Our whole point and goal heading down to the Newport/Middletown area of Rhode Island was to observe the vagrant Green-tailed Towhee that had made the northwesterly border of Sachuest Point NWR (adjacent to the campground near Second Beach) home for the past couple of weeks! My god, what an utterly amazing and GORGEOUS Lifer!! Tis a bird that Kirk and I have wanted to see for quite some time since first seeing its likeness in our birding field guides. Of course, its range is mainly found out in the Rocky Mountains down through the Southwest and western Texas. From my understanding, it is only the 2nd or 3rd recorded sighting of a Green-tailed Towhee within the Ocean State! This bird was fairly cooperative, though a bit timid at times, hopping in and out of the thickets, kicking up dirt and debris looking for yummy goodness along with a number of American Tree Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, and Song Sparrows.
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| Photo of Green-tailed Towhee taken on 12/30/2010 by Myer Bornstein of Taunton, MA |
The towhee was obviously the big-time highlight of the day, and I would have been completely happy if that were the only bird I saw this day, but again, thanks to good luck that Jen brought with her, we had numerous other birds of interest that made this day superb, including a Northern Shrike!! The shrike is only the second time I have ever had good fortune to observe one (though I have only been an active birder for a few years), this particular bird being found perched atop the highest shrub overlooking the Flint Point Loop side of Sachuest Point NWR. Other rather notable birds included: A half-dozen Common Eiders along the Third Beach side of Sachuest Point; 4 lovely Surf Scoters seen through Kirk's spotting scope off of Flint Point on Sachuest; a lone Brant seen resting on the Island Rocks with a flotilla of a dozen other Brant seen along the Third Beach side of Sachuest near Flint Point; 3 Common Loons in their nonbreeding plumage off of various points of interest along Sachuest; 7 Red-breasted Mergansers, most near Flint Point and the Island Rocks; 2 American Pipits that we heard (through their flight song of course) flying over our heads when we first got to the area where the Green-tailed Towhee was being seen; a pair of Harlequin Ducks (my all-time favorite duck!) seen near the observation platform overlooking Island Rocks off of Sachuest; and lastly, a cluster of 15 Ruddy Turnstones that had been pointed out to us by a very friendly birder from Bristol, RI, whom found them roosting atop the rocky shoreline on the northerly side of Flint Point looking towards Third Beach.
A truly remarkable day filled with wonderful companionship, beautiful weather, and great bird-watching! As always, below you will find my full list of sightings today whilst at Sachuest Point NWR! Happy New Year to everyone, and more importantly, happy birding!!!
Location: Sachuest Point NWR
Observation date: 1/1/11
Notes: The lone and vagrant Green-tailed Towhee that has been seen since the 18th of December, 2010 was observed my numerous birders throughout the course of our time down and around Sachuest Point NWR, mingling with various other ground-feeders, such as American Tree Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows; Northern Shrike was seen while trekking along the southerly side of the Flint Point Loop trail, looking inland perched atop the tallest shrub in that area.
Number of species: 30
Brant - Branta bernicla 13
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 42
Common Eider - Somateria mollissima 6
Harlequin Duck - Histrionicus histrionicus 2
Surf Scoter - Melanitta perspicillata 4
Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator 7
Common Loon - Gavia immer 3
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 1
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 1
Northern Harrier - Circus cyaneus 1
Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 2
Ruddy Turnstone - Arenaria interpres 15
Sanderling - Calidris alba 13
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 3
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 5
Northern Shrike - Lanius excubitor 1
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 6
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 6
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 1
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 1
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos 5
European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 200
American Pipit - Anthus rubescens 2
Green-tailed Towhee - Pipilo chlorurus 1
American Tree Sparrow - Spizella arborea 10
Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis 2
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 3
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 1
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 3
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis 4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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