Birds

 Franklin Park is alive with bird life all year round, especially in The Wilderness and in the trees around Scarboro Pond. You can hear the Great Horned Owl in early winter hooting for a mate, see myriad song birds during spring and fall migration, and sometimes catch the Great Blue Heron in flight over the pond - it has a huge wingspan and looks almost prehistoric. If you listen for crows you'll often find them harassing a red tailed hawk in the sky.  Birds are especially abundant during the spring migration in May and the fall migration in September.

photo: Indigo Bunting in Franklin Park 

Stephen Baird of the Emerald Necklace Bird Club and Friends of Jamaica Pond walks the parks regularly tracking and photographing the wide variety of birdlife he sees or hears. All the bird photos on this website are Stephen's. You can see more of Stephen Baird's photos and read his log of bird sightings in Franklin Park and nearby greenspace to capture the breadth of bird life throughout all four seasons. The Brookline Bird Club is also active in Franklin Park and the other Emerald Necklace parks.

Last spring Stephen Baird and the Boston Park Rangers kept watch over a baby Great Horned Owl that had fallen from its nest, even feeding it a dead mouse. They tried to rig a box on top of a tall pole to keep the owlet from predators. When the owlet was gone, no one knew if it had been a tasty dinner for a predator hawk, learned to fly, or was rescued by parents. 

photo: red tail hawks mating in Franklin Park.