Class Trip #2 -- The Canal

On Sunday, February 6th, we got our second class trip in. And it was quite a beautiful day. We met near the Railroad Bridge in Bourne and with just six of us on the trip we managed wonderfully in just two cars. We decided to bird both sides of the canal near the RR bridge and then head to Falmouth in hopes of finding the Harris' Sparrow, head up to Sandy Neck, do the Sandwich end of the canal and then circle back down to Bourne. The Bourne end of the canal on both sides is wonderful for close looks at large numbers of Common Eider.

The tides weren't perfect for close looks, but we did have eiders moving all around and managed really close looks at both male and female ducks.

This is the peak time for breeding plumage on the males, and they really are quite beautiful. We spent some time looking for a female King Eider....but to no avail.

There seemed to quite a bit of traffic in the canal this Sunday morning. For some reason the last couple of times we were hear, we did have much in the way of cargo ships, but today was something different.

We watched several tugboats escorting barges loaded with cargo up through the canal from Buzzard's Bay to Cape Cod Bay.

It was interesting to watch the Common Loons trying to stay out of the way of the boats, which brought some quite close to the shore.

Unfortunately our side trip to Falmouth proved futile. When we arrived at the house where the Harris' Sparrow was being seen, the owner informed us that she had not seen the bird that morning at all. We were speculating whether the milder weather had prompted the bird to move on; however, we learned that the bird was back in the same neighborhood the next day. So it was just a case of us being there at the wrong time.

We decided to head up to Sandy Neck and stopped for at Dunkin Donuts to use the facilities and refresh on coffee and donuts. As we were waiting for everyone to assemble back at the car, I noticed a particularly beautiful weather vane and decided to photograph what might be our only heron "species" of the day.

Unfortunately, Sandy Neck was as disappointing as Falmouth had been. They're doing some construction in the area, so parking was very restricted and the small observation platform where we've set up scopes before was behind a fenced off construction site. We did manage to get a couple of good sightings of whales from shore before we headed off to the north/east end of the canal.

We had a nice mixed flock of Sanderlings and Dunlin on the rocky shore near the restaurant (not sure of the name, I think it's called Hemispheres). For the class it was a great study of these two winter shorebirds comparing the coloration and bill structure.

After a while Mark gave me the okay to try to closer to photograph them, and I was doing well until a local came along running their dog. Although it did provide a couple of good shots of the shorebirds in flight.

We also had some Purple Sandpipers on the jetty on the far side of the canal...a tough look even in the scope. And while we didn't have any alcids (Razorbills have been somewhat frequent in this area), we did get nice looks at Harlequin Ducks (which were unusual for us in this spot) and these Long-tailed Ducks that were somewhat close.

Again, providing great opportunities for the class to study the plumage differences between female and male birds. As it turned out I don't have a lot of shots of this species, so it was a nice bonus for me to be able to get close enough to actually see the long tail on this male.

We poked around the nearby Sandwich Marina and had this very close female Red-breasted Merganser paddle out from under some nearby pilings.

And, as usual, we had a nice flock of Brant on the grass near Joe's Seafood store.....

In addition to the ducks going into breeding plumage, you see the same thing with gulls. This adult Greater Black-backed Gull couldn't have been more handsome.

Landbirds were fairly scarce (except at feeders) so this little Song Sparrow seemed kind of lonely as he poked around by himself in the grasses under the benches.

We headed back down Rt. 6A, over the Bourne Bridge and picked up cars in the parking lot near the RR bridge where we had left earlier in the day. As everyone was pulling out, I spotted a hawk perched in the trees at the far end of the lot. So we ended the our list for the day with this Cooper's Hawk.

We ended our trip with a total of 36 species in this relatively compact area and had very good looks at several species of waterfowl....just what one is supposed to do on the southeastern coast of Massachusetts in winter!

Enjoy......Sheila

Lark Sparrow in Devens - 1/29/11

About the only good thing happening with all this snow and ice is that it's focusing more birds at feeders....not necessarily good for the birds, but it does make it easier for birders. So when Kevin Bourinot let us know that he had found his 2nd Lark Sparrow of the season in the Devens area (maybe the same bird?) we headed out last Saturday morning before more predicted bad weather hit.After searching 3-4 fairly good feedings areas Mark spotted the sparrow flying down to the ground under a feeder. A little hard to see, but he kept popping up so you could see the facial markings.

Finally this handsome little bird perched right up in the crook of a tree....

where he sat for several minutes looking around...

He then flew off a short distance....

and perched up again for a few seconds this time.

Finally he flew into a Forsythia hedge and preened for a few minutes before flying out of the yard and heading to another house with feeders up the hill.

This is such a handsome little sparrow that it's always such a pleasure to spend a little time with one. I just hope he's surviving all this crazy winter weather.

