Ben and Clarice staffing their wonderful table at the 2019 Eagle Festival.
The amazing Ben and Clarice have been volunteering with us for 21 years––way before we opened the Joppa Flats Education Center in 2003. Their initial training as volunteers happened at the Newburyport Police Station! Over the years, they’ve contributed in many different ways, including delivering educational programs from the back of a van in Essex County marshes, fashioning fishnets from a kitchen strainer and a pole to show kids what lived in the marsh, staffing the front desk, and designing and running the wonderful shop table every year at the Eagle Festival’s Newburyport City Hall location.
We’re endlessly grateful to them for all their contributions and for sticking with us through thick and thin over the decades, especially since Lisa accidentally left them behind on the refuge one time during a school program. Luckily a birder drove by, noticed them trudging up the refuge road, weighed down with backpacks, buckets, nets, and other materials, realized they weren’t out walking for fun, and gave them a ride.
Look for them most Tuesday afternoons at Joppa Flats and ask what they’ve been up to: between arts and crafts, travel, and gardening, they always have a good story to tell.
It was bitter cold, but sunny, for our outing this week, and a small but hardy group showed up to join me and Dave Weaver for Wednesday Morning Birding. The Parker River National Wildlife Refuge road is closed beyond Hellcat, so we started our excursion at Salisbury Beach State Reservation. Even though the marsh was empty and frozen, we found plenty of ducks near the boat ramp, perhaps in greater numbers due to the flats being covered by ice. American Black Ducks and a few Mallards huddled at the edge of the frozen marsh. White-winged Scoters, Greater Scaup, and a Red-breasted Merganser or two lounged in the creek, while more scoters and some Common Goldeneyes rested on the river. Stopping to look at the rocks along the river bank, we found several little groups of Gadwalls dabbling and exploring around the rocks, along with a big raft of Common Eiders and more scoters foraging along the eddy lines in the river. A few Long-tailed Ducks and Black Scoters flew by as well, and a Red-throated Loon, which have been scarce this year, floated out with the tide.
White-winged Scoter with crab – Stan Deutsch
Greater Scaup – Stan DeutschResting Harp Seal – Stan Deutsch
At Salisbury Beach, we found an ocean that looked quite empty, until we saw another Red-throated Loon and the usual raft of sea ducks off the end of the north jetty. Gulls sat rather than stood in the parking lot, conserving heat carefully. This unremarkable result sent us back to Plum Island. We bypassed the many Canada Geese and American Black Ducks in the river along its south bank at Joppa Flats. From the Plum Island bridge, we noticed a young Bald Eagle soaring over the Plum Island River, then found three more sitting on a large tree that had washed up on the marsh. When one of the eagles took off to tussle with another in the air, another young eagle joined the group, making a total of four subadult birds and one adult all at once!
Bald Eagles on a log – Stan Deutsch
After that record-breaking mini Eagle Festival, we walked away from the wind, up the parking lot #1 boardwalk, and down a few steps from the dune platform to get out of the breeze. As often happens, the sea looked empty, but birds appeared with closer inspection. There were lots of scoters far out, and now and then we would see the white on the wings of one, or a big orange knob on the face to identify the bird as a Black Scoter. A Horned Grebe eventually came into view, then a Common Loon. We turned our faces to the frigid wind and squinted our way back to the wonderfully sheltering vans.
Hoping for an owl or even a hawk to look at, we made our way to The Warden’s as that was all the time we had left. We were delighted, therefore, to find a flock of Snow Buntings vigorously feeding on grist and maybe little seeds along the side of the road near the S-Curves. The sight of winter seed eaters gathering on the roadsides is a striking feature of the season, and you never know if such a flock will contain something uncommon or even rare. These were purely beautiful SNBUs.
