3 Feb - Outer Cape (PACIFIC LOON+)

James P. Smith and I teamed up for a midweek day trip, this time to the Outer Cape. Nothing earth-shattering to report, but we were able to relocated an adult PACIFIC LOON among the throngs of Red-throats at Race Point.






adult Pacific Loon

Alcids also put on a good show...not in numbers, but in quality views. In addition to the hundreds of Razorbills, we had 5 COMMON MURRES (all solitary basic-plumaged birds sitting on the water) and a fantastic prolonged view of a passing THICK-BILLED MURRE with the sun at our backs.


Common Murre 1 of 5




Common Murre 2 of 5

We spent a fair amount of time on gulls. This adult Glaucous Gull was really nice.


adult Glaucous Gull


Race Point Light


Race Point Beach as the weather begins to break

We came across the following [presumed] seal tracks. They led from the water's edge up to the edge of the dunes, where the seal apparently seated itself for a while before returning back to the ocean.


Looking up the beach's slope toward the dunes, one could see the snow-covered seal tracks leading up to the right...then much fresher tracks coming back down to the left.


close-up of seal tracks

- NB

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Warblers in Flight: A Photographic Collection

While active migration has always been my favorite bird behavior to observe, my interest in the phenomenon called “morning flight” of nocturnal migrants had been minimal due to the unfortunate reality that I lived well over an hour’s drive from the nearest known reliable observation site, Bluff Point State Park in Groton, CT. In autumn 2020, thanks to improved public access to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, CT, I began to explore the northern tip of Willard’s Island as a morning flight viewpoint and was pleased to find that under the right conditions a reliable flight could be observed there. The volume of birds passing through is not large (a small fraction of what passes through Bluff Point), but the flight line is consistent and can be observed under good lighting conditions. Between autumns 2020-22 I visited the site 20 times in total and recorded 27 warbler species in morning flight. All but a few of these have been photographed, often poorly! I immediately found mysel...
Read more

Last winter's gull review

Today's cooler, blustery conditions combined with the appearance of an Ivory Gull in Cape May got me thinking more about the upcoming gull season and reflecting on last year's. The 2008-09 gulling in the northeast was pretty damn good and included a few really exciting birds. The season started out with a bang exactly one year ago today with CT's first Slaty-backed Gull . On 12/12 an adult Thayer's Gull put in a brief appearance at the Windsor-Bloomfield Landfill, CT's premier gull hotspot, followed by a first-winter bird on 12/23. A Black-headed Gull spent the winter in New Haven Harbor. Perhaps 'gull of the year' was a subadult Glaucous-winged Gull in Rochester, NH, found by Scott Young...a first record for New England. Meanwhile Gloucester, MA was once again the gull capital of New England. I happened to already be up in Boston when news of an adult Ivory Gull broke on 1/17. I still get chills thinking about that weekend. Of course there were plenty ...
Read more

Guest Post by Tim Spahr: Finding Connecticut Warblers in Fall Migration

Image
In recent years, thanks to good old fashioned field work, Tim Spahr of Massachusetts has developed a knack for finding Connecticut Warblers in southern New England during autumn migration. He is kind enough to share his secrets with us here. Thank you, Tim! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright Tim Spahr Finding Connecticut Warblers in Fall Migration by Tim Spahr Connecticut Warblers are sought-after species due their shy and retiring nature, elusiveness, and overall rarity. Northeastern United States birders are fortunate to get a shot at these birds during the fall migration period, as they often stop in our area to refuel ahead of their long, overwater flight to South America. The sheer difficulty of locating one of these gems in migration can also make finding one a satisfying conclusion to any fall birding outing. Copyright Tim Spahr General information: Connecticut Warblers breed from Western Quebec westward across the b...
Read more