Cape Cod weekend birding map (courtesy of Julian Hough)
The weekend of Aug 19-20 was supposed to be spent offshore. More specifically, this was the weekend of the uber-successful Brookline Bird Club overnight deepwater pelagic, AKA the 'Extreme Pelagic.' The track record for this late-August trip is unparalleled in the region, so we greatly anticipate it every summer. So, naturally we were bummed to hear that this year's trip would be canceled due to high seas.
In an effort to make the most of the situation, several friends made the journey to Cape Cod anyway for some birding by land and boat. Given the nice inshore forecast I decided to trailer my boat.
Aug 19:
Most of us arrived early on Saturday the 19th with the idea of seabirding from Race Point in Provincetown, having heard recent rumors of shearwaters right along the beach. We did not think they would literally be along the beach, but that is exactly what we found. Thousands of shearwaters of four species (Great, Cory's, Sooty and Manx) were feeding heavily on "peanut bunker" (AKA juvenile menhaden) that had reportedly been pushed to shore by feeding mackerel and other predatory fish. We quite literally had these birds at our feet.
photo by Blair Nikula
photo by Blair Nikula
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Great Shearwater
Sooty Shearwater
Cory's Shearwater (this showing some white on the underside of the primaries, indicating that this may represent the nominate form, diomedea, called Scopoli's Shearwater)
Cory's Shearwater
Manx Shearwater
"Peanut Bunker" (juvenile menhaden)
Shearwaters weren't the only birds to be seen. Gulls and terns were also getting in on the action. Three Sabine's Gulls (two adults and a juvenile) were a highlight.
adult Sabine's Gull
adult Sabine's Gull
adult Sabine's Gull with juvenile Laughing Gull and immature Herring Gull
juvenile Black Tern
Minds fully blown by this point, we decided to pull ourselves away from the show and make our way down to Chatham to look for the adult LITTLE STINT that had been frequenting the Morris Island area for several days. Lucky for us, the bird was faithful to its favorite patch of mud, and we were able to observe and photograph this mega rarity for a while, before calling it a day.
Little Stint (right) with Semipalmated Sandpipers
no toe webbing there...
The journey would continue via boat on Sunday and Monday...
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...
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 ...
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...
Great shots...nice stint pix..the reflections are great. A fantastic weekend for sure!
ReplyDeleteI was really happy to get the heads up about this trip you guys made. After that I made the trek up twice and had a blast both times!
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