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The Cape Cod Connection
Bird Watching Trip Reports
Frederick and I took an afternoon off today, and made a short trip into Dennis. Our first stop was Corporation Beach, off Route 6A. This is a bay beach, and when the tide is out, there are extensive flats. It was pretty brisk out there, much colder than it has been recently. The tide was about halfway out, and mostly there were the ubiquitous gulls. A small group of Common Eiders and Red-breasted Mergansers were off to the westernmost part of the beach, beyond the rocks. That was all we could see before frostbite started to set in.
Next we headed west to Chapin Beach. This is a beautiful piece of the Dennis shoreline on Cape Cod Bay. The dunes are mysterious and powerful, the marsh behind the beach is extensive and holds possibilities of owls, herons, buntings, and assorted wildlife. Beyond the dunes on the other side is the long expanse of Chapin Beach, with its huge tidal flats at low tide. The low sun made it difficult to see much of anything through the glare, but the scene was exquisite.
Then we headed over to Swan Pond, off Route 134. We went to the Swan Pond Overlook, which is on Center St. This high point on the west side gives you an excellent view of the pond. On the island in the center, there were 4 Great Cormorants sitting with a few Herring Gulls. In the water, we saw a large flock (more than 100 birds) of Canvasbacks and Greater Scaup, with some smaller groups of Buffleheads. I couldn't tell if there were any Lesser Scaup because a great many were too far away to determine. There were also 5 Canada Geese and 4 Mute Swans. Very cold standing there in the shade. So that's it. We're looking forward to spring.
I got out very late this evening, around 5:30. Since it stays light so late now, I was hoping to be able to stay out for about an hour and a half. I got to Bell's neck and scanned the marsh from the footbridge. Mallards, Canada Geese, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, American Crows, Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls, Red-winged Blackbirds, Double-crested Cormorants; all were visible immediately. A short wait produced a Blue-winged Teal, a lifer for me. In the background I could hear the Belted Kingfisher clacketing, and the Red-wings filled the air with their voices. I started off into the woods along the path that leads to the island, hoping that I could find some warblers. Two Grey Catbirds scurried about in the undergrowth, and the treetops were filled with the whiny tweets of American Goldfinches. As I crossed over the landbrige to the island, I could hear the qu, qu call of a Lesser Yellowlegs. The tide wasn't out so I was surprised to see just one poking about in the reeds on the edge of the reservoir. While stopped looking for this lone bird, I heard the Chestnut-sided Warbler's pleased, pleased, pleased to meetcha. It took quite a bit of searching the tops of the trees on both sides of the landbridge before I spotted the very busy bird flitting about. Warblers are amazingly active, making it difficult to keep track of one long enough to identify it. Knowing their calls really helps.
I started out again to the island and walked around the periphery, hoping not to pick up too much poison ivy. The plants aren't leafed out yet, so I may be coming in contact with it, yet I don't know it well enough without the leaves to identify it. Ah, well. As I circled around, I could hear what may be Virginia Rails along the marsh edges. I have no idea how you actually get to see them, though. They seem to be well hidden. Green frogs are everywhere, making their rubberband-like sounds. I would like to find the Least Bitterns, which have been reported here.
As I completed the circle around the island, I heard a warbler sound. Right in front of me at chest height, was a Magnolia Warbler
. It's combination of yellow and black is very striking. I watched the bird for a while, and then realized that there were many more small birds in the upper branches of all the tall trees. I craned my neck to try to track them through the bare branches. In about 20 dizzying minutes, I saw Pine Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, and Blackpoll Warblers. At first I had some Common Yellowthroats confused with the Magnolia Warblers, because of the masklike black face, but their calls were so different that I eventually figured out the correct identities. Wow, what fun! Except for the crick in my neck, it was pure pleasure to stand there amidst all this warbler activity.Very windy and raw, but much sunnier than Saturday. I took a nice slow look out over the marsh at the small footbridge. There you could see Snowy Egrets, Herring Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, and Canada Geese. Two Mallards paddled along in the circuitous waterway. I walked over the footbridge onto the southernmost island, and hunkered down in the reeds at the edge of the marsh. Double-crested Cormorants flew by in ones and twos, and an American Kestrel flew out of the treetops after I inadvertently disturbed it. I got a good view as it flew over the expansive marsh reaching down to Route 28. I sat for a while and watched the gulls and egrets far out on the marsh. Two Red-tailed Hawks flew over on their rounds. I returned back over the footbridge, where I saw 6 American Crows harassing a Broad-winged Hawk until it flew off over the treetops. Next I walked out to the small island in the East Reservoir to try for some warblers. Two Grey Catbirds kept me company across the marsh path. Just before the island, I heard, then saw two Yellow Warblers in the thickets. On the raised path I could scan the other side of the East Reservoir. There were about 30 Least Terns flitting back and forth over the water's surface, along with two Laughing Gulls. One Belted Kingfisher was resting on an exposed rock. On the island itself, I found just 6 Pine Warblers and 2 Black-capped Chickadees. Another Belted Kingfisher was clacketing on the opposite side of the island, diving into the water from the trees. On this side, there were Red-winged Blackbirds, only 6, and two more Mallards. When I headed back to the landbridge I noticed that the tide was going out and there were some mud flats exposed. Lots of tiny Least Sandpipers were peeping, and swooping, and landing on small exposed rocks. I sat down to watch for a while, and many flew right over my head, while other groups came very close to where I was semi-hiding in the reeds. Pretty neat.
Bell's Neck - We stopped at the bridge overlooking the East Reservoir, walked through to the island in the East Reservoir, scanned both reservoirs from the road between them and walked down to the bridge over the Herring River. The fog and general greyness made it difficult to spot anything, and everything looked pretty monochrome due to the poor light. Overall, we counted 11 Mallards, 26 Double-crested Cormorants, 6 Canada Geese, 65 Herring Gulls, 4 Great Black-backed Gulls, 35 Red-winged Blackbirds, 9 American Crows, 2 American Black Ducks, 6 American Goldfinches, 3 Song Sparrows, 2 Tree Swallows, 1 Grey Catbird, 2 Mute Swans, 3 Snowy Egrets, 1 Northern Harrier, 2 Belted Kingfishers, and 6 Downy Woodpeckers. At the Herring River bridge, we were privileged to observe a Red Fox with its prey coming across the bridge. It stopped in its tracks when it saw us, and we just stayed still and watched to see what it would do. After several minutes of a standoff, Frederick and I backed up a little and started scanning the trees for birds. We watched the fox approach behind us cautiously and then scoot off into the reeds at the edge of the woods. Then it was gone over the hill.
Paw Wah Pond - I drove out here later in the afternoon, and the sun broke through very briefly. The air was getting colder and the wind was picking up. Paw Wah is a small conservation area on Pleasant Bay that consists of a wooded trail leading down to the beach. It is quiet and beautiful. In the woods down to the beach and back, I spotted 2 Blue Jays, 10 Black-capped Chickadees, 1 American Robin, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Grey Catbird, 5 Red-winged Blackbirds, and 1 Northern Bobwhite. I walked along the beach where the wind was incredibly fierce. There were 16 Red-breasted Mergansersin the bay, 1 Fish Crow in the trees along the cliffs, 1 Great Blue Heron flew past, and 1 Broad-winged Hawk flew out of the trees by Paw Wah Pond and circled around the edge of the bay near the Town Landing. There were also 6 Herring Gulls and 6 Great Black-backed Gulls.
Mill Pond - is a saltwater pond located on the back side of the Nauset Spit at the southern end of Nauset Marsh. It has expansive mussel beds that are in flats which attract shorebirds. The Laughing Gull breeding area on New Island is just north of the pond's outlet into Nauset Marsh. Here I was able to see many Laughing Gulls and a fair number of Greater Yellow-legs.
After looking around at the feeders in the yard and taking note of the Pine Siskins, Chuck and I headed straight up to Provincetown, to the Beech Forest. It's about 35 miles from my house; not a bad jaunt. The day was the most beautiful so far, and the temperature threatened to be warm. When we got there the road seemed closed, and after a quick turnaround, we found we could park by the entrance to the landfill area and walk down the bike path toward the trails. Unfortunately, we kept following the bike path right past the parking lot, which was under some sort of heavy construction, so we wound up fairly well away from our original destination. The woods were pretty spare of birds, though we were able to identify several enthusiastic Rufous-sided Towhees, singing out their spring call and scritching around in the leafy underfloor. The unmistakable nasal call of a Fish Crow was another highlight. White-throated Sparrows scurried about and we saw Chipping Sparrows and Song Sparrows as well. Once we realized that we had been walking far too long, we turned back and stumbled upon the entrance to the Beech Forest trail. Several other birders informed us that there was a dearth of warblers, just Pine Warblers and Yellow-rumped.
