Blue Hills Breeding Bird Survey - 6/29/25

On Sunday, June 29, 2025, the South Shore Bird Club held its annual breeding bird survey. This year, we covered the Blue Hills Reservation, which includes over 7,000 acres in the towns of Dedham, Milton, Canton, Braintree, Randolph, and Quincy. We had 17 participants split up into 6 small teams to cover as much of the area as possible. Thank you to all those who helped out that day.

We saw 74 different species and managed to confirm breeding for 19 of those, with another 49 Possible or Probable breeders. We were able to log a couple of nocturnal species this year, with an Eastern Whip-poor-will heard singing in the early morning and multiple Barred Owls seen or heard, including a fledgling.

Barred Owl Fledgling by Laura Markley

Some of the rarer species surveyed this year included a singing Louisiana Waterthrush, a singing Black-throated Green Warbler, and 3 Worm-eating Warblers. Each of these warblers only breeds in a handful of locations in eastern Massachusetts now.
Other interesting sightings were several Pileated Woodpeckers, many singing Scarlet Tanagers, and many Wood Thrushes, including at least 3 fledglings in 3 different locations.

Wood Thrush Fledgling by Peter Galvin

The full species list is below and an eBird trip report with all of the details is available at:
SSBC Blue Hills BBS 2025 - eBird Trip Report

Name	Count	Highest Breeding Status Observed
Canada Goose	16	Confirmed
Wood Duck	5	Confirmed
Mallard	1
Mourning Dove	37	Probable
Eastern Whip-poor-will	1	Probable
Chimney Swift	49	Probable
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	1	Possible
Killdeer	3	Probable
American Woodcock	1	Possible
American Herring Gull	4
Green Heron	2	Possible
Great Blue Heron	4
Turkey Vulture	4
Cooper's Hawk	2	Possible
Broad-winged Hawk	3	Possible
Red-shouldered Hawk	2	Possible
Red-tailed Hawk	1
Barred Owl	6	Confirmed
Red-bellied Woodpecker	17	Confirmed
Downy Woodpecker	36	Confirmed
Hairy Woodpecker	6	Confirmed
Pileated Woodpecker	5	Possible
Northern Flicker	9	Possible
Eastern Wood-Pewee	29	Probable
Eastern Phoebe	13	Confirmed
Great Crested Flycatcher	35	Probable
Eastern Kingbird	10	Possible
Warbling Vireo	9	Possible
Red-eyed Vireo	54	Probable
Blue Jay	94	Confirmed
American Crow	2	Possible
Common Raven	8	Probable
Black-capped Chickadee	102	Confirmed
Tufted Titmouse	98	Confirmed
Tree Swallow	34	Probable
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	3
Barn Swallow	17	Confirmed
White-breasted Nuthatch	41	Probable
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1	Possible
Brown Creeper	7	Probable
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	5	Probable
Northern House Wren	4	Possible
Carolina Wren	6	Possible
European Starling	19	Confirmed
Gray Catbird	97	Probable
Eastern Bluebird	14	Confirmed
Veery	4	Possible
Wood Thrush	43	Confirmed
American Robin	129	Confirmed
Cedar Waxwing	45	Probable
House Sparrow	10	Probable
House Finch	4	Possible
American Goldfinch	81	Probable
Chipping Sparrow	93	Confirmed
Field Sparrow	4	Possible
Song Sparrow	18	Possible
Eastern Towhee	38	Probable
Baltimore Oriole	16	Confirmed
Red-winged Blackbird	102	Possible
Brown-headed Cowbird	20	Probable
Common Grackle	46	Confirmed
Ovenbird	80	Probable
Worm-eating Warbler	3	Possible
Louisiana Waterthrush	1	Possible
Blue-winged Warbler	1	Possible
Black-and-white Warbler	4	Probable
Common Yellowthroat	30	Confirmed
Yellow Warbler	8	Possible
Pine Warbler	52	Probable
Prairie Warbler	5	Probable
Black-throated Green Warbler	1	Probable
Scarlet Tanager	28	Possible
Northern Cardinal	32	Probable
Indigo Bunting	7	Possible

Harrington 100, May 3, 2025

This year's Harrington 100, an attempt to see or hear 100 or more species north of Boston, was again successful with seven birders and myself birding for fourteen hours for a total of 128 species. Weather and tempatures were birder friendly. It seemed that many species were early, given the date.

Birds of note include:American Oystercatcher first time seen on this trip, along with Black-billed Cuckoo(2X), Ruby-throated Hummingbird(7X), Semipalmated Plover(7X), Great Horned Owl(9X).