Snow Buntings – Stan Deutcsh
At The Warden’s, we faced another short march into the wind, but it was the last one, so off we went. There was little avian activity, but another small flock of Snow Buntings was skittishly alighting on the roof of one of the sheds, dropping onto the ground, flying off in a panic, and repeating the whole process. And that was it for a bitter cold day, where we confirmed our ability to withstand the elements for a little while, and were rewarded with a few brilliant moments with birds.
Our list: Salisbury Beach — Canada Goose – common. Gadwall (~ 15) American Black Duck – common. Mallard (2) Northern Pintail (1) – drake with black ducks. Greater Scaup (3) – 2 drakes, 1 hen; boat ramp. Common Eider – common. White-winged Scoter – common. Black Scoter (2) Long-tailed Duck (5) Common Goldeneye – common. Red-breasted Merganser (5) Red-throated Loon (2) Common Loon (1) Red-tailed Hawk (1) – cedar grove. Ring-billed Gull Herring Gull Blue Jay (1) American Crow (4) Black-capped Chickadee (1) Northern Cardinal (1)
Plum Island — Canada Goose – common. American Black Duck – common. Common Eider – common; one ocean. White-winged Scoter – common; one ocean. Black Scoter (4) – one ocean. Scoter spp. – many; one ocean. Long-tailed Duck (2) – pr; one ocean. Common Loon (1) – one ocean. Horned Grebe (1) – one ocean. Bald Eagle (5) – 1 ad, 4 imm; hay marsh, n refuge gate; latter interacting. Northern Harrier (2) – 1 at distance over North Marsh; 1 ad female over marsh w pannes. [Red-tailed Hawk (1) – PI Tpk.] Herring Gull – many. American Crow (3) – hay marsh. Black-capped Chickadee (1) – S-curves. Snow Bunting (~ 33) – ~ 25 roadside, n S-curves; 8, The Warden’s.
Susan Yurkus and I sallied forth from Joppa Flats Education Center with 20
or so game Wednesday Morning Birders. Skies were overcast with a hint of
sun here and there; temps were in the mid to upper 20s; and, most importantly,
winds were light and variable. How many times of late have we had such
benign conditions? Pretty nice!
Our first stop was Salisbury Beach State Reservation. Along the entry
road out in the marsh, sharp-eyed (dare I say, eagle-eyed?) Kim spotted a large
juvenile Bald Eagle perched on an upright of some sort. By its size, this
was probably a female (remember, female Bald Eagles are about 25 percent larger
than males) and the white triangle on its back made it a 2- to 3-year
old. Then, lo and behold, a binocular field’s width to the right, a pair
of adult Bald Eagles were perched side by side on a nesting platform.
That was a nice start to the morning!
Juvenile Bald Eagle, by Stan Deutsch
From the boat ramp, we had excellent views of many sea ducks. There
were a number of White-winged Scoters with great comparisons between adult and
juvenile drakes. The juvs were evolving into their colorful adult bills,
but had not yet attained the white commas through and behind their eyes.
Several groups of 10 to 20 Common Goldeneyes could be seen along with small
groups of Long-tailed Ducks. Many of our group commented on how these
looks were the best that they had ever had, especially of the Long-tails.
With the somewhat windless conditions, we spent a long time watching these
duckies, enjoying the views and courtship behavior going on among a major share
of them. And, commonly seen in and along the edges of the marsh were many
American Black Ducks and Canada Geese. We were unable to pick up Brant
that had been seen earlier by a fellow birder. A few Red-breasted
Mergansers and Buffleheads were also seen along with a lone hen Black Scoter.
White-winged Scoters, by Bob MintonCommon Goldeneyes, by Bob MintonCourting Common Goldeneyes, by Stan Deutsch
From parking lot #1, in the river channel were
more White-winged Scoters and several rafts of Common Eiders. Three
Common Loons were fishing there, too, and a few more Common Goldeneyes and Red-breasted
Mergansers were seen. Another Harp Seal was on the beach, being protected
by a warden. Several Turkey Vultures were lilting above us as we departed
the parking lot. On the way out of the reservation, we had another look
at the juvenile Bald Eagle and picked up two Red-tailed Hawks perched in trees
looking into the marsh as these “perch hunters” do with their
phenomenal eyesight. We spied another Red-tail en route to Plum Island,
this one on a nesting platform along Ferry Road.