The Beech Forest trail circles around a pond aptly named, Wood Duck Pond. I had never seen one of these beautifully marked birds before, but Chuck was able to point two Wood Ducks out. We heard the call and I was able to get a good enough look at one in flight to see the distinctive markings on the bird's head. Flying back and forth over the pond were great sweeps of Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows. It was difficult to tell the coloring in the sunlight and the birds were so swift, we were unsure if there were any Northern Rough-winged Swallows. Standing at the beginning of the trail just at the edge of the parking lot, we were able to watch a Turkey Vulture soar overhead, and several bushes were filled with Yellow-rumped Warblers. We set out to walk around the pond aways and we could hear the high-pitched tseep of the American Goldfinches. Since we had only a short amount of time, we didn't make the full circuit around the pond. We walked back along the bike path, where Chuck heard a Northern Bobwhite male. Lifer for Chuck. Then we set off for the Pilgrim Spring Trail.
The Pilgrim Heights Area was warm and sunny when we pulled into the parking lot. We quickly glanced north over the dune area where the Northern Harriers nest and spotted some doing their acrobatics. Since we were after warblers, we set off down the wooded path to the bicycle path at the Pilgrim Spring. I had high hopes since it was only 10 days ago that I had seen Pine and Palm Warblers there. However, I don't know whether it was the time of day (noonish now) or the overall poor spring weather, but there was not a bird to be found. Several White-throated Sparrows could be found but not nearly as many as the week before. We also heard a trilling sound that Chuck felt were Chipping Sparrows. We did see some, but we later learned that the Chipping Sparrow and the Pine Warbler have almost identical calls. So there were probably some elusive Pine Warblers that didn't show themselves. Overhead, we saw another Turkey Vulture and some male Northern Harriers. A couple of American Robins kept us company, but that was pretty much it for the bike trail. We returned to the parking lot, and Chuck showed me what an owl pellet looked like. We didn't find the owl, though. While we were standing in the treed circle in the center of the parking lot, talking about owls, several Pine Warblers began flitting about the pine trees there. We were able to watch them for quite some time; Chuck even got them in his scope for a real closeup, although they were not very far off to start.
Our next stop was the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. We started at the sanctuary building, where we watched American Goldfinches, House Finches, Chipping Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Red-winged Blackbirds, Black-capped Chickadees, House Sparrows, and Cardinals at the feeding stations outside the great glass windows overlooking the marsh. Then we set off to walk around the Silver Spring Trail. There were many American Goldfinches whining in every tree, it seemed. Multitudes of box turtles clung to semi-submerged branches, and frogs made their reverberating calls and then plupped down under the muck. The afternoon was beautiful and we spent a little time just sitting out at the end of a small dock, listening to the spring sounds. When we circled around the far end of the pond, we found a banded Red-breasted Nuthatch working on a hole in a tree. We startled a hawk twice but were unable to identify it since the trees were so thick and we couldn't get a good look at it. As we got closer to the Goose Pond trail and the marsh, a gray fox crossed our path and slunk off into the deeper woods. In the marsh, there were a few Greater Yellow-legs and we heard a mess of American Crows harassing something beyond the sanctuary center.
We had to head back since Chuck had a date to pick up Patti. I felt so bad that the day, though perfectly beautiful, did not produce the anticipated birding, so I took a long-cut home to the Mill Pond in Orleans, where I knew (hoped) there would be Laughing Gulls, since I had just seen them the week before. Thank goodness there were some, although the tide was not good and the shellfisherman were working the mussel beds way out on the flats. But at least it was another species for Chuck's migration week, and I'm sorry, Patti, that I made him late. Too soon, Chuck was on his way, and I was off to orchestra practice. A good day for friends, but definitely not for the birds!
Today I went to the Pilgrim Heights Area, at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro. I took the Small's Swamp Trail to the overlook area that allows you a view of the back side of the beach dunes and the salt marsh behind them. What a panorama! And I was not disappointed with the birds. Along with the ubiquitous American Crows and Red-winged Blackbirds, there were many MANY Northern Harriers, doing some beautiful acrobatics. I just sat there and watched them for over an hour. Turned on a couple of walkers too. You could see them with no binocs, altho that made it easier to tell the males from the females. They seemed to be in pairs; now I'll have to read up their breeding habits. Occasionally they seemed to be disturbed by the Crows who would approach the area they seemed to claim as harrier territory. Then we would get a display! It was very exciting. While watching the harriers, I also spotted 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks and 3 Broad-winged Hawks. They came in from over the ocean and disappeared over the dunes, so I guess they are migrating. A small number (6-8?) of Rough-winged Swallows cruised over the marsh area, south to north.
When I had had my fill of harrier heaven, I walked down the Pilgrim Spring trail toward the bicycle path. The woods were full of Black-capped Chickadees, and as I emerged into the thicketed area adjacent to the saltmarsh, many American Robins seemed happy to keep me company. They were very bold and didn't fly off readily. A couple of Blue Jays joined the robins with their noisy calls. One Northern Flicker (yellow-shafted) landed on a low tree right in front of me, giving me a good look. Before the spring, there is a small meadow to the right. As I approached it, I kept disturbing Eastern Meadowlarks. About 20 altogether. They are very skittish. Having never seen one before, it took me quite a bit of time to identify them. Thank goodness there were so many.
At the spring, there were so many birds the noise hurt my ears. I could hear the robins, jays, chickadees, American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals, sparrow cheeps, and lots of others. I got very tense thinking about all the warblers in the NGS guide. Anyway, as I walked along the mile and a half of paved path to the beach, I saw one White-crowned Sparrow, at least 6 White-throated Sparrows, several Song Sparrows, and one Chipping Sparrow. And 10 Pine Warblers. They took me a long time to identify. I finally got it from the white undertail coverts. That was what clinched it. They're not very yellow, have wing bars, streaking on the breast, no significant eye ring, large bill. There were also several Palm Warblers, though I was so confused by the two I'm not sure how many. They have yellow undertail coverts. Rest is very similar, but they have an eyebrow. I can't imagine trying to work with 25-50 species. Brain overload would be significant. To complicate matters, there was one Solitary Vireo, which also looked similar to the two warblers. The vireo had a thicker bill though, and full circles of white around the eyes. The vireo also seems to look a little chunkier, not as sleek as the warblers.
There was another sort of bird that I couldn't see at all, but it called to others of its kind which set up a kind of chorus that would go on for minutes, very loud, very near, but I couldn't find a single bird, even though it felt as though I should be stepping on them I was so close. They were low to the ground, and once they started calling, they didn't move, no matter how close I would get. Then all of a sudden they would be silent. Walk away, the whole thing started up again. VERY Frustrating. I have to get a CD of bird calls! (note: I have since discovered that these are spring peepers!)
I finally got to the beach, where I saw Savannah Sparrows in the very low grasses at the end of the marsh around the edge of the beach parking. The ocean appeared to be pretty barren, so I sat down to regroup and just started scanning the horizon. Well, I found 3 Thick-billed Murres! Cool. At first I though maybe they were loons, but they weren't as big, altho they were blockier looking. They were just sitting on the waves, bobbing up and down. I went through all the gulls, but none had the same dark black head and upper back. Except maybe the hooded gulls, but still not right. It took me awhile to think to look at the razorbills and murres. I was glad my binocs zoom, I had to go up to about 18X to really get a detailed look. I balanced them against my knees because it was hard to hold them steady at that magnification. And the wind.. there's always so much wind.
Once I knew what they were, I turned my attention to the gulls. There were the usual Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed. There were also Black-legged Kittiwakes, which were still smudgy on the head. And one Laughing Gull (maybe there were more but I didn't get this one right away). Pretty much the same size as the Kittiwakes, but its bill was much longer and black. Smudgy head like the Kittiwakes. Spotty tail markings. I guess it was not yet in breeding plumage.
Pretty good day. 26 species. I spent almost 5 hours, thinking I was out about 2. I forgot to wear my watch and I forgot how late the sun is setting now. I didn't get home until almost 8 o'clock. Oops.
I had a couple of hours before sunset, after I dropped Gabe off at a friends house near Sesuit Harbor. I went down to the harbor to see what was around. The short ride produced Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Eiders, one Common Loon, a pair of American Black-Mallard Hybrids, Mallards and Buffleheads. Flitting around the masts of the winterized boats on the tarmac, were House Finches and Song Sparrows. Flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles appeared in the treetops and then took off again, filling the air with their whistles and clicks. Gulls included Herring, Great Black-backed, and Ring-billed.
I then went to Corporation Beach, another Cape Cod Bay Beach. Red-winged Blackbirds and Robins were active in the thickets behind the beach. I was pleasantly surprised after walking over to the beach area, to see about 50 Sanderlings scurrying along the water's edge. I watched them for awhile before noticing that two of the birds were slightly different. Getting out the guide, I watched more closely, gradually getting closer until they would fly up to land about 100 feet away. From the wing patterns, the longer curved bill, and their coloring, I was able to identify them as Dunlins. I never expected a lifer on this little serendipitous trip!
