Trip Highlights

Clouds, rain and snow were all in the forecast for the weekend, but seven members braved the weather to enjoy some winter surprises in RI.  A light breeze with temps in the mid-30s made our first day quite bearable.  Day two was not as pleasant, with rain throughout the morning, and snow-covered roads on the drive home in late morning.  Rather than following our usual stops on this long-running Rhode Island trip, we planned more of a hotline route, using eBird reports to guide the way.  

Day 1

The Barrow’s Goldeneye previously reported at Colt State Park in Bristol had not been seen for a week, but we were lucky enough to spot a female on our last scan of Narragansett Bay before heading out. We did not find the male, however.  Also of interest were three species of shorebird, Ruddy Turnstone, Dunlin and Sanderling, hunkered into a corner where they blended into the beach shells and rocks perfectly.  A Peregrine Falcon flew by close in and low enough for us to see it was carrying breakfast in its talons.  The many Brant, Bufflehead, and lesser numbers of Common Goldeneye were all floating on waters very close to shore.  There were over 300 Canada Geese feeding in the grassy fields opposite the bay and 4 Horned Larks flew in, with one calm bird giving us spectacular scope views.

A Cackling Goose was reported feeding with 150 Canadas at St. Barnabas Church in Portsmouth, but when we arrived there after a nearby rest stop at Grafik Coffee Co on Rte. 138, there were no geese in sight.  From there we headed directly to Fort Adams State Park in Newport to try for a Dickcissel, reported to be feeding with a Lark Sparrow and several Song Sparrows near the Eisenhower House earlier in the week.  This was the second minor disappointment of the day, because our search turned up very little in the way of sparrows, excepting one Song, one Whitethroat and one House Sparrow.  We did pick up Mockingbird and Carolina Wren during the search and snuck in a scan of the ocean waters to find our only Razorbill and two Common Loons before retiring the spot.

We scoped out the fields near the Newport Country Club looking for the reported Ross’s Goose, but again no Ross’s and actually no geese at all.

Brenton Point State Park on Ocean Dr in Newport was next on the list of planned birding stops.  At this location we found all three scoter species in small numbers, Common Goldeneye and Eider, over a dozen Harlequin Ducks, Bufflehead, Long-tailed Ducks, Common Loons, Horned Grebes and 40+ Purple Sandpipers flying back and forth with occasional stops on the rocky shoreline lasting long enough for us to get a good count.  As we were finishing up, one of us noted an up-to-date report of the Ross’s Goose at Jamestown Reservoir, so off we went, across the bridges to a new birding location.

Jamestown Reservoir did turn up excellent views of a Ross’s Goose (see photos) and also there were a couple dozen Canada Geese, two Common Mergansers, a Red-tailed Hawk, a Turkey Vulture and a Red-bellied Woodpecker.  Since we were on the west side of the bridges, and the forecast threatened to cancel birding for the next day, we decided to try for a reported Chat and hit some of the coastal spots in the area before dark.  We missed completely on the Chat at John H Chafee Wildlife Refuge but did manage to find two Black-headed Gulls along the shore at Scarborough State Beach, and the waters held a dozen Black Scoters, 3 Long-tailed Ducks, two Horned Grebes and the grassy area beside the parking gave us thirty more Horned Larks.  

From there we headed towards Pt. Judith, parking at Camp Cronin Fishing Area. Here we saw our first and only Bonaparte’s Gulls for the trip, another dozen Purple Sandpipers, one Common and two Red-throated Loons, a Surf Scoter and a lone Double-crested Cormorant.

Our last birding spot of the day was in Galilee at Salty Brine State Beach, adding more of the same seabirds.  

Day 2

Rain, rain, rain, but several of us ventured to Easton and Green End Ponds to pick up a few new species for the trip.  There we found 10 Coot, 6 Hooded, 12 Red-breasted and 6 Common Mergansers, 6 Ruddy Ducks, 3 Lesser and 1 Greater Scaup, 2 Mute Swans and a Wood Duck lurking at the water’s edge, where branches hung low providing cover.

Before the rain became very heavy, we headed back to Fort Adams State Park to try for the Dickcissel once more.  Again, we failed to find the bird, but did find a couple of flocks of sparrows, giving us more Songs and Whitethroats, a Tree, a Chippy, and a Lark Sparrow for our efforts.  We managed to rack up 63 species and some added several “life-birds” to their lists.

Eight members met up in the Northampton commuter lot on Old Ferry Rd at 10:00 AM.  The forecast called for the rain to settle down and maybe even stop by then, but it was not to be.  

We headed to the Honey Pot in Hadley to search for the reported Northern Shrike.  The bird was not in the landfill area, one of the spots it had been seen, so we regrouped on Cemetery Rd for a walk down the dike to the river to check out another location of reported shrike sightings.  No birds were moving around, and the rain was still coming down lightly, but persistently.  Well after arriving at the river, the skies lightened up, the rain stopped, and the birds began to appear.

Donna found a Northern Harrier across the field, perched in a tree to our south.  We all got scope looks, later the same harrier was found perched on a fence, giving us much closer views.  A Common Merganser was spotted on the river and a Merlin perched high in a tree on the far side of the river.  We heard Horned Larks fly over many times and spotted three groups that totaled to approximately 150 birds.  

