ANNUAL REPORT 2022

The Brookline Bird Club (BBC) recorded 276 species for 2022, based upon 204 reported trips. Of those, 264 species were recorded in Massachusetts, with 12 additional species reported from the out-of-state trips to New Hampshire and Maine.

As always, the pelagic trips provided several of the year’s birding highlights. In 2022, the club ran two back-to-back overnight trips out of Hyannis to Veatch Canyon. Even after many years, these trips continue to be full of surprises, and the first trip encountered something completely unexpected. Our August pelagic trips have a reputation as the most reliable opportunity to observe White-Faced Storm-Petrels in North America. Apart from a handful of birds blown into Nova Scotia by a hurricane in September, there were only nine other reports of this species on eBird for North America in 2022—and in each case only single birds. The BBC pelagic trip recorded 589 of them on August 27, “in one of the most surreal events ever witnessed”. In addition to the usual pelagic species, this trip also recorded Black-capped Petrel, Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, Long-tailed Jaeger, Audubon’s Shearwater, and Red-necked and Red Phalaropes. Birders on the upper deck were woken during the night by migrating passerines attracted by the boat lights, including a Prothonatory Warbler. A full report of this remarkable trip is available on the club website. 

Good birds recorded in Massachusetts on (or seen from) shore in 2022 included: Glaucous Gull (Cape Ann, January 8), King Eider (Hull, February 6), Dovekie (Halibut Pt, February 21), Northern Goshawk (Crooked Pond, Boxford, April 9), Sandhill Crane (Burrage Pond, April 30), Olive-sided Flycatcher (Mt. Auburn, April 20), Seaside Sparrow (Allen’s Pond, May 22), Red Crossbill (Mt. Greylock, June 18), Acadian Flycatcher (Quabbin, July 3), American Avocet (Plum Island, September 10), Marbled Godwit (Chatham, October 8) and Hammond’s Flycatcher (Falmouth, November 26). 

Outside of Massachusetts, additional year list species included the first club record of Tufted Puffin, observed by a few lucky participants on the Machias Seal Island trip on July 1. Other species on the Rangeley Lakes and Machias Seal Island trips included: Arctic Tern, Atlantic Puffin, Bicknell’s Thrush, Boreal Chickadee, Canada Jay, Common Murre, Ruffed Grouse, Spruce Grouse and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Bicknell’s Thrush was also recorded from New Hampshire, on the White Mountains trip, along with Black-backed Woodpecker. Lapland Longspur was reported later in the year along the coast. 

Birds we missed in Massachusetts included Common Redpoll, Black-legged Kittiwake, Rough-legged Hawk, Red Knot, Ruffed Grouse, Black Vulture, Sora, Evening Grosbeak, Northern Shrike, Canvasback, and Yellow-breasted Chat.  

There were 395 species reported in eBird in 2022 for Massachusetts, of which the club’s total of 264 represented 67 percent. The club reported the most species in Essex County (205), followed by Middlesex (157), Plymouth (155), Suffolk (138), Worcester (133), Barnstable (119), and Norfolk (111). Trips to Mt. Auburn Cemetery recorded 107 species this year, including 23 species of warblers. Spring migration was relatively slow in the Eastern part of the state, apart from a few memorable days along the coast.

The following table shows the trips reporting the most species by month: 

Thanks to all our trip leaders, especially those who led 10 or more trips in 2022: Cliff Cook, Peter Van Demark, Kathy Dia, Glenn d’Entremont, Linda Ferraresso, Thomas Michel, Nick Paulson, David Scott, and Dave Williams. Thanks also to the organizations with whom the club co-sponsors trips. These include the South Shore Bird Club, the Charles River Esplanade Association, Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Minute Man National Historical Park, and the Franklin Park Coalition.

Excluding the pelagic trips there were 288 eBird checklists associated with the 204 reported trips. Over half the trips occurred in April and May. American Robin was the most frequently recorded species, on 202 checklists. The list of species we observed most often is of course dependent on where the club leads trips and how they are reported, but the top 10 proved remarkably stable compared with the previous year. Song Sparrow (193) and Blue Jay (183) traded places, with Black-capped Chickadee (180) remaining in fourth position. Northern Cardinal (172) and Mourning Dove (164) switched fifth and sixth places, with American Goldfinch (155) and Downy Woodpecker (146) staying in seventh and eighth. Common Grackle (145) moved up one place to ninth, and American Crow (143) moved up two to tenth. Just outside the top 10 were Mallard (142), Tufted Titmouse (138), Canada Goose (138), Red-winged Blackbird (136), and Red-bellied Woodpecker (133).