Plum Island

Nine members gathered to enjoy a beautiful weather day on Plum Island.  Bugs were not a problem and birds were plentiful!  Altogether we spotted 63 species, including Mute Swan and Red-tailed Hawk on the road, and had our usual fun studying the finer points of plumage to identify the less common shorebirds.  

The birding day began in Lot 1, where we met up with Holly.  She had already spotted a Bald Eagle, a N. Mockingbird and a N. Flicker to start our list. During the first 5 minutes we got on a Towhee, over a thousand Tree Swallows, a couple of Mourning Doves, 5 Cedar Waxwings, two Great Egrets, a Song Sparrow and a Goldfinch—and that was without stepping out of the parking lot.  Our aim was to arrive at Sandy Point by high tide (in 1 ½ hours), when shorebirds were expected to be resting along the beach, so no time to dally.  

We could not pass up the birds present at the Salt Pannes on the way, however, hoping it would not delay us too long.  There we picked up over 200 Semi-palmated Sandpipers, 120+ Semi-palmated Plovers, a handful of Least Sandpipers, 6 White-rumped Sandpipers and a Ruddy Turnstone.  Also there were one Great and about a dozen Snowy Egrets, two Great Blue Herons and two Osprey, along with a few songbirds, including another Towhee whose song rang out the whole time we were there.

From the Pannes we headed out to Sandy Point with only an occasional slowdown to try to identify birds here and there.  It was easy to notice the thousands of Tree Swallows that rose in large flocks along the way, and someone commented that there were less present than last year, but still more than enough for any casual observer to be in awe of the numbers.  On the drive, we spotted a Northern Harrier, a large group of mixed Snowy and Great Egrets, several Eastern Kingbirds and a Gray Catbird or two.

Upon arriving, after travel on a very bumpy road for several miles, there was just one space available in the lot next to the beach, leaving the other two cars to park in the alternate lot. Once together again, we ventured out to the beach and walked a way to find over 200 Semi-palmated Sandpipers and 150 Semi-palmated Plovers on the beach in close range and Craig spotted our only Sanderling for the day.  There were also groups of gulls, mostly Ring-billed, a few Herring and Greater Black-backs.  In a short time, Lois’ sharp eyes picked out a Lesser Black-backed Gull and Craig helped to clinch the identification of an immature Laughing Gull.  Also present was a group of Common Terns at the water’s edge and several more flying about. Two Least Terns were spotted in flight and sharing the air was a Peregrine Falcon and two Turkey Vultures.  It seems that arriving in time for high tide worked in our favor.

Stage Island Pool was our next stop.  Several birds noticed in that location on the way earlier had dispersed, but there was still a good number to observe even two hours after high tide.  We add-ed 20 Short-billed Dowitchers, many more peeps, two Green-winged Teal, 15 Mallards, and several Double-crested Cormorants.  A kind, young birder named Harry W., tried to help us with shorebird identification from the viewing platform.

We skipped past the blind to approach the Bill Forward Pool from the dike at Hellcat. The bird numbers were less than we expected, but we did get close-up views of Short-billed Dowitchers in a confusing variety of plumages, while trying without absolute success to pick out a Long-billed Dowitcher among several candidates.  There were also a good number of Greater Yellowlegs with the smaller shorebirds.  After careful study we added two Stilt Sandpipers and four immature or female Gadwalls to our list, too.

At the North Pool Overlook, Holly spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron tucked into the tall grasses at the edge of the water.  Here we also spotted two young Blue-winged Teal and our only Black Duck of the day.  Further along at the Warden’s, the walk out to the water gave us a meager Semi-palmated Sandpiper and two Black-bellied Plovers.

The Salt Pannes were empty on our way by, letting us know that approaching low tide was not a great time to stop for a visit.  Luckily, we had the foresight to stop early in the day, while the shorebirds were present in abundance.  Lot 1 was crowded by beachgoers, but we did bird across the street, picking up our first Willet and a couple of Greater Yellowlegs.

The last stop of the day was during low tide at the “Seawall,” which worked out well.  At least 40 Bonaparte’s Gulls were found on and over the water and another lone Willett was plodding along on the close shore with several Black-bellied Plovers. There was a dozen or more Double-crested Cormorants and lots of peeps and Black-bellied Plovers on an exposed mudflat part way across the open water.  It was a great ending to a perfect summer day spent birding with friends on the coast!