Yeup, 4 more Lifers (White-rumped Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper & Whimbrel), bring my Life List total to 249 species of birds seen to date!! Thanks be to my excellent buddy Kirk Marshall and fellow birder extraordinaire Eric Labato for such an awesome day of birding (though it had a wee bit of a rough start). What I mean by that is Kirk's scope he purchased earlier this spring already is having issues. The prism near the eyepiece was off-kilter, for it had lost its adhesive that kept it in place. Kirk pulled a MacGuyver and jimmy-rigged his scope, using part of a Q-Tip to wedge it in-between the prism and the inner casing. It worked, though he will try to properly amend his beloved scope later!
Anyhow, thanks to posts from Eric Labato from Plum Island (Parker River NWR) over the past couple of days, Kirk and I had our sights set on a few target species, that being the Stilt Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper and the Whimbrel. But this is not the only thanks we must give Eric, for we met up with him at Hellcat on the boardwalk leading to the observation blind. His expertise and observation skills were invaluable as the 3 of us proceeded to hit up the Dune Loop at Hellcat, The Pines and Bill Forward Pool Observation Platform. It was at BFP that we came upon the aforementioned Stilt and Baird's Sandpipers! They were intermingling with White-rumped Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a pair of Black-bellied Plovers. A pair of Pied-billed Grebes were nearby, as well as a Belted Kingfisher of which I thought was kinda a bit out of place with all those shorebirds around! But in nearly one fell-swoop, all aforementioned shorebirds took off in flight thanks to a strafing run by a Peregrine Falcon that had been buzzing back and forth in between the Pines and Hellcat! Always a treat to see such an impressive, speedy raptor!
But the first Lifer of the day was also the best bird of the day, seeing 6 Whimbrels at the Salt Pannes before making our way down to Hellcat. What a striking, remarkable and rather large shorebird with down-curved bill, prominent black head stripes and gray legs! Simply lovely! A great day of birding that was finished off with a nice meal at the Agawam Diner in Rowley! I hope everyone else's Labor Day weekend has been good so far! Happy birding to all my friends!
Location: Parker River NWR
Observation date: 9/5/10
Notes: Birded with Kirk Marshall and Eric Labato. Pied-billed Grebes, Stilt Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plovers, White-rumped Sandpipers, Belted Kingfisher and about half of Semipalmated Sandpipers seen at Bill Forward Pool Observation Blind at around Noon time before being strafed repeatedly by an impetuous Peregrine Falcon; Willet, other Semipalmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers and Whimbrels seen at Salt Pannes; Killdeers seen at Plum Island Airport while trying to find Buff-breasted Sandpiper (no luck).
Number of species: 38
Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 32
American Black Duck - Anas rubripes 10
Pied-billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps 2 (Bill Forward Pool)
Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus 8
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 4
Great Egret - Ardea alba 9
Snowy Egret - Egretta thula 6
Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 1
Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus 1 (In between The Pines, BFP and Hellcat)
Black-bellied Plover - Pluvialis squatarola 2 (Bill Forward Pool)
Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus 4 (Plum Island Airfield)
Greater Yellowlegs - Tringa melanoleuca 8 (Salt Pannes)
Willet (Eastern) - Tringa semipalmata semipalmata 1 (Salt Pannes)
Lesser Yellowlegs - Tringa flavipes 5 (Salt Pannes)
Whimbrel - Numenius phaeopus 6 (Salt Pannes)
Semipalmated Sandpiper - Calidris pusilla 21 (BFP & Salt Pannes)
Least Sandpiper - Calidris minutilla 3 (Salt Pannes)
White-rumped Sandpiper - Calidris fuscicollis 13 (Bill Forward Pool)
Baird's Sandpiper - Calidris bairdii 1 (Bill Forward Pool)
Stilt Sandpiper - Calidris himantopus 1 (Bill Forward Pool)
Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 4
Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 6
Great Black-backed Gull - Larus marinus 1
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - Archilochus colubris 1 (The Pines)
Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon 1 (Bill Forward Pool)
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 2
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 5
Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor 8 (Dune Loop at Hellcat)
Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica 1 (The Wardens)
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta canadensis 1 (Dune Loop at Hellcat)
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 1
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis 2
Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum 1 (The Pines)
Eastern Towhee - Pipilo erythrophthalmus 1 (heard only near Lot 2)
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 2
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis 3
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Showing posts with label newburyport ma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label newburyport ma. Show all posts
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Plum Island in Newburyport, MA.....always top notch, no matter what time of the year!
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)
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)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Cape Ann, North Shore and Miscellaneous - American Bald Eagles & Harlequin Ducks
What a most gorgeous day to be outside today, getting some fresh air whilst looking for whatever birds we could find! I met up with my good friend Kirk Marshall today in Burlington early enough around 7:30 am. We then made a go of it for a fair portion of the day, first stopping in Newburyport and Amesbury, then heading southward to the Gloucester area and finally in the Rockport area. After dropping Kirk off back in Burlington around 4 pm, I made a quick stop in Concord at Great Meadows NWR. Here are some highlights of what we observed. If I forget anything, I am sure Kirk will post an addendum to this message!
Cashman Park, Newburyport: Here we tried first to spy ourselves an American Bald Eagle or Great Cormorant, but no luck. However, it was nice to hear and see a Northern Mockingbird calling. About a half-dozen Common Goldeneyes were also seen. Other than that, not much to mention.
Deer Island, Amesbury: Our second stop in looking for eagles. Here, after about 10 minutes, we were rewarded with an adult American Bald Eagle first coming in over the Merrimack along the tree tops, then riding the thermals in giant soaring circles, heading downstream of the Merrimack from there. Amusing to me was a Red-tailed Hawk shadowing this Baldy, riding the thermals as well and staying within about 50 feet or so below the Bald Eagle.
Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester: Observed a few White-winged Scoters and Surf Scoters here, as well as a couple of Common Loons...I believe a few Common Eiders as well. Fellow birders that were there had reported seeing Purple Sandpipers around, but we could not get on them.
Cathedral Ledge, Andrews Point & Halibut Point, Rockport: I will start off with saying that we saw nothing off of Halibut Point, nothing that we could see anyhow. Andrews Point and Cathedral Ledge were more rewarding, with a total of about 40+ Harlequin Ducks spotted between the 2 locations. I believe we observed about 4 Common Loons, a mating pair of Red-breasted Mergansers, and about a total of 20+ Common Eiders. Song Sparrows were certainly very abundant amongst the residential area there near both Andrews and Cathedral.
Great Meadows NWR, Concord: I came here to try and see if that Eurasian Green-winged Teal was still hanging around, but again as with 9-Acre Corner off of 117 in Concord, no luck. However, about 10Common Mergansers, 3 Red-winged Blackbirds and 1 American Bald Eagle were seen. This eagle was best seen through a scope from the observation tower overlooking the Upper Pool. From the tower overlooking the Upper Pool, look across to the far side near the Concord River amongst the trees. Well, that is where myself and a number of other birders observed him. The eagle could be anywhere else around Great Meadows come tomorrow. A very nice gentleman allowed me to observe this eagle through his scope. You could still make the eagle out with binocs, but obviously not anywhere near as good as with a scope. Oh, I almost forget to mention, while driving to Great Meadows along Route 62 heading west, just before you cross into Concord from Bedford, I estimate a flock of about 40 or so Common Grackles flew over my car. Largest group of grackles I have seen so far this year.
Well, there you have it. A good day of birding and a great day just to be outdoors! Good luck and happy birding to all!
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