Enjoy.....Sheila

Class Trip to Plymouth - Sunday, 1/30

Right about now we are wondering if doing a 3-week class on southeastern Coastal Massachusetts was a good idea! Our first class came off without a hitch; however, the trip planned for the weekend of January 22nd was cancelled due to "inclement weather". Then our second class got cancelled due to snow! But we were able to hold our first trip on Sunday, January 30th -- to Plymouth. We carpooled from Worcester and met a few other folks at Plymouth Rock hoping to find the harbor open....which we did.

There were large numbers of Common Eider in the harbor and we got some great looks at this handsome duck. Some were even obliging enough to come out of the water and pose for us on the rocks.

Probably the second most common duck (after Eider) were Buffleheads. Some were catching food quite close to the shore, although this male was definitely cautious with the two females he had in tow.

Not sure if he thought my camera was a gun or not, but he decided to take off...

and the females flew after him.

After thoroughly checking the harbor for anything out of the ordinary, we moved off the immediate shoreline to check out the infamous Jenney's Pond. This is the area that always seems to stay open by the Jenney Grist Mill Museum.

Didn't have as many species of ducks as I would have hoped, but even asleep you can spot this male Gadwall.

One of the more exciting birds, though, was this little Pied-billed Grebe moving in an among the Mallards and Blacks.

This is a good bird to find in the dead of winter, and since some of the pond was frozen, he seemed to be out and about far more than I usually see one.

One of the specialties I always hope for is Lesser Black-backed Gull. It seems that this same (?) bird has been visiting this little pond for the last 6+ years. I'm assuming it's the same bird, since that seems more plausible than a new one visiting every year.

You couldn't have asked for better views on a class trip.

We got to watch him fly off several times, perch on one of the lights in the parking lot, and just hang with the Ring-billeds for size comparison.

It wasn't until I got great looks at this bird in flight, that you realize just how long-winged and slender he is. All in all a very nice show.

We then went to that parking lot at the entrance to the big jetty and came upon this gentleman who was totally into "his" pigeons. He spent about 20 minutes feeding them all sorts of food and talking to them. Seemed a little strange....especially when they were landing all over him.

And, of course, all that free food brought the gulls in as well, including this pale juvenile (1st winter) Iceland Gull.

This bird was so much paler than other Kumlien's that we see, Mark's wondering if it might have been a true Iceland Gull from Greenland.

Regardless, he was one cooperative gull and everyone in the class got great looks.

There was also a good show of Brant and Dunlin at the Nelson Street playground, but unfortunately I didn't get any photos since Mark sent me on a field trip to check out Spooner's Pond in Kingston. This is the area where there was a Redhead last year, but all I had there was about a dozen Coot, 2 Pintails and 3 female Common Mergansers.

Having both Common and Red-breasted Mergansers on this trip was good, but we missed getting Hooded so we didn't get the merganser "trifecta" that I know Mark was hoping for.

Still it was a great trip, the weather was delightful and on the way home we stopped at Cumberland Farms and got at least 4 different Rough-legged Hawks. And we got one of the class trips in.....now if only the weather will cooperate so that we aren't doing this little, 3-week class into March!

Enjoy...........Sheila

Winter Show at the Worcester Airport

With so much snow flying around this winter, much of our birding has been closer to home. The Worcester Airport has been consistently good for great looks at Horned Lark and Snow Buntings. It hasn't seemed to matter whether you go early in the morning or later in the afternoon -- we've had flocks of up to 100 of each species. Most of the time we pull into the parking lot just east of the terminal building past the rental car lots. With the snow piles starting to grow, often the birds are just perched on their man-made tundra.

They can be out on the edges of the runway or right in the parking lot, but if you wait for a few minutes you'll definitely have birds fly in and feed.

This snow bunting was right in the parking lot 5 feet in front of our car.

And while the larger groups tend to be in specie-specific flocks, there's lots of mingling going on when they starting feeding in the parking lot. So it's a great chance to study the various plumages of both species....and the adults vs. some of the younger birds as well.

The Horned Larks definitely seem less skittish and allow for closer approach, which is great for photography.

On the bird below you can actually see the tine "horns" showing on either side of his head.

The Horned Lark is a rare breeder in Massachusetts; the Breeding Bird Atlas shows only 24 blocks where this bird is a confirmed breeder.....and only two of those are in Worcester County. So spending time with flocks of these birds is really quite enjoyable.

I'm looking forward to seeing how long they stay at the airport into spring (oh wait, maybe I'm just looking forward to spring!)

We've had other species in the vicinity around the airport as well -- a Rough-legged Hawk and a small flock of Common Redpolls being the most notable.

One evening at dusk as we were coming down from the airport on the Mill Street side, we had a flock of Turkeys which had obviously just put up in the trees to roost for the night.

Living in the city, it's always nice to reaffirm just how much wildlife can still exist.

Enjoy.....Sheila