eBird Report - Plymouth Beach, 6/6/10 - Terns everywhere!!

Sundays are usually reserved as the day both Kirk and I would go out birding together. We had initially planned on visiting Pondicherry National Wildlife Refuge in Jefferson, NH, however, the weather forecasted for up north was less than desirable. Kirk and I had our reservations about doing any birding any where in New England yesterday due to the chance of getting rained upon, struck by lightning or being whisked away by a tornado (being sarcastic there....freaking Tornado Watches.....just trying to scare us, as always).

So, we just had to get our BIRD on, so we headed to the South Shore seeing as the rain was supposed to hold off until later down there. And hold off it did!

Our first stop was Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield. I had been there last Tuesday to get the Sedge Wren, but I went there again so Kirk could get that lovely little wren as well, since it would be a Lifer for him. And we got fantastic looks at the Sedge Wren, even better than the first time I saw him. Of course, there were still numerous Bobolinks around, as well as the Purple Martins and Willow Flycatchers.

We left there say around 10:30 am and headed to Plymouth Beach to see if we could score of some terns. Our target birds were as follows: The Forster's Tern, the Arctic Tern, the Roseate Tern and the Least Tern (for me, Kirk had already seen Leasts). We struck out on all except the Least Terns, as there is a very large colony there of them, intermingling with the Piping Plover nesting colony. Those Least Terns are great little gull-like birds! So noisy, so graceful, so fast and active! I also got another Lifer besides the Least Tern, that being the Laughing Gull. I had never seen one before, and as Kirk had commented, they kinda looked and acted like a couple of cartoon characters, their funny laugh-like call (hence their name of course) and their black-hooded heads with white eye-rings. The Piping Plovers put on a display as well, darting here and there across the beach to the shoreline! Despite getting burnt to a crisp since we did not realize how sunny it would be, it was well worth it. Sure, it would've been nice seeing the Forster's, Arctic and Roseate Terns, but oh well, dems da breaks, ya know!

Happy birding to all!!

Location:     Plymouth Beach
Observation date:     6/6/10
Notes:     We did not walk the entire beach facing Plymouth Bay, roughly 3/4 of the way before the sun exposure did us in and we had to turn back. Numbers of Least Terns are conservative, same applies to Common Terns. I would suggest that they were more Piping Plovers there as well then the ones we had seen, since all seen were along the beach outside their nesting colony.
Number of species:     21

Northern Gannet - Morus bassanus     2
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus     1
Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola     1
Piping Plover - Charadrius melodus     8
Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla     2
Bonaparte's Gull - Chroicocephalus philadelphia     13
Laughing Gull - Leucophaeus atricilla     9
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis     7
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus     15
Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus     6
Least Tern - Sternula antillarum     42
Common Tern - Sterna hirundo     10
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     1
Common Nighthawk - Chordeiles minor     1
Willow Flycatcher - Empidonax traillii     1
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor     2
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica     1
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     3
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     4
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     2
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus     4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/)

eBird Report - Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary--IBA, 6/1/10 - Sedge Wren = YES!; numerous Bobolinks!

I had the darndest time trying to get some sleep last night. I was awoken by thunder at 2, then was in and out of sleep until I said screw this and got up at 4:20 am. I took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast and decided to do something with my day since I was up. So, what better to do then to go do some birding when one is still unemployed (sadly)! I had been reading the earlier posts about the Sedge Wren being reported at Daniel Webster in Marshfield, so I figured that was where I was going to go!

It was a fairly long drive, but being up so early, I beat all the morning traffic and got to Daniel Webster by 7:30 am (stayed until 9:30). I must say, what a truly beautiful parcel of land Mass Audubon has here....there should be more grassland habitat like this, that of which is found at Daniel Webster! There were BOBOLINKS everywhere! Too bad there weren't any Eastern Meadowlarks yet, surely they would love this place! The PURPLE MARTIN colony was in full swing, nearly every box inhabited by a Martin. CEDAR WAXWINGS were quite numerous as well, especially going through the red maple swamps found along the River Walk Trail and Secret Trail.

But of course, the highlight and target bird was the SEDGE WREN that of which is still found near the Fox Hill Observation Platform (along right-hand side of pathway leading up to platform). Fantastic looks, but of course it was its "dry, staccato chattering" that alerted me to its precise location. Even if I did not get this bird, it was well worth heading out to Marshfield to experience this MAS sanctuary! Thankfully, the Sedge Wren was very cooperative, and we all know how much I adore wrens!

Anyhoo, happy birding to all, and I hope everybody had a great Memorial Day Weekend!

(Above photo of SEDGE WREN was taken by Joe Vincent)

Location:     Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary--IBA
Observation date:     6/1/10
Number of species:     39

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis     12
American Black Duck - Anas rubripes     3
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos     6
Wild Turkey - Meleagris gallopavo     4
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias     1
Great Egret - Ardea alba     1
Green Heron - Butorides virescens     3 (wet panne nearest observation blind off of Fox Hill Trail)
Osprey - Pandion haliaetus     1 (flying over fields near parking lot)
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     4
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) - Colaptes auratus [auratus Group]     2
Willow Flycatcher - Empidonax traillii     5
Great Crested Flycatcher - Myiarchus crinitus     2
Eastern Kingbird - Tyrannus tyrannus     1
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus     1
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     4
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     5
Purple Martin - Progne subis     28
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor     27
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     2
House Wren - Troglodytes aedon     2
SEDGE WREN - Cistothorus platensis     1 (Fox Hill Observation Platform)
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis     3
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     3
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     8
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum     37
Yellow Warbler - Dendroica petechia     12
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) - Dendroica coronata coronata     2
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas     11
Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus     4
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     6
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     2
Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus     46 (throughout all the fields)
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     31
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     11
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater     4
Baltimore Oriole - Icterus galbula     1
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     2
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis     15
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus     18

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/)

Here are the directions from MAS' website to Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary:

From Rt 3 north or south: Take exit 12 (Rt 139). Follow Rt 139 east for 3.7 miles to Marshfield Center. Turn right at light onto Webster Street. Follow Webster Street 1.5 miles and turn left onto Winslow Cemetery Road. Sanctuary parking is 0.7 miles ahead (at the end of the road).