A non-birding highlight included watching string of Starlink satellites pass overhead while waiting for the group to arrive.

Below is the list of birds seen for the day.

 
#	NAME                    LOCATION	                                WHEN SEEN  
1	Mallard			Bald Hill Conservation Area--Crooked Pond	5/3/2025 4:05 AM
2	American Robin		
3	Song Sparrow		
4	Canada Goose									 4:30 AM
5	Wood Duck				
6	Wild Turkey				
7	Mourning Dove					
8	Double-crested Cormorant		
9	Great Blue Heron		
10	Red-tailed Hawk		
11	Eastern Screech-Owl		
12	Great Horned Owl		
13	Barred Owl		
14	Red-bellied Woodpecker		
15	Downy Woodpecker		
16	Hairy Woodpecker		
17	Pileated Woodpecker		
18	Northern Flicker		
19	Eastern Phoebe		
20	Great Crested Flycatcher		
21	Blue-headed Vireo		
22	Blue Jay		
23	American Crow		
24	Common Raven		
25	Black-capped Chickadee		
26	Tufted Titmouse		
27	Tree Swallow		
28	Ruby-crowned Kinglet		
29	White-breasted Nuthatch		
30	Red-breasted Nuthatch		
31	Brown Creeper		
32	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher		
33	Winter Wren		
34	Gray Catbird		
35	Eastern Bluebird		
36	Hermit Thrush		
37	Wood Thrush		
38	American Goldfinch		
39	Chipping Sparrow		
40	Swamp Sparrow		
41	Red-winged Blackbird		
42	Brown-headed Cowbird		
43	Common Grackle		
44	Ovenbird		
45	Louisiana Waterthrush		
46	Black-and-white Warbler		
47	Common Yellowthroat		
48	Pine Warbler		
49	Yellow-rumped Warbler		
50	Black-throated Green Warbler		
51	Scarlet Tanager		
52	Northern Cardinal		
53	Rock Pigeon	 			Route 128				6:40 AM
54	American Herring Gull	
55	Great Black-backed Gull	
56	European Starling	
57	Northern Mockingbird	
58	Mute Swan				Lynnfield Marsh				7:09 AM
59	Virginia Rail	
60	Killdeer	
61	Spotted Sandpiper	
62	Eastern Kingbird	
63	Warbling Vireo	
64	Fish Crow	
65	Northern Rough-winged Swallow	
66	Barn Swallow	
67	House Sparrow	
68	House Finch	
69	Savannah Sparrow	
70	Baltimore Oriole	
71	Northern Parula	
72	Yellow Warbler	
73	Northern House Wren			Lynnfield				8:54 AM
74	Carolina Wren	
75	Common Merganser			Puritan Lawn Memorial Park		9:00 AM
76	Chimney Swift	
77	Turkey Vulture	
78	Osprey	
79	White-throated Sparrow	
80	Nashville Warbler	
81	American Redstart	
82	Brant					Lynn					10:30 AM
83	American Black Duck	
84	Common Eider	
85	Surf Scoter	
86	White-winged Scoter	
87	Black Scoter	
88	Long-tailed Duck	
89	Red-breasted Merganser	
90	Ring-billed Gull	
91	Red-throated Loon	
92	Common Loon	
93	Greater Scaup				Nahant					11:00 AM
94	American Oystercatcher	
95	Great Egret	
96	Black-billed Cuckoo			Nahant Heritage Trail - Stump Dump	11:15 AM
97	Sharp-shinned Hawk	
98	Northern Waterthrush	
99	Rose-breasted Grosbeak	
100	Ruby-throated Hummingbird		Nahant					12:18 PM
101	Eastern Towhee	
102	Solitary Sandpiper			Topsfield Fairgrounds			1:40 PM
103	Lesser Yellowlegs	
104	Greater Yellowlegs	
105	Least Sandpiper	
106	Willet					Rowley					2:30 PM
107	Common Tern				Newburyport				2:37 PM
108	Glossy Ibis		
109	Gadwall					Parker River NWR			2:50 PM
110	Northern Pintail	
111	Green-winged Teal	
112	Semipalmated Plover	
113	Piping Plover	
114	Northern Gannet	
115	Northern Harrier	
116	Merlin	
117	Least Flycatcher	
118	Purple Martin	
119	Marsh Wren	
120	Brown Thrasher	
121	Veery	
122	Purple Finch	
123	White-crowned Sparrow	
124	Magnolia Warbler	
125	Black-throated Blue Warbler	
126	Palm Warbler	
127	Black-crowned Night Heron		Newburyport				5:58 PM
128	Green Heron	

Mike