Starting the day we took a longer-than-intended pit stop at the boat ramp on Mattapoisett Neck Rd,which proved to be incredibly birdy, with lots of goldfinches, House Finches, robins, and a few waxwings. Most interesting was seeing a bunch of Ring-billed Gulls in trees (?????).
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| Ring-billed Gulls in trees |
Moving on we went to Nasketucket Bay State Reservation, where we had a rapid-fire smattering of winter specialties. We walked to the edge of the thicket on the Meadow Trail, hearing a catbird immediately before getting to my favorite spot. Once we stopped a chat was spotted, then a Fox Sparrow, then a thrasher, then a Hermit Thrush and audio of a Winter Wren, all in the span of about ten minutes. As has been said on this blog before, some days you just get lucky.
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| Yellow-breasted Chat, Nasketucket Bay State Reservation |
After a quick stop at Aucoot Rd seeing the usual winterers, we made our way to the Marion WTP. This spot is an absolute magnet for dabbling ducks, and we were treated to many. Several Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, American Black Duck, and Mallard were here, and 4 Northern Shovelers were present as well. The landscape has changed and the old spot which held sparrows was no more, but viewing the shrubby growth along the retention pond from atop the compost pile yielded 7 sparrow species at once, including Field, American Tree, and Chipping.
From here we made a quick stop at Osprey Marsh on Point Rd before making our way to the Kitansett Club. Scoter and eider numbers were lower here relative to usual but we were treated to nice close looks of Horned Grebe, Razorbill, and Red-necked Grebe, the ladder two being pretty unusual at this location.
After taking a quick stop at a cedar tree on Delano Rd that seemed to contain infinite robins, we ended the day at the fields off of Vaughan Hill Rd in Rochester where we managed to locate the Cackling Goose which has lingered here for the past several winters.
-Nate