I went toward the midcape more today, since the birds were so sparse the other day when Chuck and Patty were here. I first went to Swan Pond in Dennis. I'd never been there before, except to drive around it. It's really much bigger than I ever thought. Pretty good overlook in one spot. Got to see Canvasbacks (>30), Buffleheads (same), Mallards(18), Canada Geese(15), Mute Swans (about 15), the plebian gulls, and Red-winged Blackbirds. I picked a couple of different spots to view the pond and so got good looks at everything..
Then I headed for Bass River and Grand Cove. Common Mergansers here, some Buffleheads, mostly Herring Gulls, very avidly fishing. I watched them for a while. Evidently tons of quahogs there.
Anyway I spent a nice two hours tootling around, got one lifer which is always fun, and thought of you. The Pine Siskins visited the feeder off and on all day, I was sorry Chuck didn't get to see them on Saturday.
Another visit from Chuck and Patty. All of us have been extremely busy with work, and today was going to be our day to just get out and look at the sky and the sea, and hopefully some birds. They arrived around 10am and we watched the birds in the yard for awhile. The Carolina Wren put in an appearance, as well as the White-breasted Nuthatches and one Red-breasted Nuthatch. One Hairy Woodpecker worked on a tall scrub pine in the yard next door. 
A flock of American Goldfinches came to the thistle feeder, some more yellow than others. One is in its summer clothes completely. We were hoping that the influx of goldfinches would bring the Pine Siskins, which have been regular visitors. But Chuck was not to get his Lifer. The usual number of Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Cardinals, Song Sparrows, House Sparrows, House Finches, Titmice, Crows and Blue Jays kept us entertained for a while. Then we loaded the stuff in the car and off we went.
Our first stop was a beautiful beach in Chatham, on Nantucket Sound, called Hardings Beach. This barrier beach extends along the shoreline for about 1 ¼ miles long, with the sound lapping one side and a protected marsh on the back side, the outlet for Oyster Pond and Stage Harbor. Our hopes were high for some good finds, but we were disappointed to see mostly plebian gulls. (That's Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls.) We walked all the way out to the lighthouse at the end of the beach, which wasn't too bad a walk since the wind was at our back. Walking along the edge of the point, we heard scurrying and peeping in the beach grass, and with patience were able to find Horned Larks mucking about. I still had hopes for some Snow Buntings, so we kept on around the point. There we were able to see at quite closeup range a flock of Brant geese. That was neat, since we usually don't get such a closeup up view. The back side of the beach was filled with more gulls, which we scanned quite carefully for uncommon visitors mixing in. But they all looked like the usual sort. We did see a few Red-breasted Mergansers and some Buffleheads close to the Stage Harbor outlet. We decided to walk back, which became a sort of endurance contest against the very strong wind. The cold and the wind froze our faces into a grimace that only relaxed after some time in the car with its trusty heater on full blast.
Next, after a pitstop at the Friendly's on Route 28, we stopped at Chatham Light, to see what was out there. I spotted a Common Loon, but noone else saw it. The Red-breasted Mergansers were here too, a few Buffleheads, gulls, and some playful seals. It was very cold and windy here too, so we didn't stay too long. We made our way up Route 28 along the Chatham shore, to the Chatham Fish Pier, to see if we could spot the loon, which was heading this way when I saw it. But there were no birds to speak of at all. Our next stop was to be the Bird Watchers General Store. I walked around listening to the Bird Call recordings, while Chuck and Patty checked out the merchandise. We chatted a while with Mike, the owner, and asked about recent sightings that might be worth following up. The only thing that seemed interesting was a Northern Shrike in Wellfleet and winter ducks in Great Pond in Eastham.
Fort Hill was our next destination. We parked and walked out the trail toward the Maple Swamp, along the edge of the mowed field. Shrike had been seen here recently too, so we kept our eyes on the tree tops, while Chuck told me about the habits of shrike. As we were walking along, Chuck spotted a beautiful Northern Harrier, a female, which soared and dipped over the field, hunting for something which evidently went unfound. She gave us some very nice views at a fairly close range for several minutes. Very captivating. We continued our walk at the edge of the field, but unfortunately, we didn't spot any shrike, or owls either, which were another quest, and we actually lost Patty for a while when she took a side trip and we went looking for her, which just complicated matters since she expected us to be where we were before we started our search. Hmm.. Just as we got back to the parking area, we discovered about five House Finches in the brush, singing to beat the band. They just go on and on, with their bubbly songs. It was great fun to watch them flit from branch to tree top and then out of sight, only to reappear a minute later. So much energy for such a small bird on such a cold day.
We continued on to Great Pond for a quick look-see. Nothing much but gulls here too. The wind was too fierce to stay out for long, so we just kept going north along the Herringbrook Road, through to Wellfleet. Here we headed for the bridge at Chequesset Neck, where the Northern Shrike had been seen. The Herring River lets out into Wellfleet Harbor here, and we were able to see a Great Blue Heron and Red-breasted Mergansers, along with some gulls. A passerby confirmed that he had seen a Northern Shrike in the vicinity, but we were not destined to see it today. Pretty well chilled by now, we piled back in the car for the trip back to Harwich, with one more quick stop at Herring Pond in Eastham. But it was too late and too dark. So, on to a warm cup of cocoa, and a hot dinner courtesy of Frederick, who loves to cook for company.
Saturday started out very rainy, downpours and lightning during the morning hours. As the clouds began to pass, the sky lightened and by about 4 o'clock it was pretty balmy and pleasant out. I popped in the car and headed to Morris Island just to see what was there before it got dark. I passed about 6 Mourning Doves at the tray feeder along the path to the beach. The tide was an hour past high, and the steps led down to a very narrow strip of beach. I think at the high tide, it is basically impassable at the stair bottom. I perched myself midway down the stairs and scanned the water with my binoculars. Directly below, was a Red-breasted Merganser. Nothing else until you were almost across the water to the back side of the sandspit below the North Beach break. Over there, among the Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls, were probably close to 20 Common Eiders, and small groups of White-winged Scoters patrolling the shoreline. Another six or so Red-breasted Mergansers were scattered about. I was able to spot two Common Loons, as well, among the eiders. Small groups of scoters flew overhead, and I saw some Buffleheads fly by as well. Then the sky got dark again, it got very gusty, and rain started. Had to head back to the car. On the causeway back from Morris Island, I looked into Stage Harbor where there were groups of Black and White-winged Scoters futzing about. About 20 Buffleheads were clustered together also.
Sunday, today, I went out again. My appetite for birding in the warmer weather was whetted. Another warm day, the only flaw today was the wind. Very windy, gusts over 50mph. I bundled up and went out about 3 o'clock. My first stop was Quanset in Orleans, where I first checked the pond. It was still mostly ice-covered and one Red-breasted Merganser was foraging at the far end where the ice ended. The next stop was the Quanset Town Landing, where, along with the Herring Gulls, were a large group of Buffleheads and a few Red-breasted Mergansers. I left Orleans for Eastham, where I made a stop at Wiley Park. Here Great Pond was fairly well melted. The ice extended from the beach out probably about 500 yards or so. At the edge of the ice, over one hundred (yes, I counted to there and stopped) Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls were lined up, hunkered down against the wind, but probably getting some warmth from the long afternoon sun. Off to one side were 5 Great Cormorants, with their white-feathered bills. They are big birds! Paddling about just behind the row of gulls were Red-breasted and Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, a few Buffleheads, and what appeared to be one Black Scoter. It seemed odd that it would have been there all alone, but perhaps scoters do that. I'll have to read up. While I was focused on the pond, I could hear many chickadees in the treetops around me. I also heard another bird I couldn't find or identify by its call. I'm going to check out recordings of bird calls my next visit to the Bird Watcher's General Store.
My next stop was First Encounter Beach. In the marsh behind the beach were over 50 American Black Ducks, and Canadian Geese numbering more than that. Herring Gulls were dotted over the marsh grass. The wind was extremely fierce here, and I couldn't stand to be on the beach for more than a few minutes. It stung my face. It whipped the waves and blew off a mist that looked like a fog but in sunlight. A couple of gulls circled over Cape Cod Bay, but nothing was on the water. I went to the end of the beach road, and walked the path through the marsh grass, hoping to flush some sparrows or possibly spot a Snow Bunting, but no luck. I think the wind was too discouraging. As I turned to go back, a flock of White-winged Scoters flew overhead heading southwest. The sun was almost down now, time to go.
