Note: To those who are unfamiliar, these social distancing “walks” are not in-person walks but rather a group chat where members share their experiences for the morning and stay connected. South Shore Bird Club is strict about (and very impressed by its members) adhering to social distancing guidelines, which includes avoiding populated areas, large groups, and close social interaction. We fully support members enjoying the healing and mindfulness that nature can provide and want to foster a social environment for those who may feel isolated-these walks are intended to achieve both of these goals with safety at the forefront of our mission.
With eleven days in
a heat wave for Boston this summer, it was a relief to have a
cooler day to head out to the beaches and marshes to view migrating shorebirds,
gulls, terns and more!
Glenn and
Ernie went to the outer cape, one of the best places to observe shorebirds in
Massachusetts. Ernie said that their efforts were “knot” in vain reporting red
knots, dowitchers, black-bellied plovers, oyster catchers and a lesser black-backed gull in Chatham, and then at Race Point; four species of shearwaters, Forster's,
black, and roseate terns, parasitic jaeger, northern gannet, whimbrel, northern harrier and horned larks. Many of us would agree that the joy of seeing
those birds is worth the “Death March” …plus!
Conor was
birding in nearby Brewster, and later in Chatham on the hunt of a marbled godwit.
On mid-cape,
Mary Jo walked closer to home, taking in the sights and sounds of woodland birds, as Nate was at Crane
WMA in Falmouth. He brought smiles to our masked faces when he posted a photo
of a young blue grosbeak.
Photo by Nate Marchessault-blue grosbeak
Birders gave
a positive ID of a western sandpiper photographed by Brian at Shifting Lots
Preserve in Ellisville. Pete got a late start, but also had fun at Ellisville
with his so-called “basic shorebird assortment”.
Photo by Brian Vigorito-western sandpiper
Lisa was at
Manomet. She has been conducting many shorebird surveys this summer, but today
her interest was in insects. She saw a colorful cicada killer wasp.
Interestingly, this solitary wasp doesn’t actually kill its prey. The two inch female
stings a cicada, which stuns it, then flies it to a prepared borrow where it
lays an egg under its second leg. In the sealed nest, the larva feeds on the
cicada, carefully, as to not kill it.
Photo by Lisa Schibley-cicada killer wasp
The muddy
puddle adjacent to Great Sandy Pond in Pembroke was the destination this month
for many, and today Judd made another of his many visits. A variety of
shorebirds including yellowlegs, killdeer, sandpipers and semipalmated plovers,
and egrets and herons have been frequent visitors, as swallows dart overhead.
David noted
lack of rain with ponds drying up in Norwell. As our rain total in the state is
now six inches below normal in most areas, that is understandable. Pat was in Marshfield reporting one black-crowned and four
yellow-crowned night-herons roosting on the tree branches at Damon’s Pond.
Further
north in Squantum marshes, Vin, Steven, Christine and Kathy were treated to
views of a variety of shorebirds. They found the “bird of the day”- a marbled
godwit!
Photo by Kathy Rawdon-marbled godwit
Moe and I were
birding at two of our favorite spots. The first is one of our new favorites at Winsegansett
Marsh. We saw great and snowy egrets, great blue herons and a juvenile yellow-crowned
night-heron feeding together with hundreds of shorebirds; yellowlegs,
dowitchers, black-bellied and semipalmated plovers, least and semipalmated
sandpipers on the muddied flats.
Photo by Moe Molander-yellow-crowned night-heron
The second
spot is an old favorite of ours- Allen’s Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Dartmouth.
We were delighted to watch about fifty great and snowy egrets of all ages feeding
in the salt pannes with greater yellowlegs, a juvenile little blue heron, and
two glossy ibises.
With
shorebird migration in full progress, South Shore Bird Club birders can say
that we had quite a shorebird show on this mid-August Saturday. Now…where are the
warblers?
-Carol
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