Birding spots · Massachusetts

Best Birding Spots in Essex County, Massachusetts

Hate Cove leads Essex County's birding spots with 295 species reported, best in spring. 257 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Hate Cove	295	8,243	129	250	216	249
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge	252	7,321	93	207	182	212
Halibut Point	234	4,357	118	175	117	187
Salisbury Beach State Reservation	221	5,019	122	163	86	169
Andrews Point	216	3,044	89	124	116	164
Crane Beach on the Crane Estate	215	1,698	88	159	128	139
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Sandy Beach)	214	3,234	77	165	117	147
Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary (Lighthouse Cove)	212	864	104	160	94	160
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Pork Island)	209	3,419	51	153	121	121
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Plum Island River)	198	2,219	62	148	93	141
Brace Cove	197	2,090	106	150	88	138
Sandy Point State Reservation	196	2,242	47	154	124	123
Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary	192	4,124	88	166	119	133
Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary	191	2,004	88	139	69	127
Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary	187	4,966	59	168	124	142
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (southeast)	185	1,271	45	104	115	111
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Camp Sea Haven)	184	1,608	55	159	88	109
Newburyport Water Supply Land	183	2,849	72	161	91	132
Chandlers Far Division	178	738	69	132	96	121
Ipswich Bluff	178	724	57	134	92	104
Beck Pond	176	653	64	154	105	114
Clark Pond (Great Neck)	174	450	85	139	82	105
Stage Island Pool (Emersons Rocks)	172	1,045	49	99	115	115
Danvers Reservoir (historical)	170	1,278	61	118	76	143
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (northwest)	169	1,180	43	118	93	93
Castle Hill on the Crane Estate	168	535	70	140	81	104
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Long Point)	165	831	58	118	69	97
Martin H. Burns Wildlife Management Area	153	1,546	27	147	104	80
Appleton Farms	152	1,270	67	121	87	85
Stage Island Pool (Cross Farm Hill)	152	666	51	97	75	88
Putnamville Reservoir	152	654	75	85	58	132
Floating Island	151	1,470	78	64	30	131
Nahant Thicket Wildlife Sanctuary	151	1,248	60	134	60	80
Currier Meadow	150	789	31	145	70	75
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Little Pine Island Creek)	148	597	52	95	68	90
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (Grape Island)	147	466	51	104	75	61
Reverend Daniel Boone Park	145	1,074	36	139	78	77
Topsfield Fairgrounds	144	2,143	45	129	88	69
Stage Island Pool	144	1,304	54	88	79	92
Lowlands Park	144	569	34	123	35	97
Joppa Flats	143	452	73	92	69	80
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (northwest)	143	276	37	87	56	79
Henry Cabot Lodge Park	140	399	60	102	34	86
Coolidge Point	140	302	51	109	82	58
Peabody Reservoir	139	215	48	114	70	84
Whale Cove (The Headlands)	139	209	34	91	45	110
Clark Pond	138	566	58	94	62	94
Loblolly Cove	137	731	75	71	37	107
Wingaersheek Beach	137	262	51	95	48	90
Dorothy Cove	137	179	59	98	40	85