Trip Highlights

Ten people met up at Bark Haul Road for a 3-hour walk on a cool Saturday morning. We started on the left trail headed towards the boardwalk. It was a slow start until the sun started to warm things up. Along the way we sighted many Song Sparrows and a few Red-eyed Vireos and Eastern Phoebes. As we made our way to the Boardwalk the 20 or so Wood Ducks could be heard and seen making their way to the other side of the marsh. We had an Ovenbird seen along the boardwalk. A Kingfisher was also more than willing to pose for pictures.

As we made our way into ‘Warbler Corner’ we were greeted with Warbling Vireo, Northern Parula, Redstarts, (F) Oriole, Solitary Sandpiper, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. After returning to the parking lot, a few of us decided to go over to the sandbar off West Road. A Merlin was observed Pondside preening in a tree in the middle of the marsh. We were rewarded at the sandbar with scope views of a Black-bellied Plover that had been reported for the past few days. A nice ending to the Saturday morning walk.

Nine birding enthusiasts participated in a 3-hour walk on a cool (49º F) bluebird sky morning.

On our walk, the eager group experienced the beginnings of the fall migratory cycle which provides a variety of birds that may not be typical during the Spring/Summer nesting and rearing phase of the local bird cycle. We were privileged to identify 35 different species which consisted of both local and migrating bird species.

As we walked the trail that led us across the rail lines to "warbler corner" we started to see and hear many birds high in the trees beginning to feast on the insects that were coming active due to the brilliant sunlight that rapidly was warming the day.

Among the species espied by the observant team the commonly seen male Wood Ducks in their final stages of their eclipse transition to their nuptial feathering phase were easily observed. There was one instance of the Solitary Sandpiper heard as well as a brief sighing of a Green Heron. Among the passerines seen there were the Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, American Redstart and the Black-and-white Warblers. A male Scarlet Tanager sporting its yellow body and black wing fall plumage presented itself for a view.

All appeared to enjoy the outing looking forward to more avians friends to grace them on future adventures.

Eleven members of the Allen Bird Club gathered at Pynchon Point Park to scan the confluence of the Connecticut and Westfield River.  At this first stop we found a Spotted Sandpiper, a Great Blue Heron, and a Great Egret.  There were also a couple of Carolina Wrens belting out their morning songs.  A perched up Bald Eagle to the north, four Mallards, and the expected robins, starlings, mourning doves, and two young cardinals were added to the list.

We moved on along River Road to the parking area for the bike path, seeing a mockingbird along the way.  Scoping the river and the Longmeadow Sandbar, we a spotted a Belted Kingfisher and another Great Blue Heron.  Only four Ring-billed Gulls were counted.

Our next stop was the dike off Circuit Rd near the Big E grounds.  Two Least Sandpipers were the only migrating shore birds we found for the trip.  A Fish Crow was heard as we passed by McDonald's on our way to the dike.  Once there, we had 10 American Crows fly over.  Here we added a Red-tailed Hawk and another Great Blue Heron, and heard the only Black-capped Chickadee of the morning.  Other new species seen here were Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, House Sparrow, and many pigeons.

We then moved on to Longmeadow and birded along Pondside Road for the remainder of the time.  The recently reported Northern Shovelers eluded us, but we did have several Wood Ducks - the males starting to regain their colorful attire.  A Warbling Vireo sang over our heads, and catbirds were complaining in the thickets.  Red-bellied Woodpeckers announced their presence several times as we moved along.  It was exciting to find five Scarlet Tanagers moving about in the higher foliage.  There must have been good berries or grapes nearby.

When we reached the viewing platform, we found 3 more Great Blue Herons, another Spotted Sandpiper, a Double-crested Cormorant, another Great Egret, and a Mute Swan.  An Osprey circled overhead while a female Red-winged Blackbird walked on lily pads seeking insects.  Cedar Waxwings were also seeking insects over the water.

Perhaps our most memorable sighting for the morning was four juvenile Green Herons perched in a line on the narrow branch of a dead tree midway down the pond.  A short time later an adult Green Heron flew in almost in front of us allowing a much closer view of this species.

Near the end of the trip, a Piliated Woodpecker flew across the water in front of us, much to the delight of Maryann, one of our new members.  As we were getting into our cars at the end of the walk, a Goldfinch sang a goodbye and a phoebe sat on a post bobbing its tail.   So we did see shorebirds, herons, and egrets - and totaled 40 species.

Twenty-two Allen Bird Club members spent a perfect late summer evening watching the sky for migrating Common Nighthawks.  Some of these birds flew over early (lucky Bill P. was there before 6:30 to catch them) and more after many people had left, but come they did, for a total of 20.

While we watched and waited, there was other bird activity to see.  What seemed like nearly a hundred Chimney Swifts and a few Tree Swallows swirled around over the viewing platform where we stood.  We watched huge flocks of blackbirds (starlings, grackles, and Red-winged Blackbirds) rise up and settle back down in the treetops, while Cedar Waxwings sallied out for insects in the lower bushes.

Wood Ducks and Mallards flew over, and we picked out a couple of Double-crested Cormorants and Great Blue Herons.  Northern Flickers and a Belted Kingfisher called out to get our attention.

It was a very pleasant evening toward the end of our club birding season to meet new club members as well as greet long time birding friends.

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!