Cape Ann again

Took another trip out to Cape Ann this weekend, with the hopes of seeing a continuing Thick-billed Murre, as well as a possible Dovekie, Razorbill, and Iceland Gull.

We started off at the Jodrey Fish Pier, the site of the Thick-billed Murre. After about 5 minutes, we had seen 2 Iceland Gulls, 25 Red-Breasted Mergansers, 6 Greater Scaup, 2 Common Goldeneye, 15 Common Eiders, and 10 Bufflehead.

Iceland Gull blending into the water (center)

 All of a sudden, the Murre popped out right in front of us. Unfortunately, my camera was dead, so I only have digiscopes:

Thick-billed Murre!

The Jodrey Fish Pier stop brought 4 Year Birds: Thick-billed Murre, Iceland Gull, Common Loon, and Greater Scaup.

We then stopped at Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester to try for the Lapland Longspur. When we arrived, we found a mixed flock of about 300 American Black Ducks and Mallards. Then, in the parking lot, we found the flock of Horned Larks and Snow Buntings the Longspur had been with. After a couple minutes, we found the Longspur! The flock wouldn't sit still for photos.

On the way out, we saw 2 Northern Harriers hunting the marsh, as well as a Peregrine Falcon!

That stop brought 5 Year Birds: Horned Lark, Snow Bunting, Lapland Longspur, Northern Harrier, and Peregrine Falcon. The year total is now 48. 

New Year's Day Birding!

This New Year's I headed out to Cape Ann in hope of alcids, Purple Sandpipers, sea ducks, Great Cormorant, and 2 species of rare goose that had shown up.

We started at Andrew's Point, a well known sea-watching spot. Within 30 seconds, we found Harlequin Ducks, and lots of them!  There were about 100 in the general area!

Some shots:

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a Great Cormorant, and managed to snap a distant picture

It's very heavily cropped, he was a ways out.

We headed on to Bass Rocks, in hopes of a recently reported King Eider. We struck out, but managed to find Common Goldeneye, Horned Grebe, Bufflehead, and White-winged and Surf Scoters. No pictures, they were quite distant.

We then went to try and find a continuing Ross's Goose and Red-headed Woodpecker. On the way there, I saw a little white dot a hundred yards out in some trees. It turned out to be a Snowy Owl! I got some crappy record shots. 

A couple minutes later, we arrived at the goose spot, and immediately picked out the white Ross's from the darker Canada Geese. A couple of other birders had located a Cackling Goose, which they were kind enough to show us in their scope! 

Jan. 1 brought a total of 36 species for the year list, 4 of which were lifers.

Lifers: Harlequin Duck, Great Cormorant, Ross's Goose, Cackling Goose

Owl Irruption!

This fall, New England has been inundated with Snowy Owls! Today, I went out to Plum Island to try my luck at finding some, as well as looking for a Rough-Legged Hawk, Razorbill, and Red-Necked Grebe.

We found the first Snowy Owl before we even arrived at the refuge. It was perched on someone's truck, allowing for great views. Then it took off, and I got some great shots!

We also managed to find Long-Tailed Duck, Rough-Legged Hawk, and 3 more Snowy Owls!

Comment if you like!

Sam

Snowy Owl!

The day before Thanksgiving, an incredible county report of 2 Snowy Owls came in on Ebird! I wasn't able to chase them until the day after Thanksgiving, but I was successful! One searcher was already there, and he was able to point them out to my Dad and I in his scope. From there, I was able to get some incredibly blurry, far-away shots:

They didn't seem to be bothered by the airplanes taxiing nearby (Owl on the 2 sign)

Woohoo! A yearbird and a great county bird!

Next, we went looking for some recently reported Horned Larks, and were successful, also finding Snow Buntings and American Pipits.

Horned Larks were a lifer! My year list is now 229, and my life list 242!

Sam

Plum Island

This weekend, my Dad and I took a trip out to Plum Island in Newburyport, MA, one of Massachusetts' premier birding spots. We hoped to see some sea ducks, Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, and especially Rough-Legged Hawk.

We arrived at about 7:45, and just as we were pulling into the refuge, a Coyote ran across the road about 15 yards in front of our car! We watched it run off into the marsh, and a couple of seconds later, 2 ducks flew off :) .

In the Lot 1 Ocean, we found a huge flock of ducks, loons, and grebes, containing Common and Red-Throated Loons, all 3 Scoters, Horned Grebes, Long-Tailed Duck, and Red-Breasted Merganser. Long-Tailed Duck, Red-Throated Loon, and Horned Grebe were lifers!

At the Salt Pans, the recently reported Avocet was nowhere to be found, but there were lots of Wigeons, Pintails, Hooded Mergansers, and Black Ducks to keep us occupied. Across the road were 4 American Tree Sparrows.

Down the road, Hellcat had lots of Bufflehead, Hooded Mergansers, Wigeon, Black Duck, and Mallard. Also present was a late Great Egret and an even later Snowy Egret! We also saw 2 Northern Harriers fly by, and a Bald Eagle was being harassed by a Great Black-backed Gull.

Next, we checked out the Pines Trail. Not 15 feet down the path, we happened upon a flock of sparrows, with Dark-eyed Juncos, White-Throated Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, American Tree Sparrows, and a Yellow-Rumped Warbler. I was scanning the flock, when a new sparrow landed nearby. It turned out to be a Field Sparrow, my first. When we arrived at the overlook, we saw the same Bald Eagle from Hellcat perched on a pole, as well as 10 Gadwall and 5 Hooded Mergansers.

Stage Island was pretty much dead when we arrived, and we missed the Rough-Legged Hawk by 15 minutes. However, we did find a flyover flock of Snow Buntings, the day's 5th lifer! Stage Island also had Hooded Mergansers, Bufflehead, and a Hermit Thrush.

Sandy Point was devoid of shorebirds, but 10 Common Loons and 4 Red-Throated Loons, as well as a close raft of 40 Common Eiders were cool to see.

On our way back, we stopped at Cross-Farm Hill, only to find that a Rough-Legged Hawk had flown out of view not 30 seconds before we had arrived. Needless to say, we weren't happy. But that didn't dim our spirits too much, after all, we had had a 5 lifer day.

 Red-Throated Loon

Horned Grebe

 Field Sparrow

 Common Eiders

 Snow Buntings

 Bald Eagle

White-Throated Sparrow

5 lifers raises my ABA list to 232, and my year list to 226.

Rarity Weekends

On October 6th, a funky hummingbird turned up at a Manchester, NH feeder. It turned out to be a Calliope Hummingbird, the very first New Hampshire record! It's still there as of November 9th. I went up to see it on the 2nd, and got some great looks and okay pictures.

Then, this weekend, a Western Kingbird was refound at Barrett's Mill Conservation Land in Concord, MA. I went on Friday morning, but the Kingbird had disappeared just a minute before I arrived. Then, on Saturday, I went again, and was successful, but only saw it for about 30 seconds before it disappeared.

Also there were some Rusty Blackbirds (I didn't see any, but others did),  American Tree Sparrows, and a Fox Sparrow.

Good Birding!

Sam

The Birder's Guide to Carlisle

As many of you know, I have been working on a guide to birding in Carlisle, MA, for the past 4 months. Well, I am happy to announce that it is now up and running! You can view it from this link: http://zyzzyva.wix.com/birdingcarlisle!

Happy Birding!