BBC Content

2012 Pelagic Schedule

2012-01-15T20:55:00.001-05:00

SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012: 7AM – 3PM

Hyannis to Nantucket Shoals area

Birds expected: Shearwaters, Wilson’s Storm-petrels, Gannets, Phalaropes, Fulmar, Jaegers, Terns, several Gulls and Marine animals. Hope to see Skuas and any rarity.

Limit: 75 participants

Cost: BBC members: $ 75.00 / non-members: $ 90.00

SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012: 2AM-7PM

Hyannis to Hydrographer Canyon area.

Birds expected: 4 or 5 species of Shearwaters, Leaches and Wilson’s Storm-petrels, Jaegers, Gannets, Terns, and several Marine Animals. We hope to see Band-rumped storm-petrel, Bridled Tern, Skuas and other rarities. Anything is possible.

Limit: 50 Participants

Cost: BBC members; $ 180.00 / non-members: $ 200.00

SATURDAY, SUNDAY. AUGUST 25, 26, 2012 5:30AM Saturday to 6:00PM Sunday

Hyannis to Hydrographer, Veaches and Atlantis Canyon area.

Birds expected: WHITE-FACED STORM PETRElS,(22 WHITE-FACED STORM-PETRELS seen in August, 2010), 4 species of shearwaters, Jaegers, Gannets, Gulls, Terns and Several species of Marine Mammals. We hope to see Skuas, Bridled Tern and other rarities. In 2007, we found a Little Shearwater, so anything is possible.

Limit: 50 participants

Cost: BBC Members: $ 295.00 / non-members: $ 315.00

SATURDAY, NOV 10, 2012 7AM- 3PM

Hyannis to the Nantucket Shoals Area

Birds expected: Alcids, Gannets, Shearwaters, Phalaropes, Jaegers, Gulls, Fulmar, marine mammals and any rarities such as Skua, etc.

Limit: 65 Participants

Cost: BBC members: $ 90.00 / non-members: $ 110.00

Please be advised that because of the possible increase in the cost of fuel, there may be a surcharge to cover any extra expense. Marshall Iliff, Steve Mirick, Jeremiah Trimble and James Smith usually lead these trips. Our boat, the Helen H, is a very comfortable, fast, 100 foot fishing boat with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic Captain and crew. There are 38 bunks aboard which will be available to the first 38 who sign up. There is a full galley with excellent food at reasonable prices. Parking is free.

To reserve a space, send a check for the full amount made out to the 'BROOKLINE BIRD CLUB AGENT' along with a signed waiver to: Ida Giriunas, 83 Summer Ave., Reading, MA, 01867 and include either your email or your postal address for confirmation, boarding instructions and further information.

For additional information and the waiver to be signed, contact Ida at 781-929-8772 or via email.

Winter Meeting 2012

2011-11-26T19:58:00.001-05:00

Join us Friday, February 3, 2012 at 7:30 PM, for our annual winter meeting at the Bedford Middle School Auditorium, McMahon Road, Bedford, Massachusetts.

A social hour and light refreshments will begin at 6:30 PM.

Photo by Cam Shaw

Our speaker for the evening will be Mr. Greg Miller. In 1998, Greg zigzagged across the continent to try to see as many species of birds in one calendar year as possible. It was an incredible experience passing the 700-species mark—an achievement many birders aspire to in an entire lifetime. But there was competition. Two other birders, Sandy Komito and Al Levantin, also broke the 700-mark that same year. Greg will entertain us with tales from that competitive experience, as well as stories of growing up as a birder, listing and how he came to do a big year. He will also discuss Mark Obmascik's book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession and working on the 2011 20th Century Fox filmThe Big Year and his experience on the set with Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson.

Greg will be joining us for the social hour! He's looking forward to meeting Club members, posing for pictures and signing autographs! You DON'T want to miss THIS meeting!!

Members and guests are cordially invited. Admission and parking are free. See here for directions.

Please bring your used binoculars and other biding equipment for the Birders' Exchange. For information about the Birders' Exchange, check their website.

We invite you to join the BBC or renew your annual membership at our meeting. See you there!

Christmas Bird Counts 2011

2011-11-13T14:08:00.001-05:00

BBC members are encouraged to join a Christmas Bird Count. The following is the list of counts in Massachusetts with contact information for compilers.

Date to be Determined

Mid-Cape Cod: Peter Trimble and Jeremiah Trimble
Groton-Oxbow: Julie Lisk
Plymouth: Trevor Lloyd-Evans (508)224-6521
Stellwagen Bank: Simon Perkins
Tuckernuck: Simon Perkins
New Bedford: Michael Boucher

Wednesday, December 14

Sturbridge: Mark Lynch (Snow/Ice date: December 15)

Saturday, December 17

Andover: Lou Wagner (978)927-1122x2705
Athol: Dave Small (978)4113-1772
Buzzard’s Bay: Jeremiah Trimble (508)498-9646 and Peter Trimble
Central Berkshire: Tom Collins (413)499-2799 (Snow date December 18)
Millis: Elissa Landre (Snow date December 18)
Newport County, RI-Westport, MA: Robert Emerson
Northern Berkshire: Pamela Weatherbee (413)458-3538
Quincy: Glenn d'Entremont (781)344-5857
Springfield: George Kingston (413)525-6742

Sunday, December 18

Cape Ann: Jim Barber
Cape Cod: Blair Nikula
Greater Boston: Robert H. Stymeist
Northampton: Janice Jorgenson (413)585-0145
Worcester: John Liller

Tuesday, December 20

Truro: Tom Lipsky

Monday, December 26

Cobble Mountain: George Kingston
Marshfield: Sue MacCallum
Newburyport: Tom Young (603-424-4512, cell 603-493-1776)Westminster: Charles Caron

Saturday, December 31

Nantucket: Ken Blackshaw (508)238-0209 and Edie Ray (meets night before)
Quabbin: Scott Surner (413)256-5438
Taunton: James Sweeney
Uxbridge: Strickland Wheelock

Sunday, January 1

Southern Berkshire: Rene Laubach
Greenfield: Mark Fairbrother
Monday, January 2Concord: Norm Levey (alternate email) (781)259-1162

Gull ID Workshop with Wayne Petersen

2011-11-08T21:04:00.000-05:00

The two-day Gull ID Workshop is filled. There are still spaces left for the classroom instruction.

The Brookline Bird Club and South Shore Bird Club will be co-sponsoring a two-day Gull ID Workshop with Wayne Petersen. An evening of classroom instruction will take place on Thursday, January 19, 2012 from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, 680 Hudson Road, Sudbury, MA. This will be followed by an all-day field trip to Cape Ann on Saturday, January 21, 2012. The field trip portion of the seminar is open to the first 30 people to register and send in their payment; the classroom will be open to 60 students.

Cost for this two day workshop is $15 for BBC and SSBC members and $30 for non-members; cost for the classroom instruction only will be $7.50 for BBC and SSBC members and $15 for non-members. Advance registration is required; your place is secure only upon receipt of payment. Registration is limited! For more information and to register, please contact Eddie Giles.

Most proceeds to benefit Massachusetts Audubon Important Bird Areas program.

Intermediate Photo Workshop

2011-09-05T20:56:00.001-04:00

Intermediate to Advanced Digital SLR Workshop
Saturday, October 1, 2011 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Assabet River NWR, Sudbury, MA
Fee: Adults: $30.00 members; $45.00 non-members
Instructor: Eric Smith
Advanced Registration required

Still mastering your digital camera? Still having difficulties using the correct exposure? This course is for you! Eric Smith will be conducting a five-hour bird/wildlife workshop, focusing on camera exposure. Topics will include hand-holding techniques, use of the depth-of-field preview button, demonstration of extension tubes, how to organize images and metadata, understanding what EXIF holds and similar advanced digital commands. We will also touch on editing software, such as Adobe Lightroom and PS Elements.

Instructions: Bring your camera and a laptop, as well as some way to take notes. Participants will have an opportunity to try out new techniques; with a laptop you can immediately evaluate your exposure timing.

Coffee and doughnuts will be served in the morning, followed by a catered lunch at mid-day.

Eric Smith has been shootingwildlife seriously for at least 7 years. He photographs all over New England, with an emphasis on birds. He loves being outdoors, which grew into wanting to share what he sees with others. Eric runs or participates in several photography clubs, teaches classes for Mass Audubon, and currently sits on the boards of both the Menotomy Bird Club and Eastern Mass Hawk Watch.