The weather was extremely windy this morning. Signs of a storm coming later in the day. Some of the gusts were over 50mph. Tabitha and I decided to go out and do some birding, because we both love Cape Cod when there is a storm brewing. It just feels so much like the Cape when the weather is bad, and you have to be out in it to truly experience it. We decided to drive up to Wellfleet to see if there were any pelagics blown over into the bay. When we got there, the director, Bob Prescott, told us that no one had reported seeing anything at all in the bay, and our best bet would be to go around the Silver Spring Trail and Goose Pond. We started out on the Bay View Trail, just to take a peek over the bay. There were lots of crows on the way, picking over the marsh grasses and making a racket. The tide was incoming, but it was just a little past noon, and high tide wouldn't be until 5pm. We saw a Great Blue Heron that was periodically mobbed by the crows. It would just fly off and relocate itself a short distance away. Over on Heron Point, a spit of the beach that juts out in front of the Bay View Trail, we saw probably over 50 Canada Geese. There were gulls as well, and some smaller dark looking duck-type birds mixed in with the geese. Tabitha and I decided we would rather brave the wind and head out to the beach, rather than take the inland trails.
We retraced our steps and headed toward the trail out to Try Island and the boardwalk that brings you to the outermost beach there. The wind was even stronger now, and as we walked out past the thickets of brush and beach grasses, we heard a lot of squeaking. I tried several times to identify the source of the noise, but was only able to flush out one sparrow, which I believe was a Swamp Sparrow. I have a suspicion that much of the supposed bird noises were really Tabitha's Goretex jacket, brushing against itself as she walked. Anyway, we got out past the island and startled some Horned Larks. The wind was so fierce it was difficult to make forward progress, and we had to stop several times and hunker down to avoid being blown over. As we got closer to the geese, we could see some American Black Ducks, scrunched down on the edge of the water. There were also another group of birds on the water, about eight in a small clump. We kept trying to get closer so we could see better. Scared off most of the geese, but the black and white birds just kept bobbing up and down in the whitecaps of the bay. It was very hard to hold the binocs still in the wind, and the birds kept disappearing in the troughs of the wavelets, but we persisted. Dark bill, black breast, white undersides showing at the back under the folded wings. No facial markings that we could see. I guess we got to about 40 feet from them? not sure. At one point, they took off from the water and I got a good look at their undersides, and the wing markings. Lesser Scaup. At first I thought I must be wrong, because it didn't seem likely that that would be where they would be found. One of the books only mentions them on the Upper Cape, I think in Sandwich or Mashpee. But after about 20 minutes of concentrated watching, I ran out of other possibilities. The wing markings distinguished them from the Greater Scaup, they were the right size for scaup, they were not Brants, too small for Mallards. When we got back I asked Jane at the center about them, and she agreed that they have never been seen there before, but that it certainly was not impossible. I went through the guidebook with her, and she felt I must be right about their ID. She said anything is possible in a storm like the one that was fixing to brew.
So here is the trip list:
American CrowsNot bad for a couple of hours, and in such beautiful surroundings. Even if we had seen nothing, it would have been worth the effort to get out and enjoy this marvelous place.
Chuck and Patty drove down to the Cape this morning, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Fitchburg. They arrived at 10:30am, and after fooling around with the yard stuff, we planned a drive through Chatham to check out my favorite spots. On the way, on Queen Anne Road, Chuck spotted a Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a tree by the roadside. I, being the driver, did not get to see it, but we were off to a good start. We headed to North Chatham first, past Ryder's Cove on the left and Frost Fish Creek on the right. The outlet into Pleasant Bay keeps this area from freezing, so we pulled into Rowland Lane to see what birds were down in the cove. We spotted quite a few American Black Ducks and some Herring Gulls. A Belted Kingfisher clacketed over the semi-frozen inlet, and then disappeared. We drove to the end of the lane to turn around and spotted a Great Blue Heron on the edge of the cove. Down Route 28 toward Old Harbor Road, which leads to the Cow Yard, or Cow Yard Lane. This road ends at the beach just north of the Fish Pier, and overlooks Tern Island to the right and Ram Island Flat to the left. The tide was incoming and there was a fairly high wind. A lot colder on the shore than inland. Here we saw Common Eiders, Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, and American Black Ducks. There were also Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls. A flock of Rock Doves circled around and there were also American Crows over the flats. On Ram Island, there was a pod of Christmas Seals, sunning themselves.
Next we went down Scatteree Road, where there is a landing at the end. Salt Pond was still frozen, so we continued to the landing. This is on the elbow of a spit jutting into Pleasant Bay, again further north of Chatham Harbor. The descriptive name of this waterway is called Pull and Be Damned. The points on either side of the elbow are named Minister's Point and Allen's Point. Here we saw some of the same, American Crows, Common Eiders, Common Mergansers, Great Black-backed Gulls, another flock of Rock Doves and Buffleheads. There were also Common Loons, which I haven't seen since I was out with Paul in October(?)...wow! I like the loons. And there were Sanderlings scurrying about. We also spotted a goldeneye that had us puzzled for quite a few minutes. At first we thought it was a Barrow's Goldeneye, immature female ..or male, I can't remember now. After waiting for it to surface time and again so we could get a better look, we decided it must be a Common Goldeneye female. It had the orange tip to its bill, and since its head was almost always scrunched down into its breast, it was difficult to see the white band around its neck. It also had a steeper slope to the forehead. Chuck's field guide had photos, which this time were more helpful than the drawings. Eventually we were able to determine that it was not the Barrows.
We piled back in the car and went to the end of Cotchpinicut Road, where there is another town landing below the place called High Scatteree. This beach is facing more to the North instead of due East, and there is a view of more of the wider section of Pleasant Bay and the back side of North Beach. Strong Island and its flats are to the left if facing straight off the beach. Behind the beach is a marsh, where there was a Great Blue Heron, an American Wigeon, and American Blacks. In the bay, we were able to spot many Common Mergansers, Common Eiders, Common Loons, Buffleheads, and both types of gulls. When a boat went by, many of the Common Mergansers took off and settled into the marsh. On the shore of Strong Island, there were Sanderlings along with the gulls and some eiders on the beach. I've never seen them out of the water before, except for flying overhead. The females look so rusty on water, but they are so much bigger on land. And the green on the heads of the males, and the yellowish cast to their breast are such gorgeous colors for a bird. They look very funny trying to walk; their feet are so far back, it looks like they will pitch forward and fall. I think of all the winter ducks, the eider is my favorite.
We stopped at the Fish Pier on our way down the Chatham coast. Here we were able to observe some Common Eiders at very close range. There were more Common Mergansers on the water, and Great Black-backed, Herring, and Ring-billed Gulls. I guess the gulls had had a good meal, because most of them were hunkered down across the Harbor on Tern Island. I had hoped we might be able to see some of the more uncommon visitors, like a Glaucous or Iceland Gull. But there were few birds right at the Fish Pier.
We stopped at the Chatham Light and saw Buffleheads, Black Scoters, Common Mergansers and Great Cormorants, along with some Common Eiders. The wind was too high and there were too many people on the beach, I think. The number of birds was definitley less than I expected here. We continued on to Morris Island, and the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. The wind had picked up and it was getting colder. There was nothing on either side of the causeway to the island; it appeared to be pretty frozen. We parked at the Refuge and walked down the trail to the steps leading to the beach. This overlooks the channel between South Beach Island
and Morris Island. There were some Common Eiders, and a grebe, that Chuck was able to identify as a Horned Grebe. I couldn't make a positive ID, because everytime I got it in my binocs, it dove down again. It seemed to stay under water for very long periods of time. I would guess that the water temperature was warmer than the air. As we were trying to decide where it would come up next, some Oldsquaws flew into the channel. Wow! A lifer for both of us. First one, then two, then a few more. They are exquisite birds. The long tail is very distinctive. I didn't hear them call, though. It's also supposed to be very distinctive. Since we were frozen through now, we headed back up the stairs, where we watched a lone Tufted Titmouse scrounging for seed. The feeders that the Refuge has there were all empty. I wonder if that's a result of the government shutdown. Next time I go I'll bring some seed with me. We heard Black-capped Chickadees calling, but I didn't see any. Back to the car, which Patty had started up for us, and so was wonderfully toasty warm. Then to the house and hot chocolate!
This afternoon, I got out for about two and a half hours again. This time it was not raining, just raw cold. I headed up to Crystal Lake in Orleans. I chose the Monument Road parking area, and climbed down to the beach. Black-capped Chickadees kept me company from the beach treetops. Way out across the lake, I could see Buffleheads and Pied-billed Grebes, probably about 30 birds. Closer to my side, were three Mallards, two male and one female, puttering around in the grasses near the shore. They decided to take a trip to the other side at one point, and crossed the lake neatly within view of my binocs the whole time. Very pretty, they were. There may have been other birds about, but they would have been too far off for my optics.
