birdspot

I am just back from a dawn to dusk trip to Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Center and the Parker River National Wildlife Sanctuary, and I have just enough energy to put together a day list… Winds were Northwest to West, up to 20 mph, and it was sunny to partly cloudy, and generally not particularly “birdy.” Temps were from 41 degrees at daylight to about a high of 58, though it often felt much colder in the wind. There were numerous migrating Monarch butterflies, despite the chill, which was amazing. Many species had left, save for a few stragglers, and not many new ones were moving through. The exception to this was for waterfowl – there were good numbers of most species of duck seen, with flocks of up to 80 or so individuals at the highest, 20 on the low end. Birds seen today were:

Brandt
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Redhead (1, male, at North Pool)
Greater Scaup
Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-throated Loon (2, one in full breeding plumage – beautiful)
Common Loon (one in almost full breeding plumage)
Pied-billed Grebe
Northern Gannet (saw many throughout the day, feeding)
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern (1, at Bill Forward Blind)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Turkey Vulture
Osprey (1)
Northern Harrier (3+, including one male)
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon (1-2)
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden Plover (2, possibly 3, at North Field and then North Pool Overlook, chased by an immature Northern Harrier)
Greater Yellowlegs
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Dunlin
Wilson’s Snipe
Bonaparte’s Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow (1)
Black-capped Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet (waves)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (a small wave)
Swainson’s Thrush (1, on road near Hellcat, seen beautifully)
American Robin
Gray Catbird (2)
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
American Pipit (22 – North Field)
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Sharp-tailed Sparrow sp.
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow (3+, 1 adult)
Dark-eyed Junco (numerous)
Northern Cardinal
Blackbird sp. (1)
House Finch
House Sparrow

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