The Medfield State Hospital grounds and the adjacent McCarthy Park make up a diverse and easily accessible birding hotspot in Medfield, Massachusetts, located 35 minutes southwest of Boston. The Medfield State Hospital is nestled along the north side of Hospital Road, and McCarthy Park and its associated fields occupy the south side of the road. You can easily traverse the grounds on foot, and the various trails bring you through mature forest, fields, and riparian habitats, all of which afford quality birding opportunities year-round.

In winter, you can find hardy species such as Fox Sparrow biding their time until spring, when migrant passerines pulse through. First you will hear resident breeders, such as Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-winged Warbler, and Field Sparrow setting up shop; they give way to the warblers fueling up on their return leg from the tropics, followed by sparrows and blackbirds. The grounds have also hosted a handful of rarities among the growing list of more than 190 species recorded here. To me, the most alluring virtue of these grounds is that no matter whether you have an hour or half a day, a visit here will be worth your while.

The Medfield State Hospital is steeped in history dating back to 1890 when land was purchased to establish an insane asylum. The facility consisted of 25 buildings—many of which now stand vacant—and was formally established in 1896 as the “Medfield Insane Asylum for the Chronic Insane.” Much of the hospital’s 425 acres of land was used for farming up until the 1960s, with the work often done by patients. During its heyday, the facility housed as many as 2,300 patients, and practitioners experimented with various treatments, including electric shock therapy. The hospital was closed in 2003 and has since served as a movie set for movies, including Shutter Island, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. There have been subsequent plans to develop parts of the property, but it remains to be seen what will come of them. The grounds are open to the public dawn to dusk.

Map of Medfield State Hospital and McCarthy Park.