Next I headed over to Tonset Road and drove out to the landing at the end. This overlooks the south end of the Nauset Marsh behind the Nauset Beach Spit. To the right is New Island, which was once the tip of Coast Guard Beach. This is a good place to visit in the spring and summer. Wellfleet Audubon runs canoe trips covering the island and the marsh, which comprise about three hours of excellent birding. I walked out to the beach and could hear a Gray Catbird mewling from the bushes at the edge of the landing. I found a comfortable rock to perch on and sat down to scan the water. A Great Blue Heron took off down near the Snow Shore Landing, and calling its brittle, raspy cry, followed the shore past me to a point a little further north, where it made itself comfortable.
I could see the back side of the spit, where two four-wheel vehicles were parked. Hundreds of birds were visible there, but I needed a scope to identify them. Many gulls flew back and forth over the water, which is the inlet to Town Cove. Watching carefully, and consulting the guide, I was able to pick out Black-legged Kittiwakes, Laughing Gulls, Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, and Bonaparte's Gulls. This was no easy task, considering the variations in immatures and adults of the same sort, as well as the differences between species. The Great Black-backed are the easiest just because they are so black and so huge. Even the immatures, though all brownish and mottled-looking, are large and very dark. The rest I used size, leg color and bill color, and the distinctive wing patterns. Since they were flying back and forth past me, I got lots of good looks from many angles.
Finally, I turned my attention to the short rise up from the beach, which was covered in marsh grasses, then brush and scrubby trees topping the short cliff. Walking north along the beach, I disturbed many small birds from the grass, and tried to follow them up to the brush, but they were difficult to spot in the uniformly brown landscape. Standing still and pishing produced better results. I got five or six Song Sparrows to chip back and forth at me, while popping about on the bushes. They seemed very chubby, or perhaps they were just fluffed up against the cold. I also spotted two Swamp Sparrows, with their gray cheeks and breast, and rusty head and wings. Three morose-looking American Crows watched from the tops of the tallest bare trees behind the beach and commented periodically. When I could no longer feel my toes, I decided to leave the twilight now descending to the inhabitants, and return to my car with its heater.
I went out this afternoon for a quick breather and stopped by a couple of ponds in the Quanset Road area of South Orleans, where I saw Buffleheads, and Gadwalls at Little Quanset Pond. I tried the Quanset Town Landing, but it started to rain steadily, and I couldn't see much out over the bay. I decided to drive out to the ocean at Nauset Beach, just to see. The rain let up as I got there and the atmosphere was mysteriously beautiful. The waves were ferocious and the tide was almost high. At the far end of the beach in either direction, all you could make out was gray sand blended into gray mist blown up by the wind over the gray surf, to the darker gray waves, with gray fluffy clouds pouting over the angry sea. Looked like the background for a nautical battle scene by one of the watercolor artists of the Hudson River School. It didn't look very promising for birds, but I just pulled my hood up to try to keep my glasses dry, just in case, and took off for about a mile and a half up the spit. I spotted a raptor scanning the back side of the barrier beach, but couldn't make out exactly what. A couple of geese flew over, and some gulls.
I walked along with a Bonaparte's Gull for a ways, and then came upon a number of gulls, Ring-billed, Herring, and Great Black-backed, fishing at the edge of the surf. Some on the sand and some in the water. Two Sanderlings scurried about the sand looking for morsels dropped by the gulls. While watching the gulls bobbing around in the surf, I noticed about 30 Black-winged Scoters. I wouldn't have even seen them if I hadn't stopped to watch the gulls. As I walked further out, I saw what I thought were more gulls fishing the surf. They acted like Bonaparte's though, flying back and forth and then just dipping in and immediately back into flight, never really landing in the water. Much too big for Bonaparte's though. Aha, a challenge. Got the all-white tails, the black legs, the smudgy back of the head, the black wing tips and the white edges to the upper wings. (Gulls are really hard to collect info on. If you look in the book first, you just get confused. I get as much as I can in my head, then go to the book.) Anyway, I found it, Black-legged Kittiwake. I know they're really common down here at this time, but it was my first. I thought it was pretty cool, trying to ID a bird by looking it up in a field guide in the poor light, in the rain, in the cold, with gloves on, etc.
I was hoping to see some sparrows in the grasses, but I was not rewarded. They knew better than to come out into the rain.
While we were watching the coots with the binoculars and the scope, we noticed that they weren't all coots. The tipped-up tail of Ruddy Ducks was evident. The males had white cheeks, females were just lighter on the cheeks, and both had a noticeable broad bill. All the way across the cove Chuck noticed the white forehead on the face of a male American Wigeon. We tried to get longer looks but the bird kept disappearing, probably diving. Shortly thereafter, to our left in the main part of Great Pond, a couple more American Wigeons appeared, and we had a good chance to look more closely. The bills are fairly short, and the white forehead on the male is easy to identify. I think females alone would be difficult.
We listened to the Black-capped Chickadees in the woods as we piled everything back in the car and headed up Herringbrook Road to Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. We stopped in at the Visitor's Center and checked the list for recent sightings. Noticing that a Peregrine Falcon and a Northern Harrier had been seen, we planned our walk to take us out to Cape Cod Bay. On the way to the shore, we passed through a short wooded section, where we were able to observe Black-capped Chickadees, a House Finch, a Northern Cardinal, and Blue Jays. Following the path to the Bay Trail (actually we missed the turnoff to Try Island because we were too busy watching the chickadees - oops) we were able to see Greater Yellowlegs posed in the marsh close by, while further out we saw Lesser Yellowlegs as well as some unidentifiable blackish ducks. At the edge of the marsh at the bay were herons and some gulls along with some gooselike birds. Following the trail along the edge of the marsh brought us a lot closer. With the scope set up, we could see Great Blue Herons, along with Tri-colored Herons. I forget how many of each, but Chuck probably wrote it down. The geese we decided were Canda Geese, but subspecies minima, because the size of the bird and the length of its neck were too small for the more common canadensis. Small flocks of Brant geese also entered and left the protected bay area and Buffleheads occupied a small spot about halfway out.
Retracing our steps, we found the correct path that would take us over the small bridge to Try Island. We met a couple from England who now live on Cape Cod and we chatted about the relative differences between birding here and in Great Britain. They were disappointed that all they saw were the yellowlegs. We knew we had the tide wrong for shorebirds, since it was just time for a high tide, but we pushed on anyway because we're just so relaxed about our birding. The wind was really picking up as we made our way around the side of the island. We noticed a flock of gulls dispersing and looking to the marsh to our south, we picked up a raptor hunting the marsh. The sun was behind it and it was difficult to determine what it was. Its size could have meant either the falcon or the harrier, but it kept disappearing into the grasses and did not give us a chance to identify it. As we turned onto the beach, Chuck, who was in front, noticed small birds with yellow faces. I knew they were the Horned Larks, because I had just seen them the other day in Eastham. They all flew off in a huff at our approach, but we knew they would show themselves again. A lone Black-bellied Plover watched us warily before flying off to join others poking around the shore by Hatches Creek to the south, along with the resettled flock of gulls. Moving further to the more protected side of the island, we settled in for some watching. Looking northward was best because of the sun at our backs. In the marshy bay, we could see groups of Brant moving about, new ones flying in and landing, and others leaving. Closer to us were russet-headed ducks which with a little work we were able to identify as Common Mergansers. The long reddish bill and the white chin and breast were clearly the marks of a female. Only one bird was possibly a male. There were none with a distinctive green-black head. Buffleheads were also visible from this vantage point. As we watched the bay, the larks did make a reappearance. They were much braver and popped in and out of the beach grass all around us.
Heading back to the Center and the car, we saw two American Crows posing very nicely in a dead tree. That would have made a nice picture. A quick check at Goose Pond revealed nothing, so on we went to the parking area. A bat box there was similarly devoid of inhabitants. As we were loading the car, I noticed a small hawk fly over and behind the center. It's size and lack of dark tail bands indicated it was an American Kestrel.
Next we headed north on Route 6. I pulled into the Marconi Site in the National Seashore, and we took a look out over the ocean. The height of the cliff is deceiving, and birds below appeared much smaller than you would think. 
A Great Black-backed Gull at the water's edge didn't look any bigger than a Bonaparte's and the Sanderlings scurrying about looked like insects, even though they were 8 inches. Looking seaward, we watched a large number of gulls and white birds fishing. When Chuck got his scope set up in the 50(?) mile an hour wind, he noticed that they were Northern Gannets. There must have been a couple of hundred there, rising up and plummeting, pulling in their wings at the last moment to dive into the surf like a bullet. It was an amazing spectacle. Over and over the birds kept diving, surfacing again to spend only a short time on the water, then up again to get another fish. Wow!
Since we were quickly freezing in the direct wind off the water, we packed up again and headed toward Indian Neck, a point which gives a good view of Wellfleet Harbor from the south. It was getting late now and we had less than an hour of daylight left. As soon as we got out of the car, we knew the wind was going to be a problem. We walked along the edge of the beach and checked out the Great Black-backed Gulls and the Double-crested Cormorants hanging about on a platform in the middle of the harbor. Three or four terns flew back and forth the length of the far shore, fishing the water. We could never get them in view long enough to tell what kind, but they were probably Common Terns. Most of the terns are gone from this area now. Chuck saw a black-headed gull, small, that we also failed to identify. White-winged Scoters flew into the harbor in small groups of about 5 at at time. The white on the wings of an otherwise all-black bird and the upside-down apostrophe around the eye are distinctive features. The bill is definitely different from other ducks, too, but you need a pretty good close-up to pick that out.
