Sometimes birding is all about the birds.
Sometimes it's being alone.
Sometimes it's connecting with nature.
And sometimes it's also about the people.
 |
| Bernie, Maeve, Jeff, Scott, Mary Ann, Michele, Premila, Sheri, Rich, Sharon (Cara took this picture.) |
 |
| Cara, Maeve, Jeff, Mary Ann, Scott, Michele, Premila, Sharon, Sheri, Rich |
 |
| Janet |
Our recent experience on Plum Island had many things in common
with other spring walks
with fellow birders:
elusive warblers, flitting nonstop,
way up high,
difficult to get close to, to know,
our necks craning and creaking and straining.
Eye ring or not?? Hard to tell at 35 feet away!
But there were also diving terns
and dabbling ducks
and shorebirds: SPSA, PIPL, SPPL, BBPL, AGPL, and even more!
 |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper and Semipalmated Plover |
 |
| Semipalmated or White-rumped Sandpiper - ? - One of the little mysteries that makes birding so much fun! |
 |
| Black-bellied Plover and American Golden Plover |
 |
All great birds,
rewarding to see (even if only for a millisecond!)
But the Birders!
So much more time to see them,
watch them,
enjoy them,
get to know them!
How the birds must relish watching us -our different plumages,
our movements,
all those extra glassy "eyes",
and the weird noises birders make! Do they keep the flock together?
Judy and Peter
When a Fish and Wildlife official drove up and down the beach asking for fishing licenses, a local fisherman pointed to us and asked, "You gettin' their licenses too?" So here's Jeff showing our birding licenses!
Actually, he was showing the remains of a skate, a relative of a manta ray with a long spiny tail.
We also found a few "mermaid's purses", skate egg capsules.
 |
| getting our feet wet in the cold, cold ocean |
Birders often use both words and body language to describe what they've seen!
Birding is a special kind of meditation.
And now let's zoom in on the birds!!!
Willets provided the background music for the whole trip. We even got to watch willets making more willets!
Eastern Kingbirds were another most-frequent sighting.
Parker River Refuge has one of the biggest Purple Martin colonies in New England.
This industrious bird kept bringing nesting sticks that were too big!
Ovenbird
Baltimore Oriole
and his nest!
Least Sandpiper
Canada Goose family out for a stroll
An American Woodcock surprised us and a group of UVM students by solemnly walking toward us all, doing his little up-and-down dance.
Several Mute Swans were visiting the refuge when we were there.
Northern Mockingbirds
More terns - We loved the terns!!
 |
| Common Terns |
 |
| Least Tern |
The tern in the middle, with the black bill, is a Roseate Tern. Thank You Allan Strong of UVM for the ID. Note the Roseate's long forked tail. Bill color varies from entirely black to having orange at the base depending on the time of year. (Bill is black in May). Read more at Cornell lab of Ornithology. More Roseate vs Common tern here.
Also note the Roseate Tern is banded with a silver band on the left leg.
(PS added a few months later: We didn't get a good enough look at the tern's band to report it, but we did report a Willet with bands on both legs in a distinctive arrangement of colors. On August 26, we got a certificate from the United States Geological Survey, one of several organizations that band birds to track their migration and the health of their populations. We learned that "our" willet had been banded right there at Parker River NWR on 6/5/15 and was hatched in 2013 or earlier.)
 |
| Gray Catbird |
 |
| Blue Jay on the nest!! (Her tail is visible on the left.) |
 |
| Brown Thrasher |
 |
| This Wild Turkey nearly ran over Bernie! |
Killdeer
Plum Island gave us lots to observe and explore in addition to beauty, ocean, dunes, sand and birds!
 |
| Horseshoe Crab |
 |
| unidentified little crab |
 |
| heart-shaped piece of shell, and sand dollar |
And there were even more bird surprises! An American Pipit is a rarity on the island at this time of year, and getting to see a sleeping Common Nighthawk is a treat at any time!
Plum Island had one last surprise for Bernie and Maeve. On our overcast last morning, Bernie spotted a Tricolored Heron, a bird that should have been somewhere in the Gulf states!
"... a man becomes his attentions. His observations and curiosity, they make and remake him."
William Least-Heat Moon, Blue
Highways
No comments:
Post a Comment