Eleven Years of Birding at Halibut Point State Park, Rockport, Massachusetts

Peter H. Van Demark

August 1, 2021 7 MIN READ Feature Articles

I began a spreadsheet of sightings during these walks in November 2009, recording species seen or heard, with no counts. This list is not a scientific survey or a comprehensive overview of Halibut Point birds, but simply a snapshot of what one might expect to see or hear during bird walks through the seasons.

The result is eleven full years of sightings—2010 to 2020—for walks eleven months a year, always on the third Sunday from 8:00 to 10:00 am, usually with me as leader. For the months I was away Jim Berry, Barbara Buls, Caroline Haines, and Eric Hutchins acted as leaders. Only three walks were cancelled, due to really bad weather, although there were three walks when I was the only attendee and two more for which I have no record of the sightings.

On the 116 walks for which there are records, a total of 144 species was recorded. The two species most often observed were Herring Gulls, seen on 109 walks, and Blue Jays, on 101. The following list shows the 40 species that were recorded 22 times or more, for an average of at least twice a year. The species in italics were those that were observed at least once in each of the eleven months.

At the other end of the spectrum, 33 species, listed below in taxonomic order, were recorded only once on these walks in the eleven years.

In the same context, there are spectacular movements of seabirds from late fall to early spring involving many species and tens of thousands of birds. These movements are well described in Rick Heil’s excellent summary of his seawatches from Andrew’s Point (Heil 2001). The same migrations can be observed at Halibut Point, and large flocks have been seen on our monthly walks. Although my spreadsheet shows species recorded by our groups over the months and does not include counts, those counts are included on my recent eBird lists, as well as on earlier daily field cards that I submitted to the Brookline Bird Club.

To provide some context regarding birds seen at Halibut Point on these walks, Chris Leahy—Mass Audubon’s emeritus Bertrand Chair of Field Ornithology—has provided me a list of 271 species that have been recorded by keen observers of birds at Halibut Point. The list includes observations from:

• Robert C. Hooper, an ardent birder and conservationist, who lived on a property abutting the park for more than two decades and recorded a total of 234 species, including 28 listed only by him.
• Leahy himself, who has lived on Cape Ann since the 1970s and birded frequently at Halibut, with a total of 217 species, including 25 listed only by him.
• Martin Ray, Gloucester naturalist, photographer, and blogger, who has focused on the biota of Halibut in recent years, with a total of 166 species, including three listed only by him, all documented with photos.

  Among the 144 species seen on the walks, four were not listed by Hooper, Leahy, or Ray—Brown Pelican, Common Raven, Hooded Warbler, and Warbling Vireo. In addition, Leahy lists 41 other species known to occur on Cape Ann but not yet recorded at Halibut Point on these lists; other observers may well have recorded some of these “missing” species.

  Table 1 shows, for the eleven years of bird walks, the number of years a species was observed each month, in taxonomic order. Table 2 shows the variation in sightings by month. April, May, and November were the three months with the largest number of species recorded.

  In winter, the species at the park include winter diving birds—a primary reason why “Rockport Headlands and Inshore Waters,” including Halibut Point, have been designated a Massachusetts Important Bird Area by Mass Audubon. The Important Bird Site section of the Mass Audubon website also has information about Halibut State Park (Mass Audubon 2021).

  For more on winter birding at this site, see “A Guide to Winter Birding on Cape Ann” by Christopher Leahy (2010a, 2010b).

It has been a joy to lead these walks for all these years and to share my local state park, with its wonderful variety of habitat, with so many avid birders, both beginner and expert. I look forward to many more walks!

Table 1. The number of years a species was observed each month from 2010 to 2020.

Table 2. Monthly variation in sightings 2010-2020.

References

• Heil, R. S. 2001. Seabirds of Andrew’s Point, Rockport, Massachusetts. Bird Observer 29 (5):359–380.
• Leahy, Christopher. 2010a. A Guide to Winter Birding on Cape Ann, Part 1. Bird Observer 38 (5):261–274.
• Leahy, Christopher. 2010b. A Guide to Winter Birding on Cape Ann, Part 2. Bird Observer 38 (6):329–342.
• Mass Audubon. 2021. Site Summary: Rockport Headlands and Inshore Waters. <https://www.massaudubon.org/our-conservation-work/wildlife-research-conservation/statewide-bird-monitoring/massachusetts-important-bird-areas-iba/iba-sites/rockport-headlands-and-inshore-waters>. Accessed June 2, 2021.

Peter H. Van Demark lives with his wife Kathleen (Kate) in Rockport, Massachusetts. He studied geography and cartography and for 18 years has worked in Newton, Massachusetts, for Caliper Corporation, which creates geographic analysis and mapping software. He is an avid birder and leads a monthly Beginner Bird Walk in Halibut Point State Park on Cape Ann. He is also a lifelong photographer and has provided photographic documentation for numerous groups.