All in all, it was a very productive day. We got to identify 27 species, and saw another 3 that we couldn't quite get. I'll have to check Chuck's report to see if I counted right. Chuck and Patty came back to my house where we put lotion on our wind-burned faces, had a nice supper and played Scrabble far into the night. Unfortunately, they wound up driving in an awful rainstorm on the way back to Fitchburg, but got there safely, although very late. Can't wait til next time!
(Oh, the space socks worked pretty well. Numb toes only once at Marconi. I had my insulated boots and wool socks on too.)
The first stop was Great Pond on the Great Pond Rd beach. The wind was so fierce that I could barely stand outside the car without blowing over. The pond was covered with whitecaps and actually had waves beating the beach. The only birds visible in the choppy water were 20 or so Herring Gulls, all hunkered down. I decided to drive around to the Wiley Park side of Great Pond, since it is more protected. Here I had some luck. Very close to the beach were 3 Buffleheads, black and white diving ducks, two males and one female. They sure do have strange faces. It looks like there is no eye. The white cheek patch on the black face make the eyes almost invisible. Further out into the pond were probably fifteen more. But they were a little far away to be sure they were all Buffleheads. To my right were about 30 ducks, but the glare from the high sun made it difficult to spot particulars. They pretty much all looked dark. Not very good for an ID.
Next I drove over to First Encounter Beach, on Cape Cod Bay. I spotted a number of gulls in the marsh, where the tide was high. One looked like a Great Black-backed Gull, immature, and 2 immature Herring Gulls. The fourth was an adult Herring Gull. I turned into the parking lot facing the beach, and observed a flock of Northern Gannets flying over the bay parallel to the beach. I quickly got to 100 birds and then realized that the trailing end of the first flock was merging into another mass of the birds. That was when I stopped trying to count them and just watched. There appeared to be birds of all ages, some almost all dark, some partially black and white, and some adults that are almost all white.
They are truly huge, very impressive looking so close up. I waited in the car awile, watching the pounding surf (yes, the waves were rolling over in the strong wind), hoping the gannets would turn back, or another flock would pass by. The only birds there were an immature Herring Gull on the beach, another small gull aloft, probably a Bonaparte's, and a lone Sanderling. After about 15 minutes, I decided to go to the parking area at the end of the road out where the marsh joins the bay. There was a puddle in the road, which was being used by about 15 Horned Larks, along with six or so White-throated Sparrows. The larks have a yellow face and throat, with small hornlike plumes(?) and black marks across the eyes and down the cheeks, that make it appear they have Mardi Gras masks on. I stayed in the car, because that allowed me such a close look. The larks seemed to enjoy poking their bills into the dune and flopping about, wings spread, in the depressions they created in the sand. I hoped to see more marsh birds, but when I finally left the car, it was entirely too cold and windy to spend any time hunkered down watching.
On the road back toward Harwich, I stopped at Herring Pond for a quick look-see. Way on the other side was a Mute Swan, while in the bushes at the edge of the parking area was a very active Northern Mockingbird. Herring Gulls flew in and out. Five American Crows were active in the taller trees on the south side of the pond. I could spot Black-capped Chickadees in the pines around the lot, and could hear many more than I could see. As I watched, 5 Red-breasted Mergansers flew over and settled into the pond. They were followed by about 20 more ducks, altogether, but I couldn't be sure they were all the same. The first ones flew right over the boat landing area onto the pond, and were easily observed in flight as well as on the water. They have a long slender red bill, and a crest. Rusty chest, dark head, for the three males. Two females look similar but are gray and rusty colored. Same bill and rakish crest. Pretty, slender duck.
Today I took a short trip down to Red River Beach, which is on Nantucket Sound in Harwich. Basically it is the ocean, whose force is broken by Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket Island and Monomoy. The wind was still fierce after yesterday's storm. It was late in the afternoon, around 4:30, and I knew I wouldn't have much light because of the time change. I think the sun was to set around 5:20pm. Anyway, when I got there, the tide was almost high and there was a huge amount of seaweed thrown up at the high tide mark. One man was filling garbage pails with the fresh seaweed, probably to mulch his garden beds. I walked along the beach, and counted the gulls as I went along. Obviously the pickings were good, because I stopped counting after 75 Herring Gulls, 23 Ring-billed Gulls, and 40 Great Black-backed Gulls.
Popping back and forth with the edge of the wavelets were 13 Sanderlings. These cute little guys are very pale, very small shore birds. They are pale gray above, white below, dark beaks and legs. When they fly, there is a very distinctive white wing stripe. I only got to see one spread its wings when it got too close to an immature ring-billed gull, which stabbed at it and chased it as it withdrew. The sanderling flew up slightly to avoid the gull.
A gull I had never seen before spent the entire time using the wind to hold it stationary over the water's edge. It bobbed in the wind, ducked down into the surf for some morsel, then immediately resumed its position in the wind. Because of it's small size I considered the Laughing Gull, the Little Gull, Sabine's Gull and Bonaparte's Gull, but the black bill, pink legs and wing markings identified it as the Bonaparte's Gull. Two Great Blue Herons flew out of the marsh behind the beach, so I turned to see what I might find there. By now, the sun had long since set, and the light was seriously fading. I heard the sounds of many sparrows, but only got to see two Song Sparrows who were very cooperative about popping to the top of the bushes when I pished at them. One sang! every time, which was a pleasant way to end the afternoon.
This morning Paul Schaub, the naturalist I met last week at the Harwich Conservation Lands, called to see if I wanted to go birding with him. We were to meet at 3pm at the General Store in South Orleans. I decided to stop at Cow Yard Lane again, to see how Chatham Harbor and Tern Island looked after the storm. There were still hundreds of Black-backed Gulls on the island. I was surprised to see about 75 seals sunning themselves on the exposed sand bar, directly across. A fishing boat went by on one side, and the seals ignored it, but when it turned to make another pass, they all dove into the water. I watched for a while as they surfaced and dove. Then it was time to meet Paul.
I accompanied him in his car, since he was the one who knew where we were going. Basically he took me on a tour of the birding spots hidden away on the small peninsula that makes up South Orleans. It juts into Little Pleasant Bay, and is sheltered by the Nauset Spit on the East, and several islands scattered in the bay. Our first stop was Twinings Pond, off Quanset Road. He had seen some Redhead ducks here last week, and was hoping they would still be around. The wind was still very strong from the south, and all we could see were up-turned lily pads. Hiking into the woods to get to a better elevation and a more protected spot to view the pond, Paul carried his scope and I trudged along behind with all my books, binoculars and camera. We came to a spot that gave us an excellent view of the pond, but still no ducks. A Red-tailed Hawk bolted out of the tree tops and out of sight. As we scanned the water, Paul spotted a Common Loon. It was in its winter plumage, white cheeks and throat, gray bill. As we watched it with the scope, something startled it into flight. It had to get a running start to take off, and then circled around the pond in great sweeps, coming directly toward us, across our view and then away again. Three times, then it headed over the tree tops and was gone. We continued to walk around the perimeter of the pond until we were at the opposite side. There we spotted about ten Mallards, seven male and three female, dabbling in the shallow end.
After hiking back to the car, we headed down to the Quanset Pond Town Landing. This is a salt-water pond and has an outlet to bay. I think there was just one Herring Gull here. We headed back on Quanset Rd., passing Little Quanset Pond, where we spotted ten American Black Ducks. We headed for the landing by The Narrows opposite Sipson Island. You could see clearly across to the island, where there were many Black-backed Gulls and Herring Gulls. Two Black-bellied Plovers poked at the sand at the edge of the landing. Double-crested Cormorants and many gulls criss-crossed the narrows. A small dark sparrow in the marsh behind us kept us occupied for a while. We walked back along the road, hoping to flush it and the others calling in the grass and bushes. Although we got many quick looks of about five of them, it was difficult to identify the birds, though we suspect they were Seaside Sparrows.
Our next destination was Paw Wah Pond and its Town Landing, a short way up Little Pleasant Bay. Gulls, cormorants, and Great Blue Herons were in the bay. The rice grass had more sparrows, that eluded us again, and we watched a Northern Flicker. A Sharp-shinned Hawk swooped across the pond, into the trees by the homes there, and we could hear the sparrows as they dove even deeper into the grass. Three Mallards paddled toward us from the pond. Next we drove to the other side of the pond, where there is access to the shore through Orleans Conservation Trust land, called Paw Wah Point Conservation Area. It's a short hike through the woods to the beach on the bay. We walked along the beach as the sun set behind us. Two Great Blue Herons flew by, their long legs dangling behind. Black-backed and Herring Gulls still fished the water. As we walked along the beach, you could see where birds nested in the cliffs above us. One small thicket was alive with small birds, so we took the time to watch them in the fading light. Of about five or six birds we were able to identify one White-throated, one Sharp-tailed, and two Savannah Sparrows. We heard two American Robins, then they flew off. A ragged flock of Brants cut across the darkening sky, and then we headed back to the car.
