Plum Island and Salisbury

A wind speed of 15 mph and temps in the 20s made the morning at the coast feel quite cold. Tim arrived at Lot 1 on the Parker River NWR very early and received good information from other birders as to the whereabouts of a Snowy Owl.  Indeed, we followed their directions to the boardwalk of Lot 3 and were rewarded with excellent scope views!  With one owl ticked, we decided to head straight to Salisbury.  A Long-eared Owl had been photographed earlier in the morning, perched in the relative open, so a rare view awaited us.  We found the owl in the same position as in the photograph, coincidently also in Lot 3, though this one in Salisbury.  After enjoying once-in-a-lifetime views, we birded the transfer station, picking up sparrows and a Mockingbird, then headed to the boat ramp, where we scoped out Horned Grebe, Wigeon, and Gadwall, in addition to White-winged and Surf Scoters, Bufflehead, Common Loons, Common Eiders, Red-breasted Mergansers, and a multitude of Black Ducks.

The plan was to head back to Plum Island to see what else we could find there, but instead we decided to try for a Western Tanager that had been reported at a feeder on Broad St in Merrimac. The homeowner was very gracious, inviting us into his driveway and leading us to the feeding stations for better views. There was a Sharp-shinned Hawk perched high up in a tree behind the house, reducing the number of birds coming to the feeders, but after a short while, we spotted the tanager in a nearby tree, getting great views of it before it descended to the feeder.  Success!  

After a brief rest stop at Dunkin, we headed to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester to find our next rarity sitting in the marsh tearing away at a medium-sized carcass.  It was a Swainson’s Hawk, and though we did not get to see it in flight, we did get wonderful scope views. A bonus Short-eared Owl was spotted flying in the distance and landing atop a far-away pole.  What a great morning of birding!

From here we headed to Jodrey’s Fish Pier in search of Iceland Gull.  We missed on the gull but picked up Long-tailed Duck.  Next stop was Loblolly Cove in Rockport, where we added two Black Guillemots, 4 Common Goldeneye, 6 Harlequin Ducks and a Red-throated Loon.  Our final birding of the day was at Granite Pier, where we missed on alcids, but added 10 Brant, bringing our final species count for the day to 53.

Winter coastal birding is a thrill that cold weather will not keep us from enjoying!