Red-tailed Hawk, by Bob Minton
While on the Plum Island Turnpike heading for PI, yet another Red-tailed Hawk was seen perched on the chimney of “the pink house.” Approaching Plum Island Bridge, the astronomical high tide generated by the “super snow moon” was at its peak and seemingly about to lap over the roadway — it was really high! Surely there would be many marsh rodents going to higher ground and readily available for predators like Northern Harriers, Rough-legged Hawks, and Snowy Owls. As we searched for the owls in the marsh, there was a critter with ears out in mid-marsh. One of our group was thinking owls like the rest of us, and thought “Great Horned Owl”?? Those ears were resolved into a furry kind of animal and not a feathered animal — a rather large Coyote! And just to the right of it, there was another smaller Coyote. They were just sitting there, getting their feet wet, I am sure, watching us from afar. They, too, were no doubt taking advantage of scurrying voles and other rodents. It’s been a while since Wednesday Morning Birding has had a Coyote to add to the list …
Approaching The Warden’s, I saw a flock of small birds fly overhead and
toward The Warden’s. Turning into the parking lot, we found 17 Snow
Buntings perched on the roof ridge of one of the maintenance buildings.
They afforded us outstanding looks before flying down to the ground to feed on
seeds near the pines. The photographers among us were able to approach
reasonably close for some photos. While there, a dark-morph Rough-legged
Hawk was spotted by one of us sitting atop the “lollipop” cedar on
the North Pool dike. Through a spotting scope, its relatively small head
and bill could be readily seen. In the same direction, “eagle-eyed”
Kim came up with a harrier that had perched low down in the shrubs just this
side of the dike. This beautiful adult female Northern Harrier soon took
flight and gave us a showy flyby at eye level through and behind the
pines. What a gorgeous bird!
Snow Buntings, by Stan DeutschSnow Buntings, by Bob MintonSnow Buntings, by Bob MintonNorthern Harrier, by Stan DeutschRough-legged Hawk, by Stan Deutsch
Getting into overtime, we headed back to Joppa. Our list was not
overwhelming, but the quality of the birds and mammals (!) seen was satisfying
. . . .
David Moon and I hope to see you next week back at Joppa Flats Education
Center ready for another edition of Wednesday Morning Birding. Y’all
come!!
Cheers and warmest regards!
Dave Weaver
Our list:
Salisbury —
Canada Goose – common.
American Black Duck – common.
Mallard (4) – boat ramp.
Common Eider – common.
White-winged Scoter (~ 40)
Black Scoter (1) – hen.
Long-tailed Duck (~ 25)
Bufflehead (4)
Common Goldeneye (~ 35)
Red-breasted Merganser (~ 10)
Common Loon (3)
Turkey Vulture (3)
Bald Eagle (3) – 2 ads, 1 2-3-yr old.
Red-tailed Hawk (2)
[Red-tailed Hawk (1) – perched on nesting platform, Ferry Rd.]
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
American Crow (1)
Plum Island —
Canada Goose – common.
American Black Duck – common.
Mallard (~ 6) – hay marsh.
Bufflehead (4) – from The Warden’s (PI River).
Common Goldeneye (1) – from The Warden’s (PI River).
Northern Harrier (1) – ad female; The Warden’s.
[Red-tailed Hawk (1) – atop chimney, Pink House, PI Tpk.]
Rough-legged Hawk (1) – dark morph atop N. Pool dike “lollipop”
cedar.
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull (1) – hay marsh.
Rock Pigeon (~ 25) – on lines n. refuge gate.
American Robin (3) – S-curves.
Northern Mockingbird (2)
European Starling (1)
Snow Bunting (17) – The Warden’s.
Coyote (2) – in astronomical high tide, mid-marsh, sw Main Panne.