Before dark, I took a quick trip to Chatham Harbor, during the Southeaster we were having. We had heavy wind all day; the flag at Monomoy indicated the winds were stronger than gale force. I thought we might see some pelagic birds or any unusual bird that would be blown off course by the high winds. It had not started to rain in earnest; this was about 4:30pm. Frederick (my husband), and I went first to the Chatham Fish Pier, which overlooks Chatham Harbor, right across from the break separating North Beach and South Beach. The back of Tern Island in the harbor, is visible from there. We were able to see several hundred Great Black-backed Gulls on the island, along with slightly less Double-crested Cormorants. Many gulls on the island were too small to identify without a scope. Gulls hung around the fish pier, stationary in the strong wind. There were also Herring Gulls around the pier, and on the island. As the sky grew darker, many of the DC Cormorants took off from Tern Island in huge black sweeps. Several flocks of Brants also flew across the harbor, heading south. The wind was so strong, that it was difficult to look through the binoculars because my whole body was vibrating like a flag on a pole.
We decided to go up the harbor a little to Cow Yard Lane, where it might be a little more protected from the wind. The tide was not yet all the way in, and we were able to make out shorebirds on the exposed sand at the north end of Tern Island. More, more, more Great Black-backed Gulls, hunkering down in the wind. It started to rain at this point, but I spotted some dark duck-like birds along the beach. I walked down slowly to try to identify them. The light was fading quickly as the storm geared up, but the five birds let me get fairly close. I recognized the knobby bill of a scoter, and as they moved cautiously away as I approached, I noticed the white wing patch of White-winged Scoters. Now the rain was really coming down; time to head back to the car.
Got back to the Harwich Conservation Lands this afternoon. I met an old friend there, just serendipity. He had come back from New Mexico at the end of the summer, and is now living over at Hawknest Pond (another bird paradise). Wrangled an invitation to supper at his house and an afternoon of birdwatching at Hawknest, probably next weekend. That should be neat.
This was in about 1 1/2 hours of just sitting at the footbridge.
October 13, 1995 -Today I made a trip to the Harwich Conservation Area. There's supposed to be excellent birding to be done there. I took the dirt road in all the way to the bridge at the south end. Aha, where were the birds? There wasn't one bird anywhere! Two huge marshes, a marsh to the left of me, a marsh to the right of me, woods behind me, brush ahead. No birds. I couldn't believe it. No quitter, here, I proceeded over the bridge and down the road on foot. Managed to scare up a few Yellow-rumped Warblers in the bay laurel. Aha, so there were some in there!
Feeling a little encouraged, I headed back toward the woods. The trees here are taller than you usually see in our area. Pretty tall for scrub pines, and oaks. I could hear many Black-capped Chickadees all over the place. Chickadeedeedeeing to each other and flitting around the tops. Wa-a-ay up high. I yakked back at them and kept on until I got to the northern end of the reservoirs. A man was fishing from a skiff in the West reservoir. The East reservoir has slower moving water, and is more reedy. But, again, no birds. There's supposed to be swans, herons, egrets, cormorants, ducks, etc. But I saw nothing at all! I took the trail around the northern side of the East reservoir, which runs between the woods and the cattails. I got out to one spot where I could see over the marsh, and I watched a bird hover and dive for about five minutes. Looked mostly black from there, but the sun was behind it. Trudged back out of the woods to the road between the reservoirs and sat down by the fisherman while looking through my guidebooks. As I was sitting there, the fisherman asked if I was birdwatching. I told him I was trying to, but the birds seemed to have taken the day off. He said he fishes there a lot and usually there are swans, blue herons, white egrets, and cormorants, all over the reservoir. He even had a notebook with him so he could write down what he saw. He said he's watched the ospreys nest and liked listening to their calls. He also noted a number of hawks recently. He waved his notebook at me from the boat, and joked about the complete lack of birds.
Next I headed back to the dirt road that goes to the footbridge to the island in the middle of the East reservoir. I got to the footbridge, and the reeds on the other side were so thick that you could barely make out the path to the island. A couple of Double-crested Cormorants made sweeping passes around the island. One flew so low over my head, that I could hear the wings flap. Spooky. I don't think it knew I was there. I just sat real still, it was so close. While I was watching them with the binoculars, I saw the same hovering bird in the middle of the marsh. It hovered, nose down, then dove. Did this over and over. Now the sun was behind me and the bird in front. I got an excellent view of it for about 15 minutes. Black bill, black legs, almost all black all over, except for the underside. When it perched on a dead tree, it looked like it had a white collar around its neck, but the white went down the front under its chin too. You could see that better when it was flying. The underside of the wings was much lighter too, I don't think as white as around the neck. Had a really bright white stripe just above the eye. I didn't want to take my eyes off it to look in the book, so I just kept watching it and memorized everything I could. Just before it decided to leave, I heard a lot of chip chipping in the bay laurel on the side of the path to the island. I took a look to see, and there was a band (group? bunch?) of Yellow-rumped Warblers playing in the bushes. They are so funny. They bounce around in the brush, then fly off and do acrobatics, synchronized flying with each other, dips and attacks, then back to the bush and bounce bounce again. They let me walk right down the path between the two bay laurels and the short scotch pine they were using, and didn't seem to mind me at all. Felt really weird to be standing in the middle of all this frenetic activity. My friend from Fitchburg, Chuck, explained that they are probably chasing insects, and since I'm an insect attractor (warm-blooded mammal), I was the perfect bait. He also has some suggestions for the hovering bird, which I am going to check out tomorrow.
There were Blue Jays flying back and forth now, and about eight American Crows in the trees on the island. Lots of cawing and jaying. I went back to the footbridge to sit on a rock, and a brown duck landed in the water to the right. I watched it swim and dive for a while, and looked through the guides to see if I could identify it. Suddenly, two Black Scoters flew overhead, very close, easy to see. They definitely have weird bills. Very round heads too.
Well, too many ducks to look through. I put up the binoculars again, and wham, in flew a heron. Dark legs, white throat, much smaller than a Great Blue. Flipped through the pages and found it. A Tri-colored Heron. It was beautiful. It kind of posed in the water, with its bill straight out, its neck stretched up and head forward. The white under the chin extends all the way down the front, and the underside was also white. What a neat bird!
Now a hawk flew over. Long, lazy gliding, it came from the island, around and then straight for the bridge. I got a good long look at it, top and bottom. Red-tailed Hawk. It didn't seem to find anything worth grabbing, but it gave me a look as it flew toward me, then over. I think I am a little large for a hawk meal! I wasn't too worried. The little voles or mice or whatever was scurrying around in the reeds had more to worry about.
I started to pack up to leave, about 5:30, when I heard this small racket in the cattails. It sounded like someone trying to sing with liquid and marbles in its mouth. Very persistent and very close. I stared and stared into the marsh, and had a very hard time locating the bird and then following it around. An artist who had been painting a landscape over by the cranberry bog where they were harvesting, joined me. I told him there was a bird in the reeds there and we both watched for a while. It popped up and flew aways a little, then another one joined it and they both flew back to where we were watching. Between the two of them, babbling and gargling there, I got some very good looks. They were Marsh Wrens, very white eyebrow, some white streaking on the back, rest brown or chestnut colored, long dark pointy bill. I guess they are fairly common there. But I have never seen them or HEARD them before. Really cute birds.
Now it was 6pm, and I had to get back. When I emerged from the woods at the bridge road, a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds had taken over the south side of the East reservoir. Big difference from when I arrived. The place was black with birds.
Today's birding was totally serendipitous. I had to go to the fabric store in Orleans to get material to repair a bear's nose. Unfortunately the fabric store was closed because it's Columbus Day! So, I dropped some stuff off at the Bird Watcher's General Store, and headed to First Encounter Beach to try to spot some of the mystery birds of Saturday. Well, the tide was high, and aside from some Herring Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants, I really didn't get to see much. I did flush a marsh bird twice, but didn't get close enough to identify it. After about an hour, I decided to head back home along the Bridge Road. As I approached Herring Pond, I figured I would just make a quick stop to see if any ducks had stopped for a rest.
