Trip Highlights

Fourteen members gathered in Gloucester for a weekend of birding on the North Shore.  We saw some great birds, but only wish we had better views of some of them (especially for the newcomers).  However, the weather was with us, and we had an enjoyable time.  We ended up with 64 species, 52 on Saturday and additional 12 on Sunday.

Many locations gave us looks at Long-tailed Duck, Surf, Black and White-winged Scoters, C Eider, Bufflehead, C Goldeneye and Harlequin, as well as Common and Red-throated Loons, RB Merg, Black Ducks, Mallards and Brant. It was a good year for alcids.  A Thick-billed Murre was the highlight at Jodrey’s Pier, Blk Guillemot at Brace Cove and Atlantic Ave, and Dovekie and Razorbill at Cathedral Rocks, plus four more Razorbills at Lot 1, Plum Island. Rapters were aound too, Red-tailed Hawk and Bald Eagle at a several spots, a Harrier near Good Harbor Beach, and Peregrine Falcon and Rough-legged Hawk at Plum Island.
Other highlights were an Iceland Gull at Niles Pond, five Red-necked Grebes at the Elks Club, a Snowy Owl in good light at Hellcat, and two Short-eared Owls from the tower before the end of the road at Plum.

The trip was originally schedule to go from Amherst to Turners Falls, but was rescheduled to walk along the CT River for a mile in South Hadley and spend time at the Hadley Cove.  The day was clear, dry, windy and very cold as seven die-hard birders scanned the river to find 48 Canada Goose, 6 Common and 1 Hooded Merg, 225 Mallard, 2 Black Duck, 3 Bald Eagle, 3+ Redtail, and 8 RB Gulls. Landbirds were 3 Red-bellied and 1 Pileated Woodpecker, 1 Robin, 10 Crows, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Cardinal, 1 Titmouse, 3 Carolina Wrens, 1 House and 2 Goldfinch and 2 Song Sparrows. Being out birding beats almost any other activity, even in the winter cold!

The Rhode Island trip was postponed one week to this first weekend in February due to harsh weather forecasts for the previous weekend.  Six members counted 73 species in total, including several infrequent visitors to the area. Extra special highlights were a Barrow’s Goldeneye, a Eurasian Wigeon, a Glaucous Gull, an Iceland Gull, a dozen Redhead Ducks, a Tufted Duck, a male King Eider, and a Catbird.

‍Day 1 - We began the birding at Watchemocket Cove, getting 2 Red-breasted Mergansers, two dozen Black Ducks, 8 American Wigeon, 6 Gadwall, 7 Bufflehead, 6 Mallards, 14 Mute Swans, and a few songbirds.

Next stop was Colt State Park, where we found the target Barrow’s Goldeneye before we even exited our cars, and as we were leaving the Park, we spotted 300+ Brant and 28 Horned Larks. Also noted in between were 6 Common Goldeneye, 9 Red-breasted Mergansers, 10 Black Ducks, a Bufflehead, a Common Loon, 2 Horned Grebe, a Great Black-backed Gull, 30 Herring Gulls, 30 Ring-billed Gulls, 10 Crows.  

From there we headed to Boyd’s Lane Marsh and easily picked up Eurasian Wigeon, among over a dozen American Wigeon, a half dozen Black Ducks, our only Green-winged Teal, 1 Carolina Wren and 25 Robins.

After all this excitement, it was time to head to our favorite spot, Coastal Roasters, for R & R and some refueling. Next stop was Ruecker Wildlife Refuge in Tiverton. We walked through the trail system, adding many songbirds to the list.  We saw or heard 2 Goldfinch, 2 House Finch, 4 Chickadees, 10 White-throated Sparrows, a Downy and a Red-bellied Woodpecker, 2 Cardinals, 6 Titmouse, 3 White-breasted Nuthatches, 10 Robins, 2 Blue Jays, 12 Starlings, a Red-breasted Merganser and a Red-tailed Hawk.

Then we took a slow drive with several stops along the Sepowet Marsh Loop.  We spotted a few raptors, including a Red-shouldered, a Red-tailed, and a Cooper’s Hawk, and one Harrier.  Waterfowl present were 35 Canada Geese, 6 Brant, 25 Goldeneye, a Common Loon, 8 Red-breasted Mergansers, 12 Bufflehead, and 2 American Wigeon. We spotted a Great Blue Heron, 10 Ring-billed, 11 Great Black-backed, and 30 Herring Gulls and several land birds, including a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Flicker, a Carolina Wren, a Rock Pigeon, and last, but not least, 40 Horned Larks. At feeders we added a Brown-headed Cowbird, another Red-bellied Woodpecker, a Chickadee, and 12 House Sparrows.

