional partners to scale bird-friendly hayfield management efforts across five states. In her free time, she enjoys biking, skiing, paddling, and making pottery.
The Details Including Zoom Link
When: April 24, social hour staring at 6:30 PM, program starting at 7:30 PM
Where: Harvard Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Parking: Harvard Oxford Street Garage entered opposite Everett Street at Oxford Street
Zoom Registration Link (advance registration strongly suggested): https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a32jwL2NQLqc8g1dl_Z1vw
