Two Days of Birding Gooseberry and Allens Pond

Thursday and Friday, I started out early to photograph at Gooseberry, prior to meeting Paul and the group from Allens Pond Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary for the bird walks.

Horned Grebe with an Eel

Horned Grebe

Common Loon

Thursday there was rain in the forecast and the sky was basically cloudy, the seas were flat, and there were many horned grebes and common loons feeding. 
On Friday, the weather had cleared after the rain that came on Thursday, there was a wind present, and the seas again were rough,  And early in the morning, there were no grebes or loons present at Gooseberry.

Junco

Thursday, rather than birding the usual spots, we started off at Cherry and Web Beach, climbing first to the top of the dunes where we watched many flocks of American goldfinches migrating over us, along with large pulses of Robbins and some small blackbird flocks. Hopping around were Juncos.

Snow Bunting

We continue down To Horseneck Beach, where there was a flock of snow Bunting's in the parking lot

Snow Buntings in Flight

Fox Sparrow

and in the corner of lot number 3 besides black-capped  Chickadees, There was a nice Fox Sparrow, who kindly posed for me.

Fowler's Toad

We then traveled to Gooseberry, with the grebes and loons was still present, and they will large rafts of scoters on both sides of Gooseberry. We found a Fowler’s Toad in the parking lot.


Hermit Thrush



Hermit Thrush

White-throated Saprrow

We finished off at Allens Pond on the Quonset trail where there were Eastern Towhees, Gray Catbird's, a Brown Thrasher, Hermit Thrush. a Winter Wren and both morphs of the White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow

.  As the rain was starting to fall, we finished for the day.

Snow Bunting

Friday, the day was sunny and most of the scoters grebes and loons had disappeared.  Prior to the walk, I stopped at Horseneck Beach parking lot and followed the Snow Bunting’s around.

Pine Warbler

Baltimore Oriole

Baltimore Oriole

Otherwise an adult bald eagle flew over us, and we found Western palm warblers, Fox sparrows Eastern bluebirds.  A pine warbler was hanging out with the bluebirds.  And we ended up finding a beautiful male Baltimore Oriole.

Great Blue Heron

Other birds were Great Blue Heron


Savannah Sparrow



Red-throated Loon

Savannah Sparrow , Red-throated Loons

Common Loon



Willet



I had an event to go to in Westport in the late afternoon, so I stayed, I went and had lunch, and then went back to Gooseberry to see what I could find.  The common loons were feeding close to shore and allowed me to get almost completely full frame pictures. There was reported by a birder that that morning on Gooseberry, he found a Western Willet.  While I was photographing the loons, I turn to my right and saw on the rocks down on the beach a gull and a whitish bird that was smaller in size than the gull.  I observed the with the binoculars and it was a Willet.  This Willet, compared to the usual once we have around during the summer, was not at all nervous and allowed me to approach close and obtain its picture.

Normally, you do not find Mallards on the water at Gooseberry, but I saw a flight of ducks approaching and turning to land, first I thought of scoters, but it turned out to be a flock of mallards.

Mallards Landing

Birding Cape Cod

I spent Thursday, March 7 birding quit my good friend Doug. We were finally able to get together to enjoy a day of birding. We started out at Race Point Beach in the Cape Cod National Seashore located in Provincetown Massachusetts. There was a large number of northern gannets flying by plus scooters, eiders and red-breasted mergansers. There was even a humpback whale visible.

Northern Gannett

From Race Point Beach we went to Herring Cove Beach where there were the usual gulls- Herring, ring bill, and great black backed. Seaward there were the same birds present.

flight of see ducks

ring-billed gull

Next we went down to the Beech Forest Trail, where we had a great look at a fox sparrow right at the entrance to the trail. The chickadees and titmouse's kept following us looking for a handout, in fact, when Doug stuck out his hand to point at a bird a chickadee landed on his finger. This is because many people come to the Beech Forest Trail and feed the birds from their hands. Is this a good idea on not you will have to answer for yourself but it does make the birds less afraid.

Black-capped chickadee feeding out of the hand

downy woodpecker

tufted titmouse

fox sparrow

When we completed the Beech Forest Trail, it was getting onto lunch time so we traveled down to the parking lot at McMillan pier in Provincetown. Beside the usual gulls and rock pigeons that are present around the pier, in the water of the harbor were eiders, red-breasted mergansers and long-tailed ducks. Finally I was able to obtain photographs of a male long-tailed duck. The only problem was while I was photographing the long-tailed ducks, Doug identified a rarity, a King Eider, and I missed out in photographing it because it took off and headed out. However, I did also identify it.

Long-tailed duck mail

pair of long-tailed ducks

female red-breasted merganser

After lunch of delicious lobster rolls we traveled down to the Wellfleet Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary, we bird it mainly around Goose Pond. The interesting finding in the pond was four red-breasted mergansers. Usually these birds are found in salt water but this group was swimming up and down the pond. On the trail there was an eastern chipmunk stuffing its face.

eastern chipmunk with its mouth pouches full

Goose Pond

read-breasted mergansers in a row

So finished another enjoyable day. I am now starting to pack for my trip to Florida to visit with a good friend of mine, who was my roommate on St. Paul Island in the Pribilofs.