This year’s Boston Christmas Bird Count went off without a hitch on Sunday December 12th; last year’s count had to be postponed because of a bad snowstorm.  No weather problems this year, but the birding did not match the weather.  This was the 114th CBC in the Jamaica Plain sector.  We fielded eight birders to work the birding hot spots from the Landmark Center on the Riverway up the Emerald Necklace thru Franklin Park, including Forest Hills Cemetery and ending up at Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center in Mattapan.  A hardy (or foolish) threesome from the group began at 4:30 AM seeking owls; they then joined the others at Jamaica Pond at 7:00 AM and we finished up at 3:00 PM.  Later that evening a final listing of all the birds seen in the 15 mile diameter Boston circle was compiled.

The Jamaica Plain species count was 49 for the day.  The species with the highest numbers in JP was Canada Goose –1169 to be exact.  Most of those were found on the golf course in Franklin Park; local golfers will not be happy to hear that!  We also tallied 82 robins, 59 chickadees and 45 doves.  Some of our “best” birds were a Gadwall duck and a House Wren, both in Franklin Park.  Other “good” birds were seen in the Arnold Arboretum.  Oddly, three of them were found within six feet of each other;  Orange-crowned Warbler, Hermit Thrush and Gray Catbird. Catbirds are a very common migratory bird in Boston during the spring and summer, but by early fall they all head south . All but this one- it was the only catbird seen in Boston in this year’s CBC!  Stragglers like this have a very tough haul to reach the spring sunshine; he or she will probably perish over the long cold winter.  That tempers the excitement of finding an out-of-season bird.

Just as there were some great finds in JP, there were unexpected misses as well.  Most surprising, the two hours of “owling” in the early dawn came up empty.  We seldom fail to find at least a few Eastern Screech-owls and Great Horned Owls on the JP CBC.  This doesn’t mean they weren’t there, just that they didn’t respond to imitations of their calls or show themselves in the developing light.  One of our group, who lives on the edge of Forest Hills Cemetery, actually heard two Great Horned Owls calling to each other just two days after the Sunday count.  Note that this year Boston had an all time high count for Great Horned Owl- 18.

Below is the official list of birds recorded in the full Boston Count. I have highlighted some of the special birds that our local group added to the count.  All of this information will be compiled into a data set for all of North America and much of Central and South America.

The CBC provides highly significant information on those bird species that are increasing in number or becoming endangered, as well as showing geographic shifts in response to climate change or habitat loss.

Here is the BCBC list and summary, compiled by Bob Stymeist who has been leading this effort for many years:

Greater Boston Christmas Bird Count

The 42nd Greater Boston Christmas Bird Count (CBC) (actually the 114th- Belmont, Jamaica Plain and Winchester have been covered since the very first CBC in 1900!)  was held yesterday  with very nice weather conditions. We recorded 120 species and so far there were an additional NINE species that were seen within count period.  We added ONE new species to the overall list- a Semipalmated Plover that was found and photographed on Thompson Island, this brings the total number of species seen on the Boston CBC to 229! We had all time high counts for: Cackling Goose-2, Northern Shoveler-11 Ruddy Duck-310, Wild Turkey-125, Common Loon-107, Peregrine Falcon-11, Great Horned Owl-18, Downy Woodpecker-382, Northern Flicker-46, White-breasted Nuthatch-358, Carolina Wren-115, House Wren-3, Winter Wren- 11, and Orange-crowned Warbler-8

There were many highlights: Cackling Goose 2 at Clay Pit Pond, Belmont, Harlequin Duck in Winthrop, the Barrow’s Goldeneye from Deer Island, Rough-legged Hawk 2 from Saugus, the Semipalmated Plover on Thompson Island, 14 Snowy Owls (13 at Logan, 1 in Saugus), House Wrens in three areas, and an Indigo Bunting in Newton. And as always the case a few birds were surprisingly missed; big misses were Lesser Scaup, Sanderling, and Bonaparte’s Gull.