Advance registration is required; your place is secure only upon receipt of payment. Registration is limited! For information and registration, contact Eddie Giles (508) 378-3370

Book Fund Donation

2011-09-01T21:14:00.001-04:00

The Brookline Bird Club, through their School Book Fund program, purchased more than 40 books for the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park in Somerville. This is a K-8 school has a broad and diverse population with a staff that is committed to pursuing innovative teaching strategies that enable their students to meet every academic challenge, and to fully develop their life-long learning skills. All of the books purchased for the school are about birds, nature, ecology, and science. A BBC bookplate was attached to all of the books.

BBC Board Member David Williams presenting the books to Norah Connelly, the Librarian at the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park in Somerville, MA.

Librarian Norah Connelly shows a couple of books to Jaderson, a student at the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park in Somerville, MA.

Nephileen and Jaderson read from one of the over 40 books donated by the BBC Book Fund to the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park in Somerville, MA.

Cassin's Sparrow Trip 5/18

2011-05-17T18:15:00.001-04:00

Subject: Impromptu BBC Cassin's Sparrow Trip
Folks:

The Cassin’s Sparrow was seen this morning as late as 8:55AM. So, Let’s go for it. Let’s car-pool. We will make this an impromptu Brookline Bird Club Trip. Those from the North Shore can meet at 5:30 AM at Kohl’s Parking Lot (exit 36 off Rte 128, Washington St) in Woburn. Go to the traffic lights at the end of the turn-off, turn right, then go straight at the next traffic lights into Kohl’s After entering the parking lot, pull as far over to the left as possible. Those from further south can meet at the Park & Lock parking lot at exit 14 (Road to Wompatuck), (Rte 228) in Hingham at 6-6:15AM.
Please let me know I you will be joining us. My Cell is 781—929-8772.

Thanks.

Ida Giriunas

Reading, MA
<ida8@verizon.net>

***
From: Matt Malin <hossfeldt@yahoo.com>
Subject: Cassin's Sparrow - midday/afternoon - NO
Birders -

I headed out late this morning to Truro for the Cassin's Sparrow. A small group
of birders were there, including Patty O'Neil. The last good sighting was at
about 10 AM, according to Patty just as she was getting out of the car as it
dropped from a locust tree into the grass on the curve (Pamet Harbor side). We
had an appearance of a "flash" of a pale, grayish-backed sparrow being chased by
a Song Sparrow around noon. I'm not comfortable with what little I saw, so I
didn't "see" the Cassin's Sparrow today, considering that I did see a pair of
House Sparrows on the corner too. I left at 3:45 PM and David and Fran Clapp
were keeping the watch and Patty had returned from successfully seeing the
Evening Grosbeak at Wellfleet Bay.

Weather was overcast and cloudy when I arrived at 11:20, and was clearing slowly
and partly sunny sometime after 2:00. Go figure. Weather pattern still
predicted to be east winds and rain/showers, so I am in agreement with comments
before that the sparrow is still probably around. Seem like early is best.

Also, be aware that there are short dump trucks hauling sand to Corn Hill beach
for beach replentishment, and routinely come around the hairpin turn before the
beach. It is best to park in the beach lot and walk the short 100 or so yards
to the curve where the bird has been seen - between the lone, scraggly pine tree
between the house on the curve and the parking lot and the beech plum and locust
trees on the hillside as noted before.

Best of luck everyone!

Matt Malin
Mashpee, MA
hossfeldt(at)yahoo.com

Boston Harbor Islands By Boat

2011-05-05T19:56:00.002-04:00

Date: Sunday, June 5, 2011
Time: 10:15 AM from Quincy Shipyard, 11:00 AM from Long Wharf, Boston. Returning to Boston at 3:15 PM and Quincy at 4:00 PM. Please be at the dock 30 minutes prior to departure from your location.
Cost: $18 general, $15 BBC member with blue book or club pin
Calling the birds will be our own Tim Factor!
We'll be taking one of the larger boats, either the Island Discovery or
Island Expedition, capacity 150-200.
Please reply to Sylvia Martin by June 1 to reserve a spot. Bring your BBC blue book or other evidence of membership to get $3 off at the dock. Bring extra layers and be prepared for strong breezes. The boat has restrooms and I believe a snack bar. Nonetheless, you might want to bring
a thermos and a bag lunch/snack.
SPECIAL NOTE: This is a harbor trip and not a pelagic, but to bone up on your seabirds, attend the seabird ID workshop by Marshall Iliff at Assabet River NWR a few days earlier, on June 1, sponsored by the BBC.

Basic Photography Workshop Photos

2011-04-25T20:13:00.001-04:00

Nicholas Hodge & retired BBC president Barbara Volkle eagerly await the start of the workshop.

Our instructor, Eric Smith. Eric has been shooting wildlife seriously for the last 7 years. He photographs all over New England, with an emphasis on birds. He loves being outdoors and that grew into wanting to share what he sees with others. Eric runs or participates in several photography clubs, teaches classes for Mass Audubon, and currently sits on the boards of both the Menotomy Bird Club and Eastern Mass Hawk Watch.

Twenty-two participants ultimately turned out, including three new members and two guests.

Eric used a series of instructional slides...

as well as some of his own work to visually illustrate the concepts introduced.

Some jotted down hand-written notes...

while others like Kathy Davis typed her notations directly into her laptop.

During the breaks, class members like Cameron Mitchell and Lori Joyal powered up their cameras to review the previous lesson.

Eric pressed on during the lunch hour, answering questions from the class between bites of pizza.

Eric went to ANY length to illustrate a point... :-)

The smiles on the faces of Suzanne Lyons and Richard Sullivan at the close of the workshop were indicitive of the class as a whole. Demand was high for future workshops like these, and the BBC will do its best to provide them.

Basic Photography Workshop

2011-03-22T21:42:00.003-04:00

Saturday, April 16, 2011 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Venue: Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, 680 Hudson Ave, Sudbury, MA
Fee: Adults $30.00 members/ $45.00 nonmembers
Instructor: Eric Smith Advance Registration is required.

Looking to get better at Bird Photography? Are you a Beginner or Advanced Beginner photographer looking to take that next step? Eric Smith will be conducting a 5-hour bird/wildlife photography workshop covering all aspects of digital photography: before you take the picture, when you take it and what to do afterward. Topics will include camera settings, what the different modes mean, lenses and their notation, focusing modes, what ISO does and how to use it to your advantage, an overview of Adobe Lightroom, how to store your pictures and much more. While a Digital SLR is not required, a very simple Point and Shoot might not have every feature discussed. But that just prepares you when you move up to a more advanced camera!
Instructions: Bring your camera, laptop (if you have one) and some way to take notes. Coffee and doughnuts will be served in the morning, followed by a catered lunch around mid-day.
Eric Smith has been shooting wildlife seriously for the last 7 years. He photographs all over New England, with an emphasis on birds. He loves being outdoors and that grew into wanting to share what he sees with others. Eric runs or participates in several photography clubs, teaches classes for Mass Audubon, and currently sits on the boards of both the Menotomy Bird Club and Eastern Mass Hawk Watch.
Advance registration is required; your place is secure only upon receipt of payment. Registration is limited! For more information and to register, please contact Eddie Giles (508) 378-3370.

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BROOKLINE BIRD CLUB - April 15, 2011

2011-03-13T08:18:00.002-04:00

Join us for the Brookline Bird Club Annual Meeting on Friday, April 15, 2011 at 7:30 pm at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, Geological Lecture Hall,
24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA.

Julie Ellis Ph.D. will present “Ecology of Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls in Coastal New England”. This presentation will cover the ecology and natural history of these two species of gulls in island ecology, including their reproductive biology, competitive and predatory interactions, dispersal, and their impacts on coastal environments. Dr. Ellis is a Research Assistant Professor at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and conducts her research through the Shoals Marine Laboratory at the Isles of Shoals, a 9-island archipelago located about 6 miles from Portsmouth, N.H. More on our speaker below.

Members and guests are cordially invited. Admission is free. Parking is free at the 52 Oxford Street garage (opposite Everett St). Tell the guard you are attending the BBC meeting.

Please bring your used binoculars and other birding equipment for the Birder’s Exchange (more information).

OUR SPEAKER:

Dr. Julie Ellis, Research Assistant Professor at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, is Director of the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network (SEANET); A more detailed description of Dr. Ellis and her work can be found at the SEANET website and blog

Dr. Julie Ellis also has a gull blog where she posts sightings of gulls banded at Appledore Island, Maine.