‍Pardon Gray was the next stop, giving us a Harrier, 2 Crows, 30 Ring-billed Gulls, 15 Starlings, and 500 Canada Geese.  Unfortunately, we did not spot any Meadowlarks, which we often get in the fields.

‍St. Mary’s Pond in Middletown we spotted 3 Great Cormorants, 100 Canada Geese, 25 Hooded and 12 Common Mergansers, 2 Ruddy Ducks, 15 Gadwall, 50 Mallards, a Great Blue Heron, 12 Ring-billed Gulls, 3 Crows and a Flicker.

‍Green End Pond/Easton Pond on the Middletown-Newport line gave us a bright white Glaucous Gull. Other sightings included 2 Mute Swans, 5 Cormorants, 45 Red-breasted and 12 Hooded Mergansers, 16 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 Ruddy Ducks, 95 Coot, 6 Great Black-backed Gulls, a Great Blue Heron and a Cardinal. At the south end of Easton Pond, which we reached driving around to the west side and turning right off the main road, we were lucky enough to spot a dozen Redhead Ducks and a Tufted Duck, along with 14 Greater Scaup and 100 Robins.

‍Third Beach gave us 25 Brant,12 Surf Scoters, 2 Goldeneye, 4 Bufflehead, 2 Horned Grebe, 2 Common Loon, 12 Red-breasted Mergansers, and a Harrier.

Always our last stop on the first day of the trip, Sachuest.  We walked the loop, turning left where the trail Ts, and along the way found 32 Brant, one Red-throated and 3 Common Loon, 3 Horned Grebes, 22 Common Eider, a Goldeneye, 16 Bufflehead, 25 Harlequins, 25 Black, 12 White-winged, and 6 Surf Scoters, 12 Black Ducks and 7 Red-breasted Mergansers. Land birds included 1 Mourning Dove, 1 Carolina Wren, 2 Mockingbirds, 5 Tree and 3 Song Sparrows, and our only raptor, a Harrier.  We missed on Short-eared Owl, which had not been spotted there recently, but we always hope for one.

‍Day 2 – At Beavertail State Park we spotted 4 Red-throated and 8 Common Loons, 100 Eider, 100 Black, 20 Surf, and 6 White-winged Scoters, 1 Horned and 1 Red-necked Grebe, 15 Harlequin, a Gannet and a possible Razorbill. Land birds were 3 Mourning Doves, 20 Blue Jays, 2 Chickadees, 2 Cedar Waxwings, 43 Robins, a Crow, 2 Cardinals, a Carolina Wren, 13 White-throated Sparrows and a Merlin!

We spent just a few minutes at Zeek’s Creek Bait Shop overlooking the Sakonet Bridge on Rte 24, we picked out 3 Bufflehead, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Black Duck, 2 Great Blue Herons, 1 Kingfisher, a Herring Gull and in the farm field beyond the water were 500+ Starlings.

‍Point Judith gave us over 2,000 Black, 2 White-winged and 50 Surf Scoters, over 200 Eider, 2 Horned Grebes, 1 Red-throated and 3 Common Loons, 1 Red-breasted Merganser, 4 Black Ducks, 1 Great Cormorant and 100+ Starlings.  At Galilee we picked up Iceland Gull (and other common gulls).  Also there were 2 Turkey Vultures, a Common Loon, an Eider, and 12 Red-breasted Mergansers.

En route to Weakapaug Breachway we saw 12 Common Loons and a Red-tailed Hawk.  When we arrived, we found what we sought, a male King Eider. The water was rough but we still got solid views. Also there were 40 Common Eider, 6 Black Scoters, a Common Loon and 1 Herring Gull.

The Trustom Pond feeders gave us a variety of land birds including, 2 Downy Woodpeckers, 4 Titmouse, 2 Chickadee, 3 Mourning Doves, 3 Cardinals, 2 Robins, 4 Junco, 5 White-throated Sparrows and 1 Goldfinch.

Six members met at Pynchon Point Park then headed to the River Rd bike path to comb the river for a Barrow’s Goldeneye that had been seen there recently.  Though we missed the target bird, we found seven Common Mergansers and three Common Goldeneye, along with a couple of hundred Canada Geese and a pair of Mallards.

From there we headed to Hilltop Farm in Suffield, CT.  Thanks to a sharp-eyed member, we were able to spot two Red-headed Woodpeckers and get good scope views without disturbing the birds.  We also picked up a Red-bellied Woodpecker, another 100 Canada Geese, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 6 Mourning Doves, 3 Blue Jays, 20 Crows, 4 Song Sparrows, 4 Juncos, 5 House Finch, and our second-best bird of the day, a Merlin, perched atop a tree along the far edge of the field. We ended the day before noon with a total of 16 species, but quality beats quantity every time and this was no exception.