South Shore Journal

Finger Lake'n Good

On Thursday, April 24, for the third time in twelve months, I found myself pulling into the town of Skaneateles ("long lake" in Iroquois), New York, hoping that the public restrooms were open, and that the lake that shared the town's name would have a wide variety of ducks on it. You know, just like your average tourist does.

Well, one out of two ain't bad. The restrooms were open. Such was the inauspicious beginning of our third Finger Lakes birding adventure.

We - Carol Decker, director of the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, our thirteen program attendees joining us from Mendon to Sandwich, and me - headed west for Cayuga Lake, which we would circumnavigate over the next twenty-four hours in search of birds, mammals, amphibians, wildlflowers, and more. We started in the town