Dr. Ellis is providing opportunities to band gulls via the Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island, Maine in May and July. In May, adult gulls are banded, band numbers and nest locations of previously banded birds are recorded, and gull nests are mapped using a GPS unit. Sarah Courchesne, her colleague will be leading this group, and will also do some lectures and a wet lab on marine bird anatomy and biology. There will be a similar course for one week in July during which pre-fledgling gulls will be banded. No previous experience in bird banding is required in these courses - in fact, the participants will not actually band the birds they will help capture and restrain them, help to mark nests, and walk around the island recording band numbers and GPS coordinates for previously banded birds. It should be a lot of fun and participants will learn quite a bit from just being on the island. It’s not at all like songbird banding, for those who have done that capturing and holding adult gulls is quite an experience!

Winter Meeting Directions

2010-12-07T20:30:00.001-05:00

Directions to Bedford Middle School, McMahon Road, Bedford, MA:

From Route I-95/128: take exit 31B and follow Route 4/225 west towards Bedford for 2.5 miles and through six traffic lights to where Route 62 forks left. Follow Route 62 another 0.4 miles to St. Michaels Church on the left. Take the next left onto McMahon Road. The Middle School is just ahead 0.2 miles with a small parking area in front of the building and a much larger lot in the rear. Both lots have direct access to the lobby and auditorium. Here are directions, with a MapQuest link, from the Middle School website.

Winter Meeting Presentations

2010-12-07T20:24:00.001-05:00

From Eddie Giles:

I am really looking forward to this Members Night and working with club members to make it a success! With all the great photos, trips, and stories BBC members have to tell I hope that we can continue to make it a Club tradition for years to come.

Contact me at egiles@brooklinebirdclub.org if you would like to present at Members' Night.

Please provide the following information:
(1) Title
(2) Format or program your presentation uses (e.g. PowerPoint, Excel, etc.).
(3) Length of time ***please note that since we will have up to six presentations we need to keep each presentation limited to 15 minutes. If the number of presentations changes, and therefore time, I will let you know .***

Shawn Carey and Eric Smith will be heading up the technical part of Members Night and, as always, providing the BBC with fantastic audio/visuals. To help keep things running smoothly, Shawn and Eric have a set of requests/requirements for you to follow when setting up your presentations:

(1) You MUST name your pictures based on their name, numbering them in the order you want them shown (two digits, please). For example, ericsmith01.jpg, ericsmith02.jpg... and so on.

(2) You should resize your images to 1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high.

(3) You *do not* have to fill the screen. If you want to use a portrait/vertical shot, just make it no taller than 768 pixels and no wider than 1024 pixels.

(4) It would be helpful if you put a "cover image" that says at least your name as the first slide. This isn't required, but it will help the audience know whose pictures are who's.

(5) Please bring no more than 40 images if you plan on talking while showing images, but the actual number varies depending on how much you'll say. If you are not going to talk, you can bring a few more. But please be mindful of your 15 minutes.

(6) Plan to give your presentations to Eddie 1/2 hour before the meeting starts on a memory stick/thumb drive/cruzer. Eddie will bring your presentations to Shawn and will coordinate the presentation order. Eddie will let you know the line up once she gets your presentation titles.

(7) Each presenter will have 15 minutes to show their images. You do not *have* to fill the 15 minutes!

(8) You can talk while showing your images or not, that is your choice. You do not *have* to talk (especially if that would keep you from showing!)

(9) If you plan on talking during your images, please practice your presentation ahead of time. Just flip through the images and say (out loud) what you will say. You're presentation will go much smoother, it will help confirm the slide order is correct, and you can make sure you're not over 15 minutes. You'll almost certainly find that it takes longer than you expect!

If you have any questions at all about the above requests/requirements please contact me.

Here is some additional information from Shawn and Eric that may be helpful:

Most digital cameras come with software that let you edit your images to some degree. If you don't like that software there are several free programs that can do it.

For Windows:
- Picasa from Google is quite good. It is both an editor and an image organizer. http://picasa.google.com/
- Irfanview is a full editor that can crop and resize images. Not the easiest to use, but not "hard" either. http://www.irfanview.com/

For Mac:
- All modern Macs have iPhoto which will let you crop and resize images.

For Linux:
- You can use Gimp, but it isn't the easiest to use
- There is a version of Picasa that is available. http://picasa.google.com/

Conservation and Education Resources for Birders

2010-11-26T20:11:00.002-05:00

The many pleasures of birding all require birds. Many species are declining, threatened,or endangered. The Brookline Bird Club encourages a commitment to bird conservation and participation in activities and organizations that promote conservation through collection of data, monitoring of populations, preservation of habitat, protection of at-risk species, political action, and education.

CITIZEN SCIENCE: Bird Censuses, Monitoring, Banding, Research

Massachusetts Audubon Society

Massachusetts Breeding Bird Atlas 2: five-year census of breeding birds in state
Birds to Watch: Oriole Project & Whip-poor-will Project
Focus on Feeders
Joppa Flats Bird Banding Station

National Audubon Society

annual Christmas Bird Counts

North American Breeding Bird Survey (co-sponsored by Patuxent Wildlife Research Center & Canadian Wildlife Services)
Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

eBird: report sightings with online checklist, provide data
Project FeederWatch: count birds at feeders
Great Backyard Bird Count: count winter bird populations
NestWatch: monitor nests & collect breeding data
Urban Bird Studies: study city birds
Birds in Forested Landscapes: study forest habitats
House Finch Disease Survey: help researchers track disease

Bird-banding programs:

Eastern Massachusetts Hawk Watch & Northeast Hawk Watch
Massachusetts Bluebird Association: nestbox building, monitoring
New England Hummers: Ruby-throated sightings ; monitoring
TASL Boston Harbor Waterbird Census: waterbird monitoring
various local breeding bird surveys ; censuses: e.g. Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

ORGANIZATIONS FOR BIRDERS & CONSERVATION OF BIRDS

American Bird Conservancy

bird conservation issues (e.g. global warming)
American birds campaigns (e.g. Safeguarding the Rarest)
domestic habitat programs (e.g. Landscape Level Conservation)
domestic advocacy programs (e.g. Pesticides and Birds)
international programs (e.g. Alliance for Zero Extinction)
science & monitoring programs (e.g. Andes Bird Monitoring)

American Birding Association

Birders’ Exchange
Institute for Field Ornithology
Young Birders programs

Bird Observer: bimonthly New England birding journal

sponsors Massbird listserv and links to conservation organizations

Massachusetts Audubon Society

Grassland Bird Program
Coastal Waterbird Program (with field and intern programs)
Advocacy: state legislation, land protection projects, & Action Network

National Audubon Society

Watch List: monitors threatened bird species
Important Bird Areas Program: global effort to identify & conserve vital areas for birds
Waterbird & Coastal Bird Conservation programs; Neighborhood Conservation
Issues & Actions: public policy advocacy re. habitats &endangered species

Partners in Flight: bird conservation partnerships & education
North American Bird Conservation Initiative: coordinates partnerships
Ornithological Council Legislative Alert System
Boreal Songbird Initiative: advocacy & education for boreal birds
U. S. Shorebird Conservation Plan and Council
Ducks Unlimited: wetlands management & conservation
BirdLife International: global conservation partnerships, advocacy
Global Owl Project: research, education, conservation
Proact Campaigns: coordinates conservation efforts in Europe

LAND STEWARDSHIP, SPECIES & HABITAT PRESERVATION, and LEGISLATION

World Wildlife Fund: global preservation of habitats & species
National Wildlife Federation: wildlife protection, education, legislation

The Nature Conservancy: land protection, education, legislation (for Massachusetts branch, e-mail massachusetts@tnc.org)
The Wilderness Society: preservation, legislation, WildAlert
Defenders of Wildlife: conservation, education, endangered species
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Duck Stamp, wetlands conservation
Point Reyes Bird Observatory: conservation of birds & ecosystems, outreach
Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences: research, conservation
Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition: regional land trust & conservation (SEE links to local organizations: e.g. Trustees of Reservations, Essex County Greenbelt)
Trust for Public Land: conservation of land & open space
Green Neighborhoods Alliance: open space residential design
National Wind Coordinating Collaborative: windpower & wildlife
Mass Wildlife: state agency--land protection, wildlife restoration(includes National Heritage and Endangered Species programs)
Massachusetts Wetlands Restoration Program
“friends” support groups: e.g. Friends of Parker River NWR, Friends of Mt. Auburn Cemetery
ad hoc political action campaigns: e.g. Secure Fence Act in Rio Grande Valley

