Did you know that birding is the #1 “sport” in the US? I didn’t.
My husband told how popular birding is and I didn’t believe him but research shows that 51.3 million Americans are into birding and that figure probably does not include people like us who feed birds in their own back yards.
When we opened the Inn at Clamber Hill in 1998, we knew almost nothing about the area’s birds so we set out to educate ourselves buying books and field guides…. Audubon’s, Peterson’s and Sibley’s among others.
Our desire was to create a bird garden. What we discovered is that we already had a bird garden with the diversity of fields, perennial gardens, woodlands and streams on the property already attracting over 20 different species of birds including the Pileated Woodpecker, the Hairy Woodpecker, the Evening Grosbeak, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, the Indigo Bunting, the Scarlet Tanager, the Baltimore Oriole, the Red Tailed Hawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and many more commonly sighted birds such as Robins, Blue Jays, American Goldfinches, Sparrows, Juncos and more.
Blue Jay Babies at Clamber Hill
Many of our overnight guests love to watch the birds. Some sit on the front patio or back terrace with a glass of wine and watch the birds in the early evening. Others are more active and visit many of the special bird sanctuaries in the area. We are close to many Mass Audubon properties. The 332 acre Eagle Lake Wildlife Sanctuary in Holden MA, the 60 acre Cooks Canyon Wildlife Sanctuary in Barre MA, the 772 acre Lake Wampanoag Wildlife Sanctuary in Gardner MA and of course the spectacular 1500 acre Rutland Brooks Wildlife Sanctuary right here in Petersham MA.
Petersham is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts with thousands of acres of conservation land belonging to Mass Audubon, Harvard Forest, Trustees of Reservation and others.
Clamber Hill serves as a resource center with both Field Guides and Trail Maps made available to our overnight guests. We sell books such as “Birding Western Massachusetts” by Robert Tougias and try to keep up with local happenings too.
In fact this weekend, Petersham’s own Jim Baird is leading a Nature & History Tour of the Lewis-Corrine Babbitt Wildlife Sancutary at 9 am on Sunday June 13th. It starts from his house at 18 Gay Dr. If you are interested you need to register with the Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary in Princeton MA. The cost is $9 for Audubon Members and $13 for the general public.
