BwBTC Plum Island~cancelled ~sorta

Howdee all,

Last Saturday was supposed to have been our Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp outing at Plum Island, Ma.

We had nice day planned, with a guide and a bird banding session.

But~with torrential rains forecasted, many decided not to come.

John and Sharon were traveling from Maine. Hilke from Vermont. Dan from Connecticut. For them a long haul, on a day that was supposed to be a wash out. The locals were also bailing out..

Forecast was grim…

Cindy was coming from Brooklyn, NY…she already had reservations nearby and decided to come anyway.

Jeff and I said we would meet whomever was there…and so..because of the forecast….it was the three of us..

UNTIL…the weather cleared..

We met up with Christopher~who put out a quick facebook message that he was on his way.

He pointed out a Eurasian Widgeon in the marsh across the street.

Soon after Laura and Mark joined us..

Shortly after that  Diana and Paul joined us.

And what do you think we all  did?

We talked..

And talked…for hours~

It was fun to catch up and chat with everyone.

Laura brought this hat that is to be worn by a Birder if they are celebrating a birthday ending in a 0..on a bird outing.

John~aka Mainebirder~

This would have graced your head..See what you missed..hee hee.

.. 

There were plenty of ducks and shorebirds in the marsh areas…

And we eventually did some birding..

Most of the gang left in search of the Curlew sandpiper being seen on the NH coast.

Cindy, Jeff and I wanted to stay on Plum and check out the scene.

Great Egret

A flock of Turkey

We headed to the beach..A Caspian tern had been seen.

And although there weren't scads of shorebirds..and no Caspian tern…

There were enough to view and enjoy.

We walked the beach …

For a day that was supposed to be rainy and bleak..

It sure did end up being a gorgeous day.

I loved the clouds..

And the reflections in the water..

Cindy and her foot prints following her

Just look at this!

Can it get much prettier than this?

So~I didn’t mind that the place wasn’t hopping with birds..

I was having fun photographing the clouds..

Clouds..

Driftwood beach shack

We had a great time hanging out at the beach..watching two Peregrine falcon chase the shorebirds…didn’t see either of them take a bird.

Did I tell you the clouds were super?

They were..

Stay tuned for this poor little birds story…

Another BwBTC outing planned tomorrow for a few that couldn’t make the first outing..See you there~

Birding and Clamming~Chatham, Ma

Howdee all,

While staying in Cape  Cod..

We had a few combo~Kayak~Clamming~Birding trips

This particular day was foggy..

We were a bit late for low tide and the tide was coming in quickly…

Jeff had to keep moving the Kayak

We also had to keep moving to dig for clams…as the water was creeping up on us.

There were plenty of birds around

Jeff birded while nephew David and I did the digging.

Some of the Black-bellied Plover were showing nice color

(please let me know if my bird IDs are wrong)

Short-billed Dowitcher

I watched it for a while....

As it poked around the rocks....

Finding its lunch....

  Marbled Godwit~

With a basket full of Steamers..it was time to head

Back to shore..

Past scenes such as this…

later that evening

Jeff and David

Shucking Clams and Oysters..

We had a wonderful Dinner…

Fried Clams and Oysters over pasta

and Steamers!

Jeff and I are in Lexington, Ma. now. We are still not in Homey~we hope to pick it up tomorrow.

South Beach Birding~Chatham, MA

Howdee all,

Hope you all are having a nice September.

We have been out of our Homey for one and a half weeks while it is in the repair shop for a minor fender bender..Jeff ran over a big rock a few months ago. We have been staying in Jeff's sisters home on the Cape during the repair. We are hoping our Homey will be finished today and we will then head just a bit north to Lexington, MA for a few weeks.

===================================

Last week Jeff and I went birding South Beach, Chatham again..

This was the second time in a few weeks and it wasn’t our last.

We invited Kathie Brown of Kathie's Birds to join us. We took the 7am water taxi. We met Matt Malin on the water taxi~he joined us for the day.. and shared his birding knowledge.

We  decided to leave the bay side and go for do some ocean birding as the tide wasn’t quite right for birding on the bay.

It was a beautiful morning…

We had great views of Parasitic Jaegers and distant views of Wilson's Storm-Petrel and Northern Gannet

Kathie, hasn’t birded that much on the shore…she started racking up Lifers.

We were being watched by Gray and Harbor Seals

I found tracks in the sand.

Coyote tracks..

OH NO!

You never know what you might find on the beach….

Nothing we could do to help this naked gal…and..we were rather afraid to touch her.

Seals hanging out at the shore..

Hundreds..

I found coyote tracks leading to this carcass..The coyote dragged this away from the shore to eat…the gulls were having a feast on the leftovers.

After great fun birding the ocean side of South Beach we headed to the bay side.

Beautiful isn't it?

Plenty of Tern..

Matt helped us with Tern ID~ there were Least, Black, Roseate,Common and Forster’s Tern

Kathie counting more life birds…

Oh lookie here…I love finding hearts.

Least Sandpiper

Two Shell fishers~Human and Bird

(American Oystercatcher)

We saw many birds…but not the numbers we had hoped for…

Kathie was pleased~ 15 life birds for her this day!

Congrats Kathie!

We were running out of time…and had to hurry to catch the 4pm shuttle.

On the way back to the shuttle…

We started seeing piles of birds..

We couldn’t stop to give them proper notice..

We had a shuttle to catch and water to wade thru..

Jeff and Kathie walked the shore rather than wade thru the water.

We passed

Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs

And then this..

And this..

With no time to sort thru them..

Scads of birds…we had to walk by..

To catch our shuttle home…

Such is birding, on a schedule..I need a boat.

 

Birds of the Day~via Ebirder Kathie Brown

White-winged Scoter
Common Loon
Wilson's Storm-Petrel
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Northern Harrier
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
1 western, 2 eastern
Lesser Yellowlegs
Whimbrel
Hudsonian Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Black Tern
Roseate Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Parasitic Jaeger
jaeger sp.
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Savannah Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow

Thanks Kathie for your wonderful record keeping!

Thanks Matt for your helpful Birding skills!

It was a super day!

Links of the Day

Outermost Harbor Ferry

Birding on South Beach

Kathies blog post on the day

Kathies blog post on the Jaegar

Kathies post on the Whos hiding on South Beach.