EDUCATION

Robert Askins, Restoring North America’s Birds, Yale University Press, 2000.
Jeffrey V. Wells, Birder’s Conservation Handbook, Princeton University Press, 2007.
John Faaborg, Saving Migrant Birds, University of Texas Press, 2002.
Bridget Stutchbury, Silence of the Songbirds, Walker & Company, 2007.
Laura Erickson, 101 Ways to Help Birds, Stackpole Books, 2006.
T. E. Martin & D. M. Finch (eds.), Ecology and Management of Neotropical Migratory Birds, Oxford University Press, 1995.
Flying Wild: school curriculum for conservation, stewardship

Cornell Lab BirdSleuth: online research & curriculum for children
National Audubon: Kidscape guide to Habitat at Home
PIF International Migratory Bird Day education materials
Mass Audubon: education programs for schools and adults

Christmas Bird Counts 2010

2010-11-26T14:08:00.001-05:00

BBC members are encouraged to join a Christmas Bird Count. The following is the list of counts in Massachusetts with contact information for compilers.

Date to be Determined

Mid-Cape Cod: Peter Trimble and Jeremiah Trimble
Plymouth: Trevor Lloyd-Evans (508)224-6521
Stellwagen Bank: Simon Perkins
Tuckernuck: Simon Perkins

Tuesday, December 14

Sturbridge: Mark Lynch

Saturday, December 18

Andover: Lou Wagner (978)927-1122x2705
Athol: Dave Small (978)4113-1772
Buzzard’s Bay: Jeremiah Trimble (508)498-9646 and Peter Trimble
Central Berkshire: Tom Collins (413)499-2799
Millis: Elissa Landre (508)655-2296x7031
New Bedford: Michael Boucher (508)990-3910
Newport County, RI- Westport, MA: Robert Emerson
Northern Berkshire: Pamela Weatherbee (413)458-3538
Quincy: Glenn d'Entremont (781)344-5857
Springfield: George Kingston (413)525-6742
Worcester: John Liller (508)839-5211

Sunday, December 19

Cape Ann: Jim Barber
Cape Cod: Blair Nikula (508)432-6348
Greater Boston: Robert H. Stymeist (781)648-8766
Groton-Oxbow NWF: Julie Lisk (978)272-1151 and Peter Alden (978)369-5768
Northampton: Mary Alice Wilson (413)548-9078

Tuesday, December 21

Truro: Tom Lipsky (978)897-5429

Sunday, December 26

Cobble Mountain: George Kingston (413)525-6742
Greenfield: Mark Fairbrother (413)367-2695
Marshfield: Sue MacCallum
Newburyport: Tom Young (603)424-4512
Westminster: Charles Caron (978)874-5469

Saturday, January 1

Nantucket: Ken Blackshaw
Quabbin: Scott Surner (413)256-5438
Southern Berkshire: Rene Laubach (413)637- 0320x8351
Taunton: James Sweeney
Uxbridge: Strickland Wheelock

Sunday, January 2

Concord: Hank Norwood (508)378-7524

flickr test

2010-11-23T21:54:00.001-05:00

2011 Pelagic Schedule

2010-11-23T21:23:00.004-05:00

SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2011: 7AM – 3PM

Hyannis to Nantucket Shoals area
Birds expected: Shearwaters, Wilson’s Storm-petrels, Gannets, Phalaropes, Fulmar, Jaegers, Terns, several Gulls and Marine animals. Hope to see Skuas and any rarity.
See the results

SATURDAY, JULY 16, 2011: 4AM – 9PM

Hyannis to Hydrographer Canyon area.
Birds expected: 4 or 5 species of Shearwaters, Leaches and Wilson’s Storm-petrels, Jaegers, Gannets, Terns, and several Marine Animals. We hope to see Band-rumped storm-petrel, Bridled Tern, Skuas and other rarities. Anything is possible.
See the results

SATURDAY, SUNDAY AUGUST 27, 28, 2011

Rescheduled

SATURDAY, SUNDAY. September 10,11, 2011

5:30AM Saturday to 6:00PM Sunday
Hyannis to Hydrographer, Veaches and Atlantis Canyon area.
Birds expected: WHITE-FACED STORM PETRElS,(22 WHITE-FACED STORM-PETRELS seen in August, 2010), 5 species of shearwaters, 3 species of Storm-petrels, Jaegers, Gannets, Gulls (including the Sabine’s, Terns and Several species of Marine Mammals. We hope to see Skuas, Bridled Tern and other rarities. In 2007, we found a Little Shearwater, so anything is possible.
Canceled due to Hurricane Irene

SUNDAY, NOV 20, 2011 7AM- 3PM

HYANNIS to the Nantucket Shoals Area
Birds expected: Alcids, Gannets, Shearwaters, Phalaropes, Jaegers, Gulls, Fulmar, marine mammals and any rarities such as Skua, etc.
Limit: 65 Participants
Cost: BBC members: $95.00
non-members: $115.00
Rescheduled and there may still be space available, contact Ida asap if interested.

Please be advised that because of the possible increase in the cost of fuel, there may be a surcharge to cover any extra expense.
Rick Heil, Steve Mirick, Jeremiah Trimble and Marshall Iliff usually lead these trips. Our boat, the Helen H, is a very comfortable, fast, 100 foot fishing boat with a knowledgeable and enthusiastic Captain and crew. There are 38 bunks aboard which will be available to the first 38 who sign up. There is a full galley with excellent food at reasonable prices. Parking is free.
To reserve a space, send a check for the full amount made out to the 'BROOKLINE BIRD CLUB AGENT' along with a signed waiver to: Ida Giriunas, 83 Summer Ave., Reading, MA, 01867 and include either your email or your postal address for confirmation, boarding instructions and further information.
For additional information and the waiver to be signed, contact Ida at 781-929-8772 or via email

Pink-footed Goose Chase

2010-11-22T17:00:00.001-05:00

From Bill Drummond:

With the Pink-footed Goose at or near Sudbury as the number 6th ranked bird in the country (the Bean Goose at the Salton Sea is number one), we will make an effort for everyone to see this bird. I know there are people who do not have cars. We will meet at Riverside, the end of the Green Line Riverside branch, near Rte. 128 at noon. The trip is timed for the people who want to be on Barbara Volkle's Cape Ann BBC morning trip to try to team up with us. We can use all the help we can get. We will probably go from Riverside to "Davis Farm"in Sudbury.

If you have any reports please call me Friday morning on my cell phone 978 809-2971. I would appreciate any reports, positive or negative. I do not usually have my cell phone on when I am driving. If you call and get my voice mail, please also leave your name and phone number and the time. Please limit use of the cell phone number to FRIDAY ONLY. All help will be greatly appreciated.

If you have an FRS radio (very important; "national birders" channel is 11 with sub channel 22) please bring it. With FRS radios, we can get hold of several people at once instead of just one at a time by phone.

If you are coming on PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, please e-mail me in advance or call my cell that morning after 9 AM. I probably can use a few other people with cars to meet at Riverside too. Please let me know that too. I know parking and traveling will be a problem on that day but we will do the best we can.

BBC members and all birders are invited. There is no charge. I know lots of people are working that day but if you can be a help getting more people to see that Pink-footed Goose, your help will be greatly appreciated. It is not necessary to contact me in advance if you are traveling by car and meeting at Riverside.

We will play the trip like the BCS standings. If we can just get the Pink-footed we will go for the Barnacle.But we would need to get the rarer (higher ranked) bird first.

Happy Thanksgiving. Bill Drummond

North Andover, MA

WCDrummond@aol.com
WCDrummond@verizon.net

Recognized Members

2010-11-08T19:35:00.001-05:00

The BBC occasionally recognizes members for service to the club and birding in Massachusetts.

Among the honorees:

Herman D'Entremont Recognized

2010-11-08T19:34:00.001-05:00

Long-time member Herman D'Entremont was recognized at the spring 2010 meeting.

BBC President Barbara Volkle presents Herman with his certificate. Photo: Eva Casey.

Dennis Oliver Recognized

2010-11-08T19:29:00.001-05:00

As part of our fall meeting on October 15, 2010, members of the Brookline Bird Club recognized the service of Dennis Oliver.