When we turned around to head back down the dike, there was a bird perched atop a large leafless tree.  It resembled a Mockingbird, but the posture was upright.  We hurried to get a scope view and it was the immature Northern Shrike, our target bird for the trip.  Lois was able to capture the bird in a photo. If you click on the photo and look closely, you can see the tell-tale hook on the shrike's beak. Now all of us were smiling, but more awaited.  As we were saying our goodbyes, 3 Bald Eagles came into view to put frosting on the cake of a well-planned hotline trip.   See complete list below.

What better way to start the new year than by venturing out for a day of coastal birding.  Six members were game to go, and rather than follow the scheduled route of birding Falmouth, Sandwich and Plymouth, we checked the latest rare bird reports and decided to head straight to Eastham.  A Western Kingbird was the draw, and the views of the kingbird were plenty of reward for the extra drive, but we were also rewarded with eye-dropping views of a Lark Sparrow and four Savannah Sparrows, perched all together in low vegetation on the visitor center grounds.

With some advice from local birders, we went to Herring Pond next, also in Eastham, and counted large numbers of many types of waterfowl, including 58 Ring-necked Ducks, 26 Ruddy Ducks, 20 Wigeon, 15 Red-breasted and 12 Hooded Mergansers, 5 Bufflehead and one stunning male Redhead Duck. At Town Cove in Orleans, we added 2 Belted Kingfishers, a Coot, 4 Gadwall, 5 Greater Scaup, and 25 Black Ducks.  That completed our pond birding, but we were anxious to see what the ocean waters held for us.  

We headed to Nauset Beach on the Nantucket Sound side of the Cape, where the waters were calm and the sky was eerie, as New England was expecting a northeaster to begin that evening.  Maybe the Razorbills knew, because we counted 55 of them spread out, mostly in small groups. Also there were 5 Red-throated and 2 Common Loons, 10 Gannets relatively close in and diving for food, 45 Black Scoters and single digit presence of White-winged and Surf Scoters, as well as Long-tailed Ducks.

From there we drove north to bird the bay side of the Cape, with the first stop being Corporation Beach in Dennis.  The number of seabirds was not quite as impressive, but the variety was good, and we added Horned Grebe to the day’s list.  We traveled just a short way to visit Dennis Chapin Beach and it turned out to be a perfect choice.  The tide was still out and the beach stretched far out into the bay.  There were over a hundred Dunlin, some close in, some farther away.  With the more distant Dunlin were over 50 Sanderlings, and very close in were two Black-belled Plovers.  As we packed up our scopes and walked back to the parking lot, one of us notice a Red Fox making its way across our path, and then we all saw a second Red Fox follow in pursuit.

We were hoping to get on the road early in an effort to beat the snowy forecast, but there was one last spot in the offing and that was Town Neck Rd in Sandwich.  We found the Treehouse Brewery parking lot to be quite busy, with just a few spaces available.  There was a large raft of Common Eider not far offshore, 5 Razorbills, some Black, White-winged and Surf Scoters, a dozen or so Red-breasted Mergansers, one Goldeneye and over 50 Robins flying about the hedge at the edge of the lot and swirling everywhere we looked as we exited.

For a cloudy day with temperatures hovering in the mid-30s and just a light northeast breeze, it’s a wonder most of us still felt cold at some point during the day. We ended as darkness approached with a total of 54 species and many moments of laughter to make the day even more memorable.

This was our 33rd year of participation as Cobble Mtn Circle in National Audubon’s Christmas Count.  Here’s a rundown of how we did this year compared to past years.  We brought in a total of 66 species, down three species from last year, but still three over average.  Observer number was down by one birder and hours in the field was down by seven, but both were above average for the count.  Water was unfrozen for the most part, excepting some thin ice on the edges of still, shallow waters. The temperature ranged between 20-40 degrees F, the morning had clear skies, but clouds prevailed in the afternoon with a light breeze out of the S at 0-5 mph.

You could say things were ho-hum this year, with most species and numbers coming in about average.  There was one species found in a higher number than usual and that was Golden-crowned Kinglet.  We counted 35 kinglets, 5 above average, and we must go back to 2009 to find a higher count of 47.

There was also one species found in notably lower numbers than usual.  It was the House Sparrow.  At 174 individuals, it was 200 below average and the lowest number ever recorded on the count.  YAY!!!

We were fortunate to find some rarer species.  It seems Congamond always comes through for us, and this year the lakes gave us two American Wigeon (first time recorded), two Green-winged Teal (seen only one other time over the last 10 years), and 4 Greater Scaup (highest number of individuals to date). Pine Siskins had the highest count in the last 15 years at 37.  And finally, a Pine Warbler and a Vesper Sparrow were found for the first time ever in count history.

An unfortunate miss for this year was Sharp-shinned Hawk. The year 2013 was the only other count where this species was not recorded.  

Three count week species were added by Dave McLain and Kim Jones.  On the day after the count, they found 18 Lesser Scaup, 1 Pied-billed Grebe, and 1 Ruddy Duck on Congamond.

Special thanks to Joanne Fortin, who hosted the compilation and is always generous and gracious about sharing her home with the group.

Click below to view or download complete count results.

2023 Cobble Mtn CBC

Click below to view or download complete count results.

2023 SPFLD CBC Results