Wednesday Morning Birding Report, November 15, 2017

While the weather had turned cold with a wet vengeance this week, Dave Weaver and I had a perfect sunny day to find newly arrived wintering birds and some lingering migrants on Wednesday. With some reports of birds with the word “snow” in their names from Salisbury, we scurried to the state reservation. Along the way, at least one van of birders spotted the flock of Wild Turkeys that inhabits the Ferry Road neighborhood. As we drove down the long entrance road to Salisbury Beach State Reservation, we got hooked by some photographers standing in the marsh looking at a raptor in one of the trees along the edge. Bill Gette was there (modeling appropriate behavior regarding the marsh), and we had a nice reunion. The juvenile Red-tailed Hawk below was harassed to the point of being flushed from its perch by a Northern Harrier. Thus began a nice series of raptors for the day.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, Salisbury Reservation – Patti Wood

We tried for the Snowy Owl that had been sighted near the boat ramp, but it was very quiet there, and all the birds we did see were mostly brown or gray, such as two Black-bellied Plovers lagging behind the migration. As we scanned in vain for white birds, three welcome brownish ones flew over: Horned Larks, which we expect by now. A Red-Throated Loon fit into the almost monochromatic motif, while a good flock of Long-tailed Ducks added their bold patterns to our avian color pallet. On our way to the jetty parking lot, another knot of cameras flagged us for viewing a juvenile Merlin in the pines along the road. The river mouth was occupied by small flocks of Common Eiders and scattered White-winged Scoters, which allowed us to practice noting the marks we learned during an earlier lesson on female sea ducks.The jetty at Salisbury is often productive, but it was fairly quiet on Wednesday, so we soon headed over to Plum Island. Off the beach at parking lot #1 scanning for Northern Gannets was productive, including some sitting on the water in a large raft. Black Scoters appeared in flight and on the water, along with a few White-wings. We spotted both species of loons that winter here, but they weren’t in very big numbers this week.

Juvenile Merlin, Salisbury Reservation – Patti Wood

As we headed down the refuge road, greedy for migrating dabbling ducks, a Cooper’s Hawk in the trees on one of the midden-mounds added to our list of perched raptors. The Main Salt Panne did have a good list of waterfowl, as noted on Tom Wetmore’s site for the past week, but it was almost all American Black Ducks there on Wednesday. Four Mute Swans and some Greater Yellowlegs were also in the pannes. We decided to scurry off to Hellcat.

White-winged Scoter female – Mike Densmore

It is great how Hellcat can save the day when things are slow in other parts of our birding zone. It might be passerines, shorebirds, waterfowl, or raptors, but there is always the chance for drama. This week, lots of Northern Pintails and Hooded Mergansers were stirred by a harrier. A few Dunlin and Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a nice crowd of sparrows that responded well to “pishing,” kept us on our toes. A Yellow-rumped Warbler and an American Tree Sparrow spiced up the mix of very common species. The sun warmed us and we all felt rejuvenated by birds, the good air, and the knowledge of the many special winter species ahead of us this season.

Northern-Harrier – Jon Linn

Our Lists:
Salisbury Beach —
Canada Goose
American Black Duck – some in marsh.
Common Eider – common
White-winged Scoter (~ 30)
Long-tailed Duck (~20)
Wild Turkey (~ 10) – while en route to Salisbury.
Red-throated Loon (2)
Common Loon (1)
Northern Harrier (2)
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Black-bellied Plover (2)
Ring-billed Gull (~ 40) – jetty parking lot.
Herring Gull (~ 8)
Great Black-backed Gull
Merlin (1)
American Crow (1) – harassing 2 harriers.
Horned Lark (3) – fly over at boat ramp.
Black-capped Chickadee (1)
Northern Mockingbird (1)
European Starling – common; several large flocks.
Song Sparrow (1)
American Goldfinch (2)

Plum Island —
Canada Goose – common.
Mute Swan (4) – 1 ad, main panne; 2 ads, 1 cygnet, first panne s. main panne.
American Black Duck – common, thruout refuge from Hellcat north.
Mallard (~ 20) – Bill Forward Pool.
Northern Pintail (~ 20) – BFP.
Green-winged Teal (2) – BFP.
White-winged Scoter (~ 10) – one ocean.
Black Scoter (7) – one ocean.
Long-tailed Duck (~ 10) – one ocean.
Hooded Merganser (8) – BFP.
Red-throated Loon (5) – one ocean.
Common Loon (1) – one ocean.
Northern Gannet (~ 15) – some rafting; one ocean.
Northern Harrier (2)
Cooper’s Hawk (1) – perched in tree on mound directly across road from lot #1.
Red-tailed Hawk (1)
Black-bellied Plover (1) – pannes.
Greater Yellowlegs (4) – pannes.
Semipalmated Sandpiper (3) – North Pool from Hellcat dike.
Dunlin (6) – North Pool from Hellcat dike.
Herring Gull (~ 10) – one ocean.
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove (5)
American Robin (1) – S-curves.
Northern Mockingbird (2) – parking lot #1.
European Starling – common, several large flocks.
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1) – Hellcat restroom.
American Tree Sparrow (1) – Hellcat restroom.
Song Sparrow (4) – Hellcat restroom.
White-throated Sparrow (~ 10) – Hellcat restroom.
Northern Cardinal (1) – Hellcat restroom.

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