Dennis with BBC Board Member Fay Vale, photo by Peter Vale

Dennis Oliver is a respected and admired long-time Brookline Bird Club member. He has been influential as an officer, director and longtime trip leader. Dennis has inspired many birders to join the Brookline Bird Club and some to become trip leaders. Dennis Oliver was a member of the Brookline Bird Club board of directors from 1984 to 2006.He was Recording Secretary from 1987 to 2004, and Corresponding Secretary from 2004 to 2006. In addition, he was a founding member of both the Conservation/Education and Ethics Committees and was a member of the 75th Anniversary Committee.When he retired in 2006, the board recognized his service by giving him a framed certificate of appreciation.

Dennis also coordinated and compiled the Ipswich River Breeding Bird Survey for over 15 years. For many years, he also was a participant in the TASL count, the Cape Cod Waterfowl Survey, and 3 Christmas Bird Counts including being the Waltham section leader for the Greater Boston Count.

There was unanimous enthusiastic support of such recognition from those board members and long term members who were inspired by Dennis. Dennis and his brother David began birding as children. See below for David's comments. Thank you, Dennis, for your years of service to the Brookline Bird Club and the birding community!

DAVID OLIVER WROTE:

Dennis and I have always been interested in nature and animals since childhood. This interest was shared by our father, who encouraged it, but NOT by our mother. Our favorite trips were always to the zoo. Our menagerie of animals while growing up was extensive, much to the chagrin of our mother. In fact, we eventually built a room in the cellar to house our animals, which was off limits to our mother, by her choice.
Since Dennis and I spent almost all our time together, except at school where we were separated, we shared our birding right from the start. I can remember seeing a flock of waxwings feeding in a low tree on our walk to school. We had previously known blue jays and crows and robins and other common birds but these were something new and quite beautiful.
Years later, a Ross's Gull was found in Newburyport in the winter of 1975. It made headlines in the newspaper and on television stations. People were coming from across the country to see this bird. We were amazed that there were people so obsessed that they would make such a journey to see a bird. Well, that sounded like fun to us. We never did go up to see that Ross's Gull, but that summer, we bought binoculars and started to write down the birds we saw and identified. This was great fun! We knew nothing about bird clubs or other organizations except Mass Audubon and their birding hotline. We would call and hear about some wonderful birds being seen in many places around the state. Our first "birding trip" was to Broadmoor Sanctuary in South Natick. July isn't the best time to visit there, but almost everything was new to us! That July also brought us to Plum Island and we saw where that Ross's Gull had been seen in Newburyport.
We realized that Plum Island was special and we made a few excursions there, as often as we could. In November of 1977 Dennis and I were birding at Plum and found a flock of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks at Hellcat. By then, we knew that these birds shouldn't be in Massachusetts, and we searched for someone to tell. We did find a birder, who's name now escapes me, but we told him and off we went to bird more of the island. We returned to Hellcat to see if the ducks were still there, and they were, along with many birders. This was our first encounter with a group of birders and it was the Brookline Bird Club trip, being led by the Judge and Gerry. Nancy Clayton was along on the trip and was delightful, warm, and embracing. She gave us our first blue book and from there we went on as many BBC trips as we could. We wished we could attend every one.
We met Bill Drummond at the Steller's Eider sighting in Scituate. Soon Bill was a friend and mentor. Bill took us along with him on many a fantastic trip, not only in Massachusetts, but across the continent. Soon he asked us to lead trips for the BBC. Over the years, we most often did them together, but Dennis was more of a fanatic, and still is I fear. But I will always remember and cherish the many birders who came on our trips, just because we were leading them. I must give Dennis most of that credit as he always loved showing birds to people and to lead trips to out of the way places that he liked to bird. Dennis enjoyed doing "counts", whether it be a Christmas count or birdathon or census.

Hotline: Tropical-type Kingbird Falmouth

2010-10-31T12:40:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Bennet Porter, Jeremiah Trimble, Greg Hirth, and Mary Keleher for the following.

Also, Cave Swallows are being reported all along the coast including Salisbury, Plum Island, and the Westport area (thanks Suzanne Sullivan and John Keeley, Phil Brown, Erik Nielsen, and Paul Champlin) and the Barnacle Goose continues at the Concord Prison Fields (as of yesterday at least).

From: Bennet Porter <bennet.porter@gmail.com>

Date: October 31, 2010 10:09:49 AM EDT

To: Massbird <massbird@theworld.com>, capecodbirds@yahoogroups.com

Subject: [capecodbirds] Peterson Farm, Falmouth - Western Kingbird NO, Tropical/Couch's Kingbird YES

Reply-To: capecodbirds@yahoogroups.com

After reviewing my photos of the kingbird I saw yesterday afternoon (http://www.flickr.com/photos/capepish/sets/72157625275234472/), I grew suspicious of the identification as a Western. None of my field guides seemed to match Western Kingbird with the bird I saw, it seemed closer to either Tropical/Couch's Kingbird. I emailed the pictures to Jeremiah Trimble last night, and he confirmed this morning that it appeared to be either of those two birds, and not a Western. The best diagnosis between the two species is by voice, so I went early this morning to find the bird. It was still there along the same side of the big field that I had seen it, although it was in the trees and brush and not on the electrified fence. It didn't call yesterday or this morning, but when I left Mary Keleher, Peter Trimble, and Blair Nikula were all on the bird, so hopefully they will get some good photos and maybe hear it call.

If anyone is planning on trying for the bird, be aware that there is a marathon being run in Falmouth today, so watch out for runners. Also, anyone from off Cape should be mindful of the repairs going on Bourne Bridge. There is parking for maybe 5 cars at the farm, and maybe a few can park at the turnoff at the top of the hill before the parking lot. Peterson Farm is off of Woods Hole Rd in Falmouth, at the end of a one-car-width path, so be careful when going to and from the farm. It is also a popular spot for walkers and runners, with or without dogs, who are with or without leashes. It is also a working sheep farm (don't forget about the Cattle Egret!), despite being on town land, so there are many interests in this one piece of land, please be courteous of others. I've never said this before, but boy do I mean it now: Good birding!

Bennet Porter

Falmouth

bennet.porter(at)gmail.com

From: Greg Hirth <geohawk_1@yahoo.com>

Date: October 31, 2010 11:02:27 AM EDT

To: massbird@theworld.com

Subject: [MASSBIRD] Tropical/Couch's

Reply-To: Greg Hirth <geohawk_1@yahoo.com>

Just got back from Peterson's Farm, where I was going to post the exciting news regarding the kingbird. Good thing I looked at the website first.

Anyway, I did hear the bird call twice. It gave a what I would describe as as a "brrrrrt" with sort of a rolling "rrr" call (which actually alerted me to its presence). It was not a "dry" ch-eek (re Sibley for Couch's), so I suppose it was more like the "twirrr or tzitzitzitzi" of Sibley's Tropical.

I arrived around 9:30 I didn't see any other birders. Later, I saw a couple from Quincy (whitebreads) who got some good photos.

Cheers, Greg

Greg Hirth

East Falmouth

From: Mary Keleher <maryeak@yahoo.com>

Date: October 31, 2010 12:28:31 PM EDT

To: Massbird <Massbird@world.std.com>, CapeCodBirds <capecodbirds@yahoogroups.com>

Subject: [capecodbirds] Kingbird Video

Reply-To: capecodbirds@yahoogroups.com

I'm sure there will be many great photos of this bird but for those interested, I got a short video of the Kingbird at Peterson Farm this morning.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26056276@N07/

Mary Keleher,

Mashpee, MA

Fall 2010 Meeting

2010-09-26T21:12:00.001-04:00

Fall Meeting - October 15, 2010

Please join us on for our fall meeting on Friday, October 15 at 7:30 PM at the Geological Lecture Hall at Harvard University, 24 Oxford St, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Wildlife Photographer Shawn Carey will present “Scenes from the BP Gulf Oil Disaster”, firsthand accounts, images and video of the Louisiana Coast where he documented the effects of the nation's largest oil disaster. Joining in the discussion will be our special guest, Drew Wheelan, American Birding Association Gulf Coast Conservation Coordinator.

Members and guests are cordially invited. Admission is free.

Parking at the 52 Oxford Street Parking Garage will NOT be available. For alternate parking, transportation options, directions and additional program details, see below.

