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WORDS ON BIRDS
Western Grebe highlights Plum Island excursion
December 01, 2007
Steve Grinley
Last Sunday started off promising enough. It was a
bright, but crisp day, with temperatures that forewarned us that
winter was on the way. On our way to Plum Island, Margo and I were
crossing the Chain Bridge over the Merrimack River when Margo called
out: "Bald eagle!"
I looked over my right shoulder and saw an adult bald
eagle perched on a snag on the Amesbury side of the river. I checked
the rear-view mirror and no cars were coming, so I slowed to a stop to
see the majestic bird as it perched in the morning light. This was
likely one of the resident birds that had nested successfully up river
this year. It hasn't been quite cold enough for freezing lakes and
bays up north to drive the wintering population here. Still, it was
quite a sight to see this bird perched in its "traditional" spot.
We thought that the eagle would be a good omen for the
day, but the Island was not exactly "hopping." As we turned the corner
to head for the refuge, we looked for the American bittern that we had
seen there yesterday, standing amidst the tall grass will bill pointed
skyward. He hoped that no one would notice. Yesterday, we did. That
next day, he remained undetected to our eyes, though others claimed to
have seen the bird there that morning.
The drive down the island revealed a few tree sparrows
feeding along the road, but little else. We searched the tree and
shrub tops for a northern shrike to no avail. We scanned every birch
along the way, hoping for a flock of redpolls. But we saw none.
We did spy a large buteo that was hovering in the
breeze ahead of us, but we were unable to get good looks at it before
it disappeared behind the trees. We later saw a light-morph
rough-legged hawk, hovering over the marsh close to the road,
providing us great looks at this beautiful hawk.
A stop at the Maintenance Area yielded three snow
buntings flying between the buildings. The flash of white in their
wings as they flit around to avoid other birders in the area, reminded
us that white snow flakes would soon be flitting I their place. A few
tree sparrows, juncos and a Savannah sparrow were also in the area as
we approached the dike. Along the gravel dike road was a late golden
plover, running here and there, probing the grassy edges for food.
We proceeded down to the Old Pines and parked at Lot 5.
We walked the new Lot 5 trail and then the road, hoping for a
crossbill. We had great looks at several red crossbills at the
Salisbury Beach State Reservation on the previous day, but we were
hoping for white-winged crossbills and came up empty. We did hear a
chorus of red-breasted nuthatches calling from the pines along the
road.
We stopped at the Hellcat Parking Lot on the way back,
and we did see 3 common redpolls land in the birches surrounding the
parking lot. We walked the Marsh trail hoping for more, but we saw
only ten chickadees and a robin along the boardwalk. We had checked
the dike for short-eared owl, but only, later, saw pictures of one
that had been hunting the dike and North Field area.
We then got a call from our friend, Linda Ferraresso,
who told us of a Western grebe reported off the ocean at Lot 1 earlier
that morning. It had been posted on Massbird, the local list serve,
but it seemed that none of the birders on the Island had been aware of
the sighting. (Gotta get one of those Internet capable iPhones!) Linda
also called our friend Phil Brown who was also on the island and we
all headed for Lot 1. Margo and I decided to stop at Lot 3 in case the
bird had drifted south, since it was last reported before noon. We saw
lots of red-throated and a few common loons off shore. My count of
red-throated loons was up to sixty-eight over half of the visible area
when I received a cell phone call from Phil saying that he had the
Western grebe at Lot 1.
We arrived at Lot 1 and Phil was already down off the
platform and at the edge of the beach, as the tide was quite low.
Margo put up her scope on the platform and immediately found the
grebe. After taking short looks, we joined Phil at the edge of the
water. We got great looks at the grebe as it swam with a small group
of red-necked grebes. A few horned grebes caught the waves closer to
the shore.
A while later, as the sun hung low in the western sky,
Linda came charging down the stairs to the beach. She had driven with
friends from Nahant to see this bird. As she peered into our scopes,
the bird had its head tucked under its wing, hampering identification.
With patience, the bird finally lifted its head a few times for the
late arrivers to get better, though more distant, views than we had
when we first saw the bird. The setting sun cast great light on the
bird, and the other grebes in the vicinity provided great comparisons.
All were satisfied with this new "year bird" as the grebe drifted
further out and the sun faded further in western sky. Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift and Nature Shop at Joppa Flats
Newburyport, MA
BirdWSG@Verizon.net
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