Forbush Bird Club 2010 Trip Reports

The following are highlights of selected field trips of the Forbush Bird Club, listed in reverse chronological order:

2/6/2010 -- Cape Ann

Twelve birders braved some pretty rough conditions to look for birds along the coast of Cape Ann. We went from the Fisherman's Monument in Gloucester in the south to Andrews Point in Rockport in the north. The temperature was in the 20's and the winds from 10-20 mph creating some face-numbing wind chills. The ocean was rough adding to the difficulty of finding birds. The trip leader was Alan Marble.

Highlights of the trip were Gadwalls, Greater and Lesser Scaup, all 3 scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Red-throated Loon, 2 Peregrine Falcons and 5 Iceland Gulls. The following 34 species were seen. Virtually all the land birds were wisely laying low.

Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Great Cormorant
Peregrine Falcon
Purple Sandpiper
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Iceland Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
American Crow
American Robin
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow

(report submitted by Alan Marble)

1/1/10 -- Worcester area New Year's trip

The Fobush Bird Club started the new year and decade with an afternoon bird trip that started in Worcester, continued into Auburn and ended in Shrewsbury. There were 14 members and also 2 potential members from Grafton who had seen the trip advertised that morning in The Worcester Telegram article written by Mark Blazis. Joan Zumpfe was  the trip's leader and was assisted by Francis X. McMenemy. The weather was surprisingly comfortable. It was calm, partly cloudy and in the mid 30's. We all welcomed the respite from the prior day's snow storm and the one approaching that night. There was very little open water due to the many below freezing temperatures of December, 2009.

Every new species seen was appreciated by those who maintain a year list, although, we were disappointed at the Worcester Airport when we were unable to find the Horned Larks and Snow Buntings which had been seen the past few weeks. Highlights included Eastern Bluebirds, Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Cooper's Hawk and the Peregrine Falcon pair  near their nesting box.
The following 26 species were observed:

 
Canada Goose 196
Mute Swan 4
Wood Duck 2
American Black Duck 11
Mallard 138
Hooded Merganser 26
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Peregrine Falcon 2
Ring-billed Gull 08
Rock Pigeon 156
Mourning Dove 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 10
Black-capped Chickadee 5
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 32
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling
American Tree Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
House Finch 6
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 20

(trip report from Joan Zumpfe).

For previous sightings, see Trip Reports 2009