Donations to the Birder's Exchange Program will be collected. Please bring your used binoculars and other birding equipment. For more information on the Birder's Exchange Program, go to www.aba.org/bex/ *

OUR SPEAKERS

Shawn Carey moved for his home in Erie, Pennsylvania to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1986. He started watching birds in 1988 and over time he combined his interest in birds with photography skills. By 1994 he and good friend Jim Grady started Migration Productions as a way to present their multi-image slide presentations to a live audience. Programs have been presented to natural history and photographic organizations including Mass Audubon, ABA, Manomet, HMANA, Eastern Mass Hawk Watch, Waterbird Society and many local bird and photo clubs. Migration Productions offers the finest quality bird/wildlife programs with stunning photographs, video, sound tracks, and interviews with many people involved with bird watching and natural history topics. For additional information about Migration Productions, visit their web site: http://www.migrationproductions.com Shawn's photos have been published in the Boston Globe, New York Times, Science magazine, Mass Audubon Sanctuary magazine, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary magazine and many others over the last 10+ years.

In 1997 he started teaching bird photography workshops (Fundamentals of Bird Photography) for Massachusetts Audubon and four years ago began teaching a summer three day field school workshop at Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary.

Drew Wheelan grew up chasing butterflies and catching frogs in the swamps of Southern Rhode Island. He graduated from the Evergreen State College in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science. Evergreen does not have majors, but his course equivalent would have earned him a degree in wildlife biology and a minor in Spanish. Since 1996, Drew has worked with birds throughout the United States, as well as in Amazonian Peru and Ecuador, as well as Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.

In the year 2000, as Drew was preparing to enter graduate school he discovered that he had cancer while in one of the most remote regions of the Amazon. The subsequent fight with this illness lent to him a fresh perspective on life and also led him away from a life in academia. Since 2000 Drew has continued to work with birds, but has broadened his scope a bit to include fisheries work, in research as well as harvesting. This work has included studies in Salmon ecology and habitat on the east slope of the Washington Cascades as well as lobster recovery in New England following the North Cape oil spill.

Drew has always thought that he has a unique view of life and an important voice to share with the world, and has endeavored to begin a writing career for the last 9 years. His unique blend of experience and a desire to write have combined to offer a perfect niche for his reporting on the Gulf Oil Disaster. Drew arrived in the Gulf on May 16th to report on the spill’s effects on birds and bird habitat for the American Birding Association. Since that time he has strived to produce an objective and truthful representation of what he observed.

TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING

Harvard University has reserved its parking facilities for parents weekend, so our usual parking at the 52 Oxford Street Parking Garage is NOT available.

Parking is available by permit through Harvard University for the night of our event for a 5 dollar fee. The closest parking is directly across the street from the lecture hall location at the SEAS parking lot and alternative parking locations are available if you choose. You must make your own arrangements. Instructions to obtain a parking permit are below. Please note that this is the same arrangement we had for the October 2007 lecture meeting at the MCZ.

As always, parking is also available on the street.

The best way to get into Harvard Square is by public transportation. MBTA System Map is available here - http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/ If you are taking the MBTA Subway – take the Red Line to the Harvard Square Station and then a short walk across historic Harvard Yard to the MCZ Lecture Hall on 24 Oxford Street - http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/subway/lines/stations/?stopId=12084 You can also take the MBTA Commuter Rail from areas in and around your neighborhood. For those of you coming into to South Station you can access the Red Line directly from the station and proceed to the Harvard Square Station. For those of you coming into North Station - take the Green Line to Park Street or Orange Line to Downtown Crossing to access the Red Line and the Harvard Square Station. MBTA Commuter Rail Info - http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/

PARKING PERMITS

Parking permits can be obtained for the BBC Meeting Friday 10/15/10 at Harvard. A one evening parking permit can be obtained through the Harvard website. Cost is $5.

Parking permits go on sale, starting 2 weeks before the date of the meeting – October 2.

In order to obtain a permit, follow these steps:

1. Go to https://www2.uos.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/permit/purchase.pl

2. Click on “Visitor” (unless you are a Harvard employee)

3. Register - If this is your first time using the system, click "Click here to register". Complete registration information including user name, password, name, phone # and email address - If you have used the system before, login with your user name and password

4. Enter data about the event: - Department: OE/MCV/Herbaria, Code: 2017

5. Select a parking lot from dropdown menu: - SEAS 5:00 p.m-11:30 p.m. weeknight (closest lot, across the street from the MCZ - see link to map on this screen) - if the SEAS (Sch. of Engineering and Applied Sciences) permits are sold out, parking is also available in the Littauer lot (code is LITT). The LITT lot is also across the street from the MCZ. Permits begin at 7 PM for this lot.

6 Affiliation: Event Participant - Brookline Bird Club

7. Permit date: October 15, 2010

8. Enter Plate Number

9. Complete payment information

Enter “parking map” in the search field for a map of all parking lots, if you wish.

IMPORTANT: Print the permit and display on dashboard the night of the meeting.

2010 Nighthawk Survey

2010-07-30T21:19:00.000-04:00

Hi All-

The 2010 fall SuAsCo and Nashua River Valleys & Beyond Nighthawk Survey begins this year on Monday, August 9, and runs through the first ten days of September. The purpose of the survey is to collect key statistics on the continuing dramatic decline in Common Nighthawk migrants that began in the Boston and SuAsCo valley areas more than 100 years ago and has now spread across all of central and northern MA north to northern Canada.

Our survey area is bounded on the north by Concord NH, on the south by the headwaters of the Blackstone River, on the west by the Connecticut River valley, and on the east by the Merrimack/SuAsCo River valleys.

No specific time commitments are required to participate in the survey and each participant gets to decide where, when, and how often to do the survey. Observers report their sightings via our website and receive reports back on a real-time basis of what others have seen.

For those who have never seen a nighthawk or would like to brush up on their nighthawk identification skills, Friends of the Assabet River and Oxbow NWRs, Brookline Bird Club, Organization of the Assabet River, Stow Conservation Trust, Sudbury Valley Trustees, and USF&WS are co-sponsoring a nighthawk briefing from 7:30 to 9 pm on Tuesday, August 17. This briefing will address how to identify nighthawks, where and when to look for them, and how to report your observations. Then on a second evening shortly thereafter, participants will have the opportunity to get some hands-on field experience by joining a small field team led by an experienced nighthawk observer to look for nighthawks at one or more observation sites in the SuAsCo valleys.

The August 17 briefing will be held at the Sudbury Valley Trustees Wolbach Farm headquarters on Wolbach Road in Sudbury, MA. From Old Sudbury Center and the Sudbury town hall go east on Route 27 approximately one mile to Wolbach Road on the right and turn right to the first house on the right. If you get to the Sudbury River bridge, you have gone too far.

For further information about the survey and to register to participate, please go to our new Nighthawk Survey website. If you are interested in attending the survey briefing or have any questions, please contact Hank Norwood at hankn583@aol.com or nighthawks@borobirding.net.

Hank Norwood and Jeff Slovin

2009 Statistical and Year End Report

2010-07-26T21:43:00.001-04:00

By Robert H. Stymeist, Statistician

During 2009, the Brookline Bird Club listed 305 species of birds on 194 reported trips, just one species less than last year. A total of 233 trips were scheduled, 16 trips less than last year, and 57 trips less than the all time high number of 290 in 2000. There were 62 all-day, 144 mornings, 24 afternoons or evening, and 3 weekend trips. THIRTY-NINE trips were not reported, 18 were cancelled by weather and 21 went unreported. In Massachusetts, the Club listed a total of 293 species, three less than last year on 190 reported trips. To put this in perspective, birders throughout the state recorded a total of 369 species during the year, thus the BBC total of 293 is 79% of all the species seen in 2009!

Two new species was added to the overall Brookline Bird Club list of birds. On the first day of Spring Laura and Mark’s Vernal Equinox trip recorded a total of seven ROSS’S GOOSE in Ipswich. Prior to this sighting there were only three accepted records of this species in the state. The Club encountered its first Pterodroma petrel, a BLACK-CAPPED PETREL that was around the boat for almost five minutes making two close passes as the Captain pursued and kept the bird visible for all on board to see. Another almost new bird was not one but two IVORY GULLS, the last time the Club recorded this species was in 1976.