Well... At first, it didn't look too promising. All I could make out were Herring Gulls, adults and immatures, bobbing around in the distance, along with some Double-crested Cormorants. There were two Greater Scaups that flew in and settled themselves in with the Gulls. I figured out what they were by their size, the dark beak, and the white pattern on the back edge of the wing. Very noticeable in flight. The male had a glossy greenish front, purplish head and greyish body. The female had this white ring around the base of the beak in front of her eyes. Mostly brownish body. There may have been more out there, but most of the birds on the pond were too far off. While I watched, a Mute Swan also joined the other swimmers, along with two Great Black-backed Gulls. I watched for a while, but the fishermen and other human visitors were going to keep the birds from coming in any closer. So I headed back for the car.
The parking lot borders a herring run, a shallow, concrete runway which goes under the road to allow the herring to swim in from the bay through the salt marsh and into the fresh water pond for spawning in the spring. There were plenty of small fish in the run now, and as I got to the car, I noticed many, many birds in the brush. The yellow rump was unmistakable. There were about 20-30 warblers bouncing around in the bushes, not 10 feet from me. They didn't seem particularly shy, and I got a good look at most of them. I quickly opened my Peterson's to the page Confusing Fall Warblers and once the anxiety attack was over, I spent about an hour watching the birds and checking the book. Most were the Yellow-rumped Warblers, but I'm sure there was at least one Blackpoll Warbler and several Palm Warblers. The Blackpoll was much yellower generally and had more defined wing bars. The rump was yellow, but not the very very bright yellow of the Yellow-rumped. The Palm Warblers had a distinctive lighter eyebrow and the yellowish rump, and were also yellowish under the wings toward the back. While watching the warblers, I also saw a Northern Mockingbird, three Blue Jays, one Northern Flicker, and several Song Sparrows. In the bushes near the ground, I heard the mewling of a Catbird. I imitated its call, like Chuck had at Fort Hill on Saturday, and it popped up to the top of the bush, about 4 feet from me. Just sat there and looked at me, then took off for the brush by the runway tunnel under the road.
As I followed it with the binoculars, something large flew in my line of sight and dropped into the herring run. I put the binoculars down to get a better look, and all I could see were two long yellowish legs on the bank of the run. The rest of the bird was hidden in the roots and tangle. I watched for several minutes, and first one foot, then the other stepped into the water at the edge. The bird was about 14 inches long, gray head, and brown and grey body. Very, long dark beak. It was very wary, and seemed to know I was watching. It moved very slowly along the edge, until I could no longer see it from where I was standing. I started to walk up to the road to see if I could get a better look from above, but I was unable to see anything through the thick brush. So I walked back to the parking lot, and took one last look. I guess my presence at the road motivated it to move closer to the pond in the runway, and I got an excellent look. We played this game twice more. It moved back toward the tunnel, I went up to the road, and it retreated back to where I could see it from the parking lot. Neat. Anyway, when I tried to get the camera to get a picture, it climbed up the bank again and only let its feet be visible. So, I've looked it up, and it's a Clapper Rail. Wow, was I excited to find it in the book.
So now I really got in the car to go home. About a mile later, I pulled over and took the bag with the books off the roof of the car. (Oops. Lucky they didn't fall off.) I headed toward Route 6 instead of taking the side roads back home, so I wouldn't be distracted by anything else. Enough for one day. However, as I got to the bottom of the Bridge Road and was heading in toward the highway, two huge forms filled the sky directly overhead. They kind of circled around, in a confused sort of way. About 40 inches across, wings curved upward, the ends looking like fingers, small head, both were streaked brown. They were so close I almost drove off the road. I have to learn how to drive and not look up. Anyway, I found them when I got home. Northern Harriers. A very impressive sight. I called the Bird Watcher's General Store so they could post the Clapper Rail on the board, so others could go over and see it. Pretty good day!
What a day we had! Chuck Seggelin of Chux's Pages and wife, Patty (a casual birdwatcher and definitely a very good sport), came down to the Cape from Fitchburg, MA, about 150 miles from here, to do some birdwatching down here. We've been corrresponding via e-mail since early September. When they got here around 10:30am, we had some tea and checked out the birds in my yard. Then off to Fort Hill, where I had been a few weeks ago. The tide was extremely high, probably due to the remnants of Opal. You could barely see the top of the marsh grass, and Nauset spit, which acts as a barrier beach for the marsh, was almost under wate. The breakers were very visible and high on the far side. Didn't look like we were going to see much out there, since the water was so high. We walked along the mowed field, and I saw my first Northern Mockingbirds. There were three or four, I think, and they were very cooperative about flying up so I could see the white patches on the wings and the long tail. We were able to identify Mallards among the many ducks that flew into the marsh as we walked the path. The rest were too far to identify positively. There were also Herring Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants overhead. Around the edges of the field bordering the red maple swamp, in addition to the Mockingbirds, we saw one Blue Jay, heard many Chickadees in the tall trees, (saw one, I think), watched a hawk fly over, too fast to identify, and heard the Catbirds mewing in the brush. Chuck did a good imitation and got one to pop up to the top of the bush it was in. But it freaked out immediately and dove back in. Four large American Crows landed in the field, with lots of noise. As we completed the circle around the field, the tide had started to go out, and the Great Blue Herons began to return to the reappearing marsh grass. Many shorebirds began to populate the sand spit, but we needed a scope to be able to identify any of them.
We left around 2pm and headed for First Encounter Beach, also in Eastham. This is on Cape Cod Bay. Tide was very high, but going out. We walked toward the marsh side of the beach, scanning the reeds and grasses. Some large American Crows kept watch from some trees in the distance. Many Tree Swallows flew back and forth over the marsh, very close to the plant tops. Their metallic blue upper sides made them easy to identify. We stalked several small sparrow sized birds in the grass. One was quite distinctive, but didn't give us enough of a look to make an ID. We were able to eventually identify Sharp-tailed Sparrows. They have their new plumage, with rusty yellow color over the eye and a streaked breast. There were also some Great Blue Herons out in the tall grass. As the water began to rush out of the marsh with the tide, Greater Yellowlegs positioned themselves in the stream, poking their bills into the sand. They were joined by two Great Black-backed Gulls, and possibly two juveniles, a Ring-billed Gull, as well as several Black-bellied Plovers. They didn't have black bellies because they are in their winter plumage. Confusing, but Chuck was able to identify them. There were also several (three?) much smaller birds, similar coloring but not plovers. Could be Semipalmated Sandpipers. A flock of Canada Geese flew overhead, and many, many Double-crested Cormorants dropped into the bay where their heads were the only thing visible, bobbing up and down with the small waves. More Herring Gulls, too. We circled around to the beach side, and saw Song Sparrows and Savannah Sparrows. They prefer the dryer beach grasses to the marsh.
By now, the weather was getting pretty nasty. Chuck and I were soaked, Patty had on her rain poncho (the only one with any common sense). I took them over to the Salt Pond Visitor's Center, where we looked through the museum. Then we went to Coast Guard Beach. The surf was amazing, probably due to Opal. Two surfers in wetsuits were coming up from the beach. We did see a few Black-bellied Plovers on the sheltered side of the barrier beach, along with some gulls. But it was much too foggy to identify them, or much else. Everything was turning to gray. On the path to the beach, in the brush, was a very bedraggled and wet Northern Mockingbird. We probably looked as bad to the bird. Time to head back to the house to get warm and dry. Which we did, and got to see some of the yard birds before the sun set. Then a flock (huge) of black birds, (mostly Red-winged I'm sure) descended on every tree within a hundred yards of the house and emptied the yard of small birds.
This is one of those realistic limbs that you're supposed to put in odd places, like a co-worker's desk drawer, in order to scare the wits out of him/her. Well, since we've worn out that joke, I decided to put it out on the deck with black oil sunflower seeds in the cupped palm. The Chickadees and Titmice are particularly fond of those and they land on the hand now frequently to get the prize seed. One of these days, I'm going to just flop my hand out next to it, with the seed in my palm, and hopefully, they'll take it from me instead of the prosthetic hand. Chuck thought this was very funny and a little weird. He took this shot and the ones above with his video camera today.
So, we had a wonderful day of birding. Chuck got two lifers. Most of mine are lifers, since I've just started. It was great to have someone with some experience with me. I didn't have to spend so much time looking at the field guides to find the birds we were seeing. I got to see many more birds because my nose wasn't buried in the book the whole time. Now I'll be able to go back, hopefully in weather that's a little dryer, and reacquaint myself with all the birds we saw today, try to find the ones we couldn't identify, and read up on the new visitors that the changing seasons will be bringing. I had so much fun today, and lots more to look forward to. Thanks, Chuck. Did I remember everything?
Go to the Backyard Feeder
This is a log of Recent Observations. Only a couple of days are kept here
or visit the Older Backyard Feeder Logs which are kept here.
Here is my Life List, a list of bird species that I have identified.
Here is a collection of the latest postings to the Birdchat - East email list, for your perusal.
Here is the Hypermail version of the BIRDEAST Mailing List.
Check here for the latest Massachusetts Regional Rare Bird Alerts
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