New Year’s Day Birding ~ 2013

Today, Mark and I led our 17th annual New Year's Day birding trip for the Brookline Bird Club (BBC)!  We kicked off the BBC’s 100^th Anniversary Year at 9:00AM, 46 BBCers (many have been on our trip since year one) joined us at the municipal parking lot in Newburyport where we toasted in the New Year with sparkling apple cider.  During the toast, introductions were made and folks told us where they traveled from and what their first bird of the New Year was (mine was American Robin)!  The temperatures never moved beyond 35df but the 20-25mph wind made it feel more like 15df!  Yes, it was a cold, blustery day but that did not hamper our spirits.  

 

We birded areas in and around Salisbury Beach State Reservation, Cashman Park, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, and Cherry Hill Reservoir.  We ended the day at about 4:00PM and tallied 67 species for the Club list.  Following is a complete list of the birds we saw:  

 

 

Snow Goose – 1; Canada Goose – 200; Gadwall – 3; American Black Duck – 25; Mallard – 59; Lesser Scaup – 2; Common Eider – 113; Surf Scoter – 15; White-winged Scoter – 70; Black Scoter – 5; Long-tailed Duck – 14; Bufflehead – 3; Common Goldeneye – 21; Common Merganser – 4; Red-breasted Merganser – 15; Ruddy Duck – 22; Red-throated Loon – 3; Common Loon – 25; Horned Grebe – 7; Red-necked Grebe – 2; Northern Gannet – 8; Double-crested Cormorant – 1; Great Cormorant – 4; Great Blue Heron – 5;

 

 Turkey Vulture – 1; Bald Eagle – 6; Northern Harrier – 9; Sharp-shinned Hawk – 2; Copper’s Hawk – 1; Red-tailed Hawk – 11; Rough-legged Hawk – 1; American Kestrel – 1; Merlin – 2; Sanderling – 30; Dunlin – 2; Black-legged Kittiwake – 4 ; Ring-billed Gull – 150; Herring Gull – 200; Great Black-backed Gull – 35; Razorbill – 4 ; Black Guillemot – 1; Rock Pigeon – 75; Mourning Dove – 4; Eastern Screech Owl – 1;

 

 

Belted Kingfisher – 1; Downy Woodpecker – 1; Blue Jay – 1; American Crow – 32; Horned Lark – 41; Black-capped Chickadee – 9; Tufted titmouse – 1; Red-breasted Nuthatch – 5; American Robin – 48; Northern Mockingbird – 3; European Starling – 87; Cedar Waxwing – 5; American Tree Sparrow – 18; Song Sparrow – 13; White-throated Sparrow – 1; Dark-eyed Junco – 2; Snow Bunting – 27; Northern Cardinal – 6; Red Crossbill – 2; White-winged Crossbill – 50; Common Redpoll – 13; American Goldfinch – 1; House Sparrow – 40.

 

Wishing you a very Happy, Healthy, and Birdy 2013 and the BBC another 100 years of birding success!