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BOSTON NATURE CENTER

This 67 acre Mass Audubon sanctuary located at the nexus of several neighborhoods contains some of the best habitat in Boston. Including the largest Cattail wetland in the city. It also has many acres managed as open meadow - this combined with some very dense thickets makes it a woderful sparrow spot. It is also one of the last areas in Eastern Massachusetts that you can get Ring-Necked Pheasant with relative ease. Wild Turkeys, migrant warblers including Connecticut in the fall, and some years Cuckoos are other avian reasons to visit.

The sanctuary offers two miles of trails and a Nature Center with interpretive displays, sightings board, bathrooms, and friendly / helpful staff. Here is a map of the sanctuary.

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Target Birds  ::   Terrain  ::  T - Access  

Most birders come to the Boston Nature Center for the Wild Turkeys or for a chance to get a glimpse of the Ring-necked Pheasants that are holding on here. Many folks also come during migration. Warblers, Sparrows, Orioles, Woodcocks, are all here in large numbers during migratory periods.

Every fall dozens of birders stop by for a chance to see Conecticut Warblers. A curious warbler that only comes through after riding the strong north-west winds common in fall. It is most frequently found near the large Jewel Weed patches on the Fox Trail before the stream and the Rabbit Trail near the boardwalk.

Be sure to check the feeders at the main building! This year there were always Redpolls there, and good sparrow activity is frequent!

The last target bird I woul d mentioin would be rare warblers, and just about every rare warbler seen at the sanctuary from Cape May to MacGilivray's has been seen in the huge Oak Trees near the West Entrance across from Mt. Hope Cemetery off of Walk Hill St. Be sure to check them out.

You can click on this map to see a larger version. As for birding spots on the map - I would strongly suggest you focus your attention near the intersection of the Snail and Fox trail at both locations. There you will find nice habitat transitions that can hold numbers of good birds in any season.

The turkeys often roost in the Oaks south of the Parking Lot and the Pheasant is easily heard and often seen in either small meadow on the east and west of the parking lot.

Better maps and more information can be found at the George Robert White Environmental Conservation Center.
T-ACCESS

 

By MBTA bus from Forest Hills Station at the end of the Orange Line.

Route # Bus Stop Service
21 Harvard St. & Morton St. Schedule
31 Harvard St. & Morton St. Schedule