A week removed from being up in the Great North Woods of Coos County in the township of Pittsburg, NH, I was at it again, getting my "bird" on with my good buddy Kirk Marshall up at Sandy Point State Reservation and Parker River NWR on Plum Island! We had several target species to shoot for, and we knew we had to get to Plum early to avoid the droves of "beach weasels" that enjoy getting skin cancer. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice day, but burning my skin to a crisp doesn't sound like a good idea to me......getting my skin burnt to a crisp while searching out all sorts of bird species sounds like a much better idea!! Thankfully, I had some good breathable clothing and the all important "field" hat with a brim all the way around to protect my pale, freckled skin on and near my head!
Ah yes, got a bit sidetracked there....the target species we had on our docket were as follows: Western Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher (Kirk had already seen these prior to this trip) and most importantly, the quite rare (in this region anyhow) Scissor-tailed Flycatcher!! This wonderful, extremely long-tailed bird (fairly common in places like Oklahoma) had been seen for what, about a week and a half, with several birders having seen it and a number taking some decent photos of it. Our first priority was trying to get on the Scissor-tailed that had been found at Sandy Point. We had been perusing the general area that this bird had been seen for about an hour and half or so, but then decided to keep on going, checking out the rest of the hotspots where other bird species we hoped to see would be. Not a half hour later after we had left Sandy Point did we find out from other birders (seemingly everyone we came across) that the Scissor-tailed had indeed come out from hiding for a few minutes before being harassed and chased off by the myriad numbers of Tree Swallows that had called Plum Island home today. Needless to say we were definitely even more bummed when we found out it was indeed still hanging around the area. But by that time, we had had our fill, and Plum Island was filling up fast with "beach weasels" galore (and the sun was draining us of energy as well).
We didn't get upon the Western Sandpiper or Stilt Sandpipers either (at least we think we didn't anyhow.....shorebirds/waders are such a frakking pain in the buttocks to identify, especially to a novice like myself). However, we did see several Short-billed Dowitchers (a Lifer for myself) at BFP, feeding with that sewing machine motion of theirs, as well as a Black-bellied Plover coming in for a landing at Bill Forward Pool to give us some amazing looks of it in its full breeding plumage!
Despite coming up short, we still had a great time seeing all that we could see (the full sightings list is below) whilst getting nagged by sand fleas and greenheads and the onslaught of full-on "sunnage" upon us (at least after the morning fog had lifted). We ended our time up in Essex County having lunch at the Agawam Diner in Rowley off of Route 1. While enjoying our cheese steak sandwiches, we were "graced" with a surprise visit from Senator Scott Brown, his wife Gail Huff (yeah WCVB Channel 5!!), along with perhaps one of his aides (?) and one of his rather lovely daughters....Ayla Brown?? Not too sure. Never did watch American Idol, and never will! It certainly made for a more interesting than usual time at the Agawam!
Happy birding everyone, and some day I will get upon a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (also got jipped at the Orange Municipal Airport in Orange last year of one)! Take care folks!!
Location: Parker River NWR
Observation date: 8/1/10
Notes: Numbers of Tree Swallows are more than likely conservative, as well as number of Bank Swallows intermingling with Tree Swallows; struck-out in search of Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, but was seen by other birders visiting Plum; numbers of shorebirds are also conservative, and since not entirely familiar with all species of waders, may have overlooked species not noted in this list.
Number of species: 38
Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 34
Mute Swan - Cygnus olor 3
American Black Duck - Anas rubripes 18
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 7
Great Egret - Ardea alba 10
Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 6
Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola 1
Semipalmated Plover - Charadrius semipalmatus 8
Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca 4
Willet (Eastern) - Tringa semipalmata semipalmata 2
Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes 6
Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla 21
Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla 19
Short-billed Dowitcher (Atlantic) - Limnodromus griseus griseus 26
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 5
Herring Gull (American) - Larus argentatus smithsonianus 7
Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus 3
Least Tern - Sternula antillarum 9
Common Tern - Sterna hirundo 3
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 4
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus 3
Purple Martin - Progne subis 8
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor 1250
Bank Swallow - Riparia riparia 11
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 1
American Robin - Turdus migratorius 6
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 4
Brown Thrasher - Toxostoma rufum 1
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 33
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum 40
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia 4
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas 1
Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus 3
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 5
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 4
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 3
Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula 1
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis 7
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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