Plum Island and vicinity

Three hardy birders braved the season's first cold blast, with temperatures in the 20's & 30's.
(Only six more months until the warblers are back!)

This trip focuses on ducks, as they head south for the season. But with the sudden freeze just the night before, a couple traditional puddle spots were naturally empty.
The ocean was painful to view as the biting easterly wind, left us teary eye. The ocean was actually quiet duck wise, with only a few species and individuals. The species that have big numbers was Red-throated loon. Most certainly under counted we had forty at parking lot 1 alone.
We found a Harlequin Duck associating with one of the few Common Eider and White-winged Scoters in the area.

Heading down the island, we found Mallards, Black Ducks, Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye and good numbers of Northern Pintail. In between the duck stops we birded the area for land birds.
Most of the birds, got the message to head south as it was generally quiet. Although the habitat certainly comes into play on Plum, we missed chickadee, nuthatch and titmouse for the trip. Even traveling inland to West Newbury!

However, we did manage to find a few notable birds. While heading back north on Plum, we can across another birder who had found a late Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We had only a fleeting look as the bird flew off just as we brought our binoculars up to look at it. And just before reaching parking lot One, a lone Purple Finch, crossed the road to land in a small evergreen.

At Salisbury, David Ludlow found a very far and high immature Bald Eagle. Again, the area was quiet land bird wise. Only a few loons, eider and a couple of Brant were near the mouth of the river.
A very cooperative female Cooper's Hawk flew low and slow from tree to tree, affording us very  nice looks.

Heading over to West Newbury, we stopped along Scotland road, finding a Common Raven, Turkey Vulture, Hairy woodpecker and a Great Blue Heron, admiring itself while standing on a patch of ice.

Cherry Hill Reservoir and artichoke were our last stops of the day. Cherry Hill seem to be its ol' self again after noticeably low numbers of birds last year. Ring-necked ducks were in full force with the highest number of birds, Ruddy ducks followed and diminishing numbers of Hoody and Common Mergansers, and a pair of Lesser Scaup in attendance.

Below is a list for the day.

Mike  


Brant                                 2                                           
Canada Goose              644                                         
Gadwall                            7                                           
Eurasian Wigeon              1                                           
American Black Duck  271                                         
Mallard                         141                                       
Northern Pintail              53                                          
Green-winged Teal         36                                          
Ring-necked Duck        725                                         
Lesser Scaup                    2                                           
Common Eider             112                                         
Harlequin Duck                1                                           
White-winged Scoter     18                                          
Long-tailed Duck             8                                           
Bufflehead                      23                                        
Common Goldeneye        4                                           
Hooded Merganser         35                                          
Common Merganser        2                                           
Ruddy Duck                 140                                         
Red-throated Loon         82                          
Common Loon                 3                                           
Red-necked Grebe            1                                           
Double-crested Cormorant  82                                          
Great Blue Heron             3                                           
Turkey Vulture                 1                                           
Northern Harrier              3                             
Cooper's Hawk                 1                                           
Bald Eagle                        1                               
Red-tailed Hawk              4                                           
American Coot                 2                                           
Black-bellied Plover        6                                           
Dunlin                          524                                         
Greater Yellowlegs          3                                           
Ring-billed Gull              x                                     
Herring Gull                    x                                     
Great Black-backed Gull x                                        
Rock Pigeon                  20                                          
Mourning Dove             11                                          
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1                                           
Hairy Woodpecker          1                                           
Northern Flicker             1                                           
Merlin                             1      
Peregrine Falcon             1                                   
Blue Jay                          2                                           
American Crow            10                                          
Common Raven              1                             
Horned Lark                    3                                           
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1                                           
Eastern Bluebird             3                                           
American Robin           16                                          
Northern Mockingbird   4                                           
European Starling       500                                         
Cedar Waxwing            12                                          
Yellow-rumped Warbler     3                                           
American Tree Sparrow     2                                           
Dark-eyed Junco                7                                         
White-throated Sparrow     2                                           
Song Sparrow                    3                                           
Northern Cardinal             3                                        
Red-winged Blackbird      1        
House Finch                      7                                           
Purple Finch                     1                                           
American Goldfinch         3