The weather in 2009 was typical New England-if you don’t like it- just wait a minute! January was cold, New Years Day saw readings below zero in western Massachusetts and a low of 6 in Boston, February was on the warm side with not much snow. March sprung up like a lion on the first with a major nor’easter complete with heavy snow to all of New England. April was warm and wet-three temperature records were broken with 80’s to readings into the 90’s from April 28-30 which also brought unprecedented fallout of migrants as well as the foliage. May was also warm and dry but June and July were WET and cold with very little sunshine- June was the 7th coldest in 138 years and had the second least amount of sun in 138 years. July was very wet- the 6th wettest July on record and the month continued to be on the cool side. Finally summer arrived in August with very warm temperatures and not much rain. The fall migration was a mixed bag weather-wise-September was sunny but cold; October was quite cold with frequent rains. November was exceptional- unseasonably warm and dry- Thanksgiving Day saw the temperature reach over 50 and there was no frost in Boston until December 7th, a new late record.

The sixth Annual Winter Meeting was held at Bedford Middle School on February 6, 2009. This was the Club’s Second Members Night, many members of our Club travel all over the world as well as in our own backyards taking excellent photo- graphs and sharing their images with us. The Spring Meeting at the Harvard Museum of Natural History featured past BBC President Peter Alden whose talk entitled “The Ups and Downs of Inland Massachusetts Birds and Why” highlighted the changes in bird life in just a short period of time and included a lively discussion on invasive plants and whether to feed birds or not. The fall lecture meeting at Harvard featured Dr. Ian Newton, a population ecologist who discussed factors that have influenced migratory birds showing declines in numbers for several species and how conservation efforts can help.

Laura de la Flor and Mark Burns opened up the start of 2009 by leading their 13th annual New Year’s Day birding trip. Nineteen members came out on a frigid but dry day to begin a New Year of birding. The mercury was only 8 degrees as the bundled participants toasted the new year with apple cider and the temperature never got higher than 18 all day! The trip tallied 58 species from Salisbury to Andrew’s Point. Highlights included a King Eider and a Dovekie at Bass Rocks as well as a Peregrine Falcon on the Gloucester City Hall and a Lapland Longspur in Salisbury.

Eddie Giles and Mark Burns led the Tenth Owl Prowl on the last day of February. The trip is an attempt to find by sight or sound all eight species of owls wintering in the state. It was a rough day with northwest winds and rain and the getting tied up in traffic didn’t help. The group found six species of owls starting with a predawn Barred Owl in Salisbury and ending with a Barn Owl on Martha’s Vineyard; the group missed both Long and Short-eared Owls.

Eddie teamed up with Mary Kelleher on Sunday March 15 to lead the Club’s second Cape Cod Waterfowl Prowl. Like the owl prowl, the intent is to locate as many of the 29 species of ducks in one day on Cape Cod ponds .The leaders tallied 69 species and came up with 23 of the 29 duck species! The Club scheduled Woodcock walks in Stoughton, Reading, and the Blue Hills.

The Club continued co-sponsoring the TASL (Take a Second Look) surveys of the waterfowl of Boston Harbor and a Dawn Heron Census at Belle Isle Marsh in East Boston. Ongoing was a series of mid-week trips on Cape Ann in search for alcids led by Barbara Volke; Breeding Bird Surveys were conducted in Woburn, Ipswich River Sanctuary in Topsfield and in Moose Brook Valley, Hardwick. A weekend Campout at Wompatuck State Park had to be cancelled because of heavy rain, but three other trips there in the spring added some nice birds: Acadian Flycatcher, Cerulean and Worm-eating warblers and Louisiana Waterthrush. Glenn d’Entremont led the weekend jaunt out in the Berkshires birding Mount Greylock on Saturday and October Mountain on Sunday where the Club recorded its only Olive-sided Flycatcher in Massachusetts for the year.

This year, the Club scheduled five pelagic trips; the trip scheduled for waters off Chatham in November was cancelled because of weather and high seas. These Extreme Pelagics as they are called are 18 hour marathons to the Continental Shelf waters about 100 miles south of Muskeget Island. The first trip to Atlantis Canyon on July 18 started off with heavy rain and a pretty rough sea that did calm down by afternoon. The highlight of this trip was the Club’s first Black-capped Petrel as mentioned earlier, other highlights included a new state high count of 19 Audubon’s Shearwaters and 58 Leach’s Storm Petrels. The major lowlight was seeing a Right Whale entangled in fishing gear south of Nantucket Shoals. The twice postponed August Extreme Pelagic finally set off midweek with 40 participants on September 3. This trip was a smashing success-smashing the state records for White-faced Storm-Petrel, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, Bridled Tern and Long-tailed Jaeger.

Summer trips are highlighted by evening trips to Plum Island searching for early migrating shorebirds and flocks of herons flying to roost as well as the annual Hawaiian Shirt Shorebird trip to South beach. Each summer Jane Lothian and Pam Perry have a Birds and Nature Journaling program at Mount Auburn Cemetery to practice field sketching. The fall migration starts off with a three day Cape Cod Blitz hitting the hot spots on the outer Cape from Chatham to Provincetown, a total of 101 species were seen including 8 Yellow-crowned Night Herons, the only ones reported all year on our trips. Tom Gagnon leads our members on the annual Hawk-watching trip to Mt Tom in Holyoke and Eddie Giles leads a moderate walk through the cornfields and mud of Cumberland Farms and other areas in the Middleboro area in search of all the sparrows.

At the end of the year the Club suspends scheduled trips so that our members can participate in the Christmas Bird Counts (CBC); there are 34 count circles in Massachusetts and this year stormy weather forced some counts to reschedule.

A special thank-you to the 66 leaders who guided our members throughout the year. There are several leaders deserving special mention. Ida Giriunas, led the most with 21 trips followed by Bill Drummond with 17 Jane Zanichkowsky with 15 trips, Bob Stymeist with 13, Glenn D’Entremont with 12, Jonathan Center led 11and Linda Ferreresso and Eddie Giles each led 10. Another ten dedicated leaders accounted for five or more trips each.

The Club visited Essex County most often, with a total of 81 scheduled trips seeing 231species-which is 79% of all the birds reported this year! Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge was a distant second with 28 trips, eight trips fewer than last year and recorded 107 species. There were also 47 scheduled trips in the Metropolitan Boston area, 22 trips were scheduled in the extended Sudbury River Valley, which included Great Meadows NWR, Oxbow NWR, the Assabet NWR, and one to Bolton Flats. Twenty-seven trips to the South Shore and to areas on Cape Cod including four trips to the hot birding spot at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham. and nine trips to areas in Western Mass.

Out-of-state trips included a weekend trip to the Machias area and to the Highland Plantation and Rangeley Lakes region in Maine. The combined total number of species on the Maine trips was 149 and included some boreal birds such as Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, Gray Jay and Boreal Chickadee. These Maine trips also added Northern Fulmar, Northern Goshawk, Sandhill Crane, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Philadelphia Vireo, Red Crossbill and Evening Grosbeak to the total list of birds seen on Club trips for 2009. Ida Giriunas led her 28th annu- al Club trip to the Machias area which includes the famous Machias Seal Island and recorded over 4000 Atlantic Puffins! Ida and Eddie Giles have been leading these great trips for many years affording Club members the opportunity to see some northern forest and ocean birds that don’t nest in Massachusetts. There were two trips scheduled in New Hampshire; on May 30 Bill Drummond led 13 members in search of Bicknell’s Thrushwhich was successful with four individuals seen and on November 1 Steve and Jane Mirick led their annual early winter trip along the coast, 15 members got to see a Eurasian Wigeon and a Common Murre along with 67 other species.

The Massachusetts Audubon Society (MAS) Checklist (10/2000) now includes all the species that have been identified in the state as determined by the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee (MARC). The Club recorded the following species that are listed on the new list as rare or as accidental species.