Thanks to the over 115 birders who canvassed the area to make the count successful. 120 species plus nine additional birds seen during count week but not on count day

  • Brant  61
  • Cackling Goose  2
  • Canada Goose  5417
  • Mute Swan  68
  • Wood Duck  4   2 Leverett Pond
  • Gadwall  8  1 Scarborough Pond, Franklin Park
  • American Wigeon  4
  • American Black Duck  561
  • Mallard  2041
  • Northern Shoveler  17
  • Northern Pintail  1
  • Green-winged Teal  11
  • Canvasback  1
  • Ring-necked Duck  190
  • Greater Scaup  315
  • Lesser Scaup  CW (Count Week)
  • Common Eider  1487
  • Harlequin Duck  1     Winthrop
  • Surf Scoter  548
  • White-winged Scoter  534
  • Black Scoter  82
  • Long-tailed Duck  42
  • Bufflehead  629
  • Common Goldeneye  157
  • Barrow’s Goldeneye  1     Deer Island
  • Hooded Merganser  372
  • Common Merganser  323
  • Red-breasted Merganser  282
  • Ruddy Duck  310
  • Ring-necked Pheasant  CW  Watertown
  • Wild Turkey  125
  • Red-throated Loon  62
  • Common Loon  107
  • Pied-billed Grebe  8  6 Jamaica Pond
  • Horned Grebe  121
  • Red-necked Grebe  7
  • Northern Gannet  3
  • Double-crested Cormorant  46
  • Great Cormorant  2
  • Great Blue Heron  38
  • Black-crowned Night-Heron  CW
  • Northern Harrier  2
  • Sharp-shinned Hawk  5
  • Cooper’s Hawk  21
  • Bald Eagle  2
  • Red-tailed Hawk  107
  • Rough-legged Hawk 2
  • American Coot  176  44 Jamaica Pond
  • Semipalmated Plover  1
  • Greater Yellowlegs  1
  • Ruddy Turnstone  2
  • Dunlin  54
  • Purple Sandpiper  5
  • Wilson’s Snipe  1
  • Black Guillemot  2
  • Ring-billed Gull  1512
  • Herring Gull  2845
  • Iceland Gull  CW
  • Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
  • Great Black-backed Gull  270
  • Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  1710
  • Mourning Dove  704
  • Eastern Screech-Owl  23
  • Great Horned Owl  18
  • Snowy Owl  14- 13 at Logan, 1 in Saugus
  • Barred Owl  2
  • Belted Kingfisher  9
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker  51
  • Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  2
  • Downy Woodpecker  382
  • Hairy Woodpecker  34
  • Northern Flicker  46
  • American Kestrel  4
  • Merlin  4
  • Peregrine Falcon  11
  • Monk Parakeet  CW
  • Blue Jay  617
  • American Crow  385
  • Fish Crow  36  35 Franklin Field
  • Common Raven 1
  • Horned Lark  59
  • Black-capped Chickadee  1044
  • Tufted Titmouse  327
  • Red-breasted Nuthatch  3  2 Arnold Arboretum
  • White-breasted Nuthatch  358
  • Brown Creeper  21
  • House Wren  3     1 Franklin Park
  • Winter Wren  11
  • Marsh Wren  1
  • Carolina Wren  176
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet  18
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
  • Eastern Bluebird  3
  • Hermit Thrush  18 1 Arnold Arboretum
  • American Robin  3388
  • Gray Catbird  1 Arnold Arboretum
  • Northern Mockingbird  118
  • European Starling  5850
  • American Pipit  CW
  • Cedar Waxwing  24
  • Lapland Longspur  1
  • Snow Bunting  67
  • Ovenbird  1
  • Orange-crowned Warbler  8 1 Arnold Arboretum
  • Palm Warbler  1
  • Pine Warbler  1
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler  15
  • Eastern Towhee 3
  • American Tree Sparrow  205
  • Chipping Sparrow  2
  • Field Sparrow  CW
  • Savannah Sparrow  11
  • Fox Sparrow  3
  • Song Sparrow  440
  • Swamp Sparrow  23
  • White-throated Sparrow  563
  • Dark-eyed Junco  1178
  • Northern Cardinal  400
  • Indigo Bunting  1
  • Red-winged Blackbird  37
  • Common Grackle  4
  • Baltimore Oriole  CW
  • House Finch  279
  • Purple Finch  1
  • Common Redpoll  19
  • Pine Siskin  13  6 Forest Hills Cemetery
  • American Goldfinch  472
  • House Sparrow  4244

Good Birding and Happy Holidays!