Allens Pond Bird Walk - September 29, 2011

First a statement, I am behind on my blogs, so when I post them, they will be in an out of date sequence.
On Thursday, September 29, 9 hardy people gathered at Allens Pond Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary for one of Paul's famous bird walks.  The day was foggy and dreary, but the rain held off.  It was time of high tide, and there was a wind blowing in from the ocean.
We started off down the Quonset loop because there were shorebirds, pushed against the shore.  We did find Greater Yellowlegs, along with Great Egret's and a Great Blue Heron. There were a number of passerines present, and the surprise was a Blue Grosbeak. It landed on the top of the dead tree, however, because of the distance the picture I have here is not the best.




We then returned and went onto the Beach Loop with the rack line and puddles of water were high on the beach.  There were a large number of shorebirds feeding and were basically ignoring us as we walked by.  Among the shorebirds that we found were Semi-Palmated Plovers, Semi-Palmated Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Dunlins, and Ruddy Turnstones.  White-rumped Sandpipers flew by and we could visualized their white rump.  At one point, there was a question whether or not a Western Sandpiper was among the Semi-palmated Sandpipers.
At the end of the beach, looking across to Barney's Joy there was a large concentration of Double-Crested Cormorant's, Gulls, and Terns. We also found a rarity for the site, Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Bird Walk Allens Pond day prior to hurricane

Saturday, August 27, 2011 Allens Pond Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary scheduled a bird walk. What made this walk more interesting that it is occurring the day prior to the arrival of hurricane Irene.
I traveled down early to Westport Massachusetts to observe what was happening with the ocean around Gooseberry. The causeway to Gooseberry was closed to vehicle traffic, so I parked at the parking lot with numerous other cars and observed the increasing tide and waves coming in and pounding on the rocks. At the same time fog was starting to increase into the area.
I went to the sanctuary and prior to the walk took some scenic pictures to demonstrate how the area looked.
I also found a spider web cover with dew.

Finally put myself in a picture using the camera timer

Two other people and myself met our leader Lauren and we started out to bird the area at East Beach and observing over to Barney's Joy across the cut that is the inlet to Allens Pond.
Our first stop was at the culvert where we observed the Osprey sitting on the nest shrouded in fog. Traveling further down and stopping to look over the marsh and Allens Pond there was a large number of different species present. There was a flight of glossy Ibis that pass by and since I was using my binoculars I did not get a chance to photograph them. Of wading birds there were also great blue herons, snowy egrets and great egrets. Double-crested Cormorants was swimming and standing in the water.  There were a number of terns fishing. At first, we thought they were all common terns, but on closer inspection a lot of the terns were foresters terns. A very good find!
Reaching the end of East Beach a number of shorebirds was seen including whimbril's, Sanderlings, semi-palmated plover's which were feeding in the surf.


At the very end of Barney's Joy, there was a large number of gulls and terns feeding in the rough water. With binoculars and scopes we started to inspect the terns that were present to see if we could find any rarities. Yes! We found black terns which are listed as a rarity for this area. A most excellent find.

Black and Forester's Terns

Further down on Barney's Joy there were four oystercatchers resting. also on Barney's Joy were a  black-bellied plover and greater yellowlegs feeding.

Observing at the rocks off of the beach, the waves were starting to crash over them. Tomorrow, when the hurricane arrives it should be a very interesting scene however I will be at home safe rather than sorry.

For the entire trip we saw approximately 33 different species of birds. It was a very good morning of bird watching

Sachuest Salt Marsh

I have written about Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge in the past: <http://photobee1.blogspot.com/2011/01/sachuest-and-short-eared-owls.html>
<http://photobee1.blogspot.com/2011/02/day-of-birding-and-other-items.html>
http://photobee1.blogspot.com/2010/12/what-is-common.html.
Today I am going to discuss another important part of the refuge that is Sachuest Salt Marsh. The marsh is about 45 acres in size at present. In the past the marsh was used as a municipal dump and in 1989 a restoration project was started to restore and maintain the salt marsh into its original shape. Salt marshes do require frequent title flashings to help maintain their biological character.
The marsh is located in between Second and Third Beach in Middletown Rhode Island and is best viewed from the parking lot of Third Beach. In fact the day I was there, I was joined by at least a dozen birdwatchers that came down to view the migrating shorebirds. The marsh is a great resting area for shorebirds as they make their trip both northwards in the spring and southwards in late summer and early fall.
The Fish and Wildlife Service have built a blind at the far end of the marsh, but it isn't open to the public as yet. The splined will help viewing the birds that do congregate in the far corner.
In order to best view the birds, besides binoculars a spotting scope is extremely useful. For photography I find that a long lens of between 300 to 500 mm plus teleconverters is needed especially to obtain photographs of the small shorebirds.
There is always a moderate to large number of gulls present at low tide on the marsh. Wading birds feed in the marsh and I had four different species present today. The species present were Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, and a Green Heron.Great Blue HeronGreat Egret
 
                                                                                                                                                  Snowy Egret
Morning is a great time for viewing because the Sun is at your back, also, it is best at prior to low tide and just after low tide. This helps concentrate the birds into a smaller area. At full low tide there are large stretches of open mud and the birds are more spread out.Double Crested Comerant

Savannah Sparrow  
 

Semipalmated Plover



Semipalmated  Sandpiper
The refuge is located in Middletown, Rhode Island. Take route 1 South to route 138 East, over the Newport Bridge. Take the Newport exit and pass through downtown Newport on route 138A. Once through the downtown, you will pass First (or Newport) Beach. Just past First Beach, take a right onto Purgatory Road. Take a right onto Sachuest Point Drive and follow to the end, which will bring you directly into the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge parking lot. For your GPS coordinates use, 41.479652, -71.243998. In order to reach the salt marsh, just before the Middletown campground on Sachuest Point Drive, take your left onto Third Beach Road and follow the road to Third Beach the right side of the parking lot at third Beach abuts the marsh.
Green Heron