Ross's Goose	Ipswich	March 21
Cackling Goose	Ipswich	November 8
Pacific Loon	Rockport	November 20
Black-capped Petrel	Atlantis Canyon Trip	July 18
Audubon's Shearwater	Atlantis Canyon Trip	July 18
White-faced Storm-Petrel	Hydrographer Canyon	September 4
Leach's Storm-Petrel	Atlantis Canyon Trip	July 18
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel	Hydrographer Canyon	September 4
Long-tailed Jaeger	Hydrographer Canyon	September 4
Ivory Gull	Eastern Point, Gloucester	January 19
Ivory Gull	Plymouth Harbor	January 25
Bridled Tern	Hydrographer Canyon	September 4
Bohemian Waxwing	Newburyport	January 17
Kentucky Warbler	Quabbin Reservoir	June 6
MacGillivray's Warbler	Boston Fenway	November 21
Yellow-headed Blackbird	Salisbury	January 19

The following species occur with some regularity in Massachusetts but were missed by the Club during 2009: Redhead, Tricolored Heron, Northern Goshawk (seen in Maine), American Golden Plover, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Black-legged Kittiwake, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (seen in Maine), Philadelphia Vireo (seen in Maine), Gray-cheeked Thrush and Seaside Sparrow. In addition some other species that also occur each year but in limited time frames was missed: Connecticut Warbler, Clay-colored and Lark sparrows. One very special bird that was not recorded was the Eared Grebe, the first time in SIXTEEN years!

The biggest trip list this year was Bill Drummond’s trip on May 17 from Rowley to Newburyport and including Plum Island which recorded 131 species.

Date	Location	# Species	Leader
January 1	Salisbury-Cape Ann	58	Laura de la Flor and Mark Burns
January 4 (tie)	Boston	58	Bob Stymeist
January 10 (tie)	Cape Ann	58	Linda Ferraresso
February 15	Scituate-Plymouth	70	Glenn d'Entremont
March 15	Cape Cod Waterfowl	69	Eddie Giles and Mary Keleher
April 26	Boston	90	Bob Stymeist
May 17	Rowley-Plum Island	131	Bill Drummond
June 21	October Mountain	75	Glenn d'Entremont
July 13	Plum Island	64	Tom Young
August 15	South Beach	51	Laura de la Flor and Mark Burns
September 12	Wellfleet	80	Bob Stymeist
October 4	Ipswich-Essex	57	Tom Young
November 8	Fairhaven	78	Bob Stymeist
December 13	Plum Island-Salisbury	40	Ida Giriunas

The Club recorded 79% of all the birds that were noted during 2009-pretty impressive! A total of at least 369 species, five more than last year were observed and reported by birders across the state during 2009. Other noteworthy species seen during the year but not on the BBC list were: Pink-footed Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Tundra Swan, Common Shelduck, Tufted Duck, White Pelican, White-tailed Tropicbird, White-faced Ibis, Wood Stork, Swallow-tailed Kite, Golden Eagle, Eurasian Kestrel, Purple Gallinule, Black- necked Stilt, American Avocet, Curlew Sandpiper, Sabine’s Gull, Mew Gull, Slaty-backed Gull, Gull-billed Tern, Great and South Polar skuas, White-winged Dove, Chuck-will’s-widow, Allen’s Hummingbird, Black-backed Woodpecker, Say’s Phoebe, Scissor and Fork-tailed flycatchers, Brown-chested Martin, Varied Thrush, Northern Wheatear, Townsend’s and Prothonotary warblers, Summer and Western tanagers, Henslow’s, LeConte’s and Golden-crowned sparrows, and Common Chaffinch to name a few.

ANNUAL LISTS

There were so many great birds in 2009 it was difficult for any- one not to name multiple species but the clear choice gather- ing the most votes in the top three was the Ivory Gull or should we say Ivory Gulls. The last Ivory Gull that was seen in Massachusetts for a period of time was back in 1976.For many of us old-timers it was the first time we saw an ADULT Ivory Gull, the bird in Salisbury 33 years ago was an immature as was another immature that stayed awhile in Portland Maine.

The Brown-chested Martin, discovered in the Cumberland Farm fields on October 12 was another top vote getter. This was only the second state record and only the SIXTH record for all of North America. The fusca race of the Brown chested Martin is an austral migrant that breeds in South America and then migrates north during the austral winter. This bird went a little off course, similar to another austral migrant- the Fork-tailed Flycatcher and landed in Massachusetts and not northern Venezuela!

A two way tie in the sparrow department between the Henslow’s Sparrow of Montague and the LeConte’s Sparrow of Cumberland Farms with the LeConte’s having the edge because it was paired with another favorite at the same time and place- the Lark Bunting. The Chaffinch, only the third ever in Massachusetts was listed by many as their favorite and especially if it’s in your own yard! Another multiple vote getter was the very cooperative Chuck-wills-widow that sat motionless on branches just feet away in Nahant, for some this was the first visual for a bird that previously was only a voice in the dark. The MacGillivray’s Warbler was particularly sweet affording some of the best looks of this elusive and rare western warbler.

Some of the other species that made birders smile included: Tufted Duck, White-faced Storm-Petrel, Purple Gallinule, Atlantic Puffin, Black Vulture, American Avocet, Red-headed Woodpecker and Yellow-breasted Chat to name a few. Memorable days in the field can be quite special as mentioned by our members:

“Having seen all eight owls on the Massachusetts Checklist plus seeing a Northern Hawk Owl and a Great Gray Owl in New Hampshire”

“Watching Chimney Swifts gathering sticks for nest building while in a kayak” “An Avocet in full fig at Pikuls Pans”

“That perfect May fallout of passerines- in APRIL”

“First time seeing two Red-headed Woodpeckers in the same location”

“Salisbury’s egret roost as my outdoor, long-legged wader classroom”

“The chase for the Lark Bunting and LeConte’s Sparrow on a Saturday-we looking for birds to see, hunters looking for birds to shoot”

“Sharing an autumnal sunset counting waterfowl from the Tower at Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary”

“A Fox Sparrow at our ground feed, a Carolina Wren in the snow, memories just stretch on and on”

It always is interesting to see what the top listers miss, most often it is a regular migrant that has a limited time in passage like a Common Nighthawk or an Olive-sided Flycatcher or he or she fails to visit a well-known nesting site like a Roseate or Arctic Tern or an American Oystercatcher. The Brown-chested Martin was one that received a lot of votes. This bird was present for several days but was absent for long periods of time during the day. Some made several trips on all the days but still did not see it while others arrived and it was there.

For some it’s the same birds each year: Northern Goshawk, Ruffed Grouse, Ring-necked Pheasant, American Bittern, Lincoln’s Sparrow.

Shorebirds were mentioned frequently: Buff-breasted and Baird’s Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Upland Sandpiper, Wilson’s Phalarope and Long-billed Dowitcher.

Warblers: Louisiana Waterthrush, Cape May, Hooded Warbler but not Golden-winged-most of the birding community now regards this as super rare and wonders if another will be seen regularly in the state again.

“Missing the Club’s very first Black-capped Petrel- I’d just broken my ankle after being thrown around on deck during the storm, I was in a lot of pain just trying to stand up let alone seeing the bird too”

“The Black-backed Woodpecker on Nantucket, having been there awhile I was confident I might see it, I spent four hours in vain searching in all its known locations. It was an expensive miss with ferries and taxis as well as time and distance”

Other disappointing or embarrassing misses included: Blue- winged Teal, Black Scoter, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Ruddy Turnstone, American Woodcock, Forster’s Tern, both Yellow and Black-billed cuckoos, Common Raven, Cliff Swallow, Red- breasted Nuthatch, Philadelphia Vireo and Fox Sparrow to mention a few.

Finally to quote Neil Hayward “This was my first full year prop- erly birding in the US. Most of the birds were new, and all the locations were exciting new places- and a great way to see a lot of Massachusetts. It was a very memorable year, especially for all the wonderful people I met and who helped me improve my birding skills.” Yes Neil it was another great year and you are right-we have a great birding community who share their knowledge and sightings of birds throughout the year.

THE ANNUAL LISTS
John Hoye, Wayland	323
Audrey McCarthy, Wayland	317
Oakes Spalding, Cambridge	312
Herman D’Entremont, Somerville	308
Glenn d’Entremont, Stoughton	303
Ida Giriunas, Reading	301
Linda Ferraresso, Watertown	300
Bob Stymeist, Arlington	292
Margo Goetschkes, Cambridge	287
Steve Grinley, Newburyport	286
Neil Hayward, Cambridge	284
Bev Chiasson, Newton	282
Fred Bouchard, Belmont	279
Chris Floyd, Lexington	275
Doug Chickering, Groveland	273
Jonathan Center, Chelmsford	264
Tom Wetmore, Newburyport	258*
Dug Chickering, Groveland	228*
Laura de la Flor, Salem	223
Jason Forbes, Waltham	201**

* Plum Island Only, Tom saw 91% of all birds seen on Plum Island in 2009 (283)

** Middlesex County only, Jason saw 82% of all birds reported in Middlesex County in 2009 (246)