Vernal Equinox Walk ~ 03-20-10

On March 20th I led my Vernal Equinox Walk for the Brookline Bird Club. I was joined by Mark Burns, Jane Lothian, Lenny Jackson, Joan and Larry Duprey, Dianna Fruguglietti, and Paul Ippolito. We spent the day on the Upper Cape and birded Salt Pond, Falmouth Thicket, Nobska Point, Sider’s Pond behind the Falmouth Town Hall, Little Pond, Great Pond, Mill Pond, Herring Pond, Muddy Pond, and Sandy Neck. We stopped at Scusset Beach before heading north to our carpool spot in Plymouth and we finished the day at Cumberland Farms in Halifax/Middleboro. It certainly felt like Spring with temperatures ranging between 44 df in the morning and 72 df in the afternoon! The winds were light and sunshine was abundant. We tallied 59 species between 9:00am and 7:30pm.

There were several highlights for the day but notables included seeing: KILLDEER at the Plymouth Rest Area (a first of the year for many of us); REDHEAD at Sider’s Pond; AMERICAN WIGEON at Little Pond; TREE SWALLOWS at Muddy Pond; NORTHERN GANNET, WHITE-WINGED- SURF- BLACK- SCOTERS at Sandy Neck; FISH CROWS in Sandwich; and WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW (immature), NORTHERN HARRIERS, DUCKS, WOODCOCK, and a beautiful sunset at Cumberland Farms! Here is a special Thank you to Jim Sweeney who met us Cumberland Farms and shared his wealth of knowledge about the area and brought us to the best spots to see ducks and woodcocks at twilight!

Following is a complete list of the birds we saw:

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Red-throated Loon - 1
Common Loon - 6
Horned Grebe – 40
Red-necked Grebe – 7
Northern Gannet – 8
Double-crested Cormorant - 4
Canada Goose - 300
Brant - 45
Mute Swan - 35
Wood Duck – 30 (at Cumberland Farms)
Gadwall – 4
American Wigeon - 3
American Black Duck - 200
Mallard - 120
Redhead -1
Ring-necked Duck - 12
Greater Scaup – 350
Lesser Scaup - 40
Common Eider – 700
Surf Scoter - 50
White-winged Scoter - 20
Black Scoter - 17
Duck formerly known as Oldsquaw - 12
Bufflehead - 180
Red-breasted Merganser - 24
Northern Harrier - 9
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Red-tailed Hawk - 15
Killdeer - 11
American Woodcock - 6
Ring-billed Gull - 190
Herring Gull - 200
Great Black-backed Gull - 20
Rock Pigeon - 1
Mourning Dove - 26
Downy Woodpecker – 7
Northern Flicker - 11
Blue Jay - 18
American Crow - 260
Fish Crow – 3
Tree Swallow - 9
Black-capped Chickadee - 36
Tufted Titmouse - 45
White-breasted Nuthatch - 3
Carolina Wren - 7
American Robin - 650
Northern Mockingbird - 5
European Starling – 1,000
Savannah Sparrow – 2
Song Sparrow – 70
White-throated Sparrow – 1
White-crowned Sparrow - 1
Northern Cardinal - 35
Red-winged Blackbird – 1,000
Common Grackle - 250
Brown-headed Cowbird – 9
House Finch - 27
American Goldfinch - 90
House Sparrow - 24

Wishing you all a Happy Spring!

2010 Owl Prowl

From Eddie Giles:

*On January 9th, Mark Burns and I led our 11th annual MASS Owl Prowl for the Brookline Bird Club. The intent of this trip is to find by sight or by sound all seven species of owls wintering on the Massachusetts mainland in one day. 16 birders turned out, including 12 year old Jeremiah and 10 year old Will and we were very happy to have them along. We started the day at 3:00 AM in Peabody** and ended it down in Middleboro. Weather condtions varied from clearing skies and the mid teens at the start, clear sunny skies and the mid-20s by the afternoon, with the temps dropping quickly back into the teens again by sunset. Winds were light, around 10-15 mph, wind chills factoring in along the coast and at the Cumberland Farms fields. 38 species for the day, hitting 5 of our 7 targets:

OWLS

Eastern Screech Owl (2) - We had great looks at these two birds around 4:00 AM in Ipswich. Roosting birds at Corliss Brothers, Ipswich and Western Avenue in Essex were not visible at the time of our arrivals.
Great-horned Owl (3) - One bird calling along Stackyard Road, Rowley around 4:30 AM and two birds seen around 4:45 PM at the Cumberland Farms fields in Middleboro.
Short-eared Owl (1) - Cumberland Farms fields, Middleboro around 5:00 PM.
Northern Saw-whet Owl (1) - Burlington

Incidental species along the way:

Canada Goose
American Black Duck
Common Eider
White-winged Scoter
Common Goldeneye
Bald Eagle (2)
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk (3) - 2 dark morph, 1 light morph, Cumberland Farms fields
Merlin (1) - **Cumberland Farms fields
COMMON SNIPE (2) - **Cumberland Farms fields
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Rock Dove
Morning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Horned Lark - Salisbury Beach SP
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthach
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Dark-eyed Junco
Snow Bunting - **Salisbury Beach SP
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird -** Cumberland Farms fields
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

The group capped the day with dinner at Lorenzo's in Middleboro.

Eddie

Westport 1/9

From Bob Stymeist:

Today nine Members joined up for a very cold day birding just on the west side of rte 88 in Westport with a short stop in Fall River.
Location: Westport, Massachusetts
Observation date: 1/9/10
Number of species: 56

Canada Goose 340
American Black Duck 180
Mallard 210
Northern Pintail 13
Greater Scaup 170
Common Eider 200
Bufflehead 54
Common Goldeneye 46
Hooded Merganser 2
Red-breasted Merganser 28
Wild Turkey 29
Common Loon 1
Great Cormorant 18
Turkey Vulture 11
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Purple Sandpiper 4
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 15
Rock Pigeon 80
Mourning Dove 10
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 16
American Crow 4
Horned Lark 30
Black-capped Chickadee 85
Tufted Titmouse 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 5
Eastern Bluebird 9
Hermit Thrush 8
American Robin 55
Gray Catbird 7
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 2600
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Eastern Towhee 2
American Tree Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 15
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 12
Dark-eyed Junco 8
Northern Cardinal 14
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Common Grackle 80
Brown-headed Cowbird 200
House Finch 16
American Goldfinch 20
House Sparrow 45

Cape Ann 1/9

From Linda Ferraresso:

On a very cold (temp in 20's) and windy day on Cape Ann, 10 members tallied 50 species and some great birds. One of the highlights was a juv King Eider at the Fisherman's Monument spotted at 8 a.m. by Nick Barber. The icing on the cake was seeing an adult King Eider at the north end of Good Harbor Beach later in the day ! A Red-breasted Nuthatch off Grapevine Rd was a nice surprise!

Canada Goose 25
Mute Swan 2
Gadwall 10
American Black Duck 16
Mallard 82
Greater Scaup 6
KING EIDER 2 ( juv in Gloucester Harbor at Fisherman's Monument, adult at Good Harbor Beach)
Common Eider 180
Harlequin Duck 35
Surf Scoter 5
White-winged Scoter 60
Black Scoter 2
Long-tailed Duck 2
Bufflehead 120
Common Goldeneye 50
Hooded Merganser 2
Red-breasted Merganser 135
Red-throated Loon 2
Common Loon 6
Horned Grebe 1
Red-necked Grebe 2
Northern Gannet 3
Great Cormorant 26
Cooper's Hawk 1 ( Niles Pond)
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Peregrine Falcon 2 (atop Gloucester City Hall)
Purple Sandpiper 33 ( Bass Rocks, Andrews Point)
Ring-billed Gull 32
Herring Gull 870
Great Black-backed Gull 176
Black-legged Kittiwake 1 ( Andrew's Point, Rockport)
COMMON MURRE 2 ( Cathedral Ledge)
Razorbill 8 ( Andrew's Point
Black Guillemot 8
Rock Pigeon 75
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 (seen by the Athol Club but could not be relocated by our group)
Downy Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 5
Black-capped Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 (off Grapevine Rd Gloucester)
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
American Robin 6
Northern Mockingbird 5
European Starling 90
White-throated Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 5
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 250

Cheer!
Linda

BBC New Years Day Birding Trip 01/01/10

Happy New Year!

Yesterday, Mark Burns and I led our 14th annual New Year's Day birding trip for the Brookline Bird Club (BBC)! At 9:00AM, we greeted 26 BBCers at the municipal parking lot in Newburyport and toasted in the New Year with sparkling apple cider and good cheer! It is always so nice to see our old friends who have come on this trip each year and to meet new ones! To those who could not make the trip this year (you know who you are) we missed you. The temperature was 28df as we started our day and it slowly rose to 35df during the day. The sky remained overcast and the wind was very light. We birded until 4:45PM.

We birded Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Cashman Park/Merrimac River, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (PRNWR), and north Plum Island.

We tallied 51 species for the Club list. Following is a complete list of the birds we saw:

Red-throated Loon - 2
Common Loon - 12
Horned Grebe - 9
Red-necked Grebe – 1
Northern Gannet – 18 (PRNWR-Emerson Rocks)

Great Cormorant – 4
Great-blue Heron – 1 (Peter, Fay, and Jim saw this bird along the Merrimack River near the Chain Bridge)
Canada Goose – 500
Brant – 6 (fly-by along the Merrimack River near the Newburyport Jetty, north Plum Island)
American Black Duck - 90
Mallard – 180
Northern Pintail – 5 (PRNWR)
Common Eider – 350
Surf Scoter – 3
White-winged Scoter – 25
Black Scoter - 2
Oldsquaw - 12
Bufflehead - 40
Common Goldeneye - 18
Red-breasted Merganser – 47
Bald Eagle -1 (immature seen from the Salisbury Boat Ramp)
Northern Harrier – 3
Red-tailed Hawk - 3
Sanderling - 30
Purple Sandpiper – 12 (one sat on a snow-capped rock on the Salisbury Jetty providing nice scope looks)
Ring-billed Gull - 90
Herring Gull - 175
GLAUCOUS GULL 1 (Cashman Park/Merrimack River - Thanks Peter, Fay, and Jim for hanging on to this bird until the group arrived)
Great Black-backed Gull - 35
RAZORBILL – 65 (PRNWR-Emerson Rocks)
BLACK GUILLEMOT – 1 (PRNWR-Emerson Rocks)
Rock Dove - 250
Mourning Dove – 28
SNOWY OWL – 1 (PRNWR-Lot 3 - Thanks to Paul Roberts for tipping us off)
Downy Woodpecker - 3
Blue Jay - 37
American Crow - 52
Horned Lark - 22 (Salisbury Beach State Reservation)

Black-capped Chickadee - 18
American Robin – 400 (they seemed to be everywhere)
Northern Mockingbird - 5
European Starling - 600
American Tree Sparrow – 23
Savannah Sparrow – 7 (5 of which were Ipswich Sparrows seen at Salisbury and north Plum Island)
Song Sparrow - 5
Dark-eyed Junco - 8
LAPLAND LONGSPUR - 1 (Salisbury Beach State Reservation near the campground entrance - Thanks to Ida for alerting us to this bird)
Snow Bunting – 2
Northern Cardinal - 9
American Goldfinch - 33
House Sparrow - 25

Many Thanks again to all who joined us on New Year’s Day and wishing you a happy, healthy, and birdy 2010!

Laura H. de la Flor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So much to learn about Mother Nature ..
... always racing with father time." (lhf)

Cape Ann 12/17

From Ida G:

I ran Barbara Volkle's Cape Ann BBC trip today and only Martha Finta joined
in on this frigid, windy, winter day. Yes, it was really cold.
But we did see 37 species of birds. Highlights were one gray-phase SCREECH
OWL in the Lanesville Cemetary, one AMERICAN PIPIT bobbing along the weedy
side of Atlantic Ave in the Bass Rocks section, one COCK PHEASANT, nine Wild Turkeys and over 40 Harlequin ducks. We did not find any Alcids, not even any Guillimots and aside from the Harlequin ducks, Buffleheads and Common Eiders, very few other ducks were seen in the very rough seas.

Ida Giriunas
Reading, MA

Newburyport 12/13

From Jane Z:

We struck out on bald eagles this afternoon but had some very nice birds anyway under heavy overcast and eventual rain. Highlights:
SB = Salisbury Beach State Reservation
PI = Plum Island

common loon 1 SB
double-crested cormorant 2 SB
green-winged teal 1 SB
common eider 122 SB
long-tailed duck 4 SB beautiful fly-by
common goldeneye 1 SB
northern harrier 2 1 adult PI 1 juv. SB
red-tailed hawk 1
Bonaparte's gull 1 SB
SNOWY OWL 1 PI along the dike by the North Pool at Hellcat
cedar waxwing 4 courthouse parking lot
Am. tree sparrow 4 PI--gravel piles at Warden's
white-throated sparrow 2
snow bunting 2 Warden's gravel piles

Heard a report of two snow geese on Plum Island but could not relocate them in the near-dark.

Jane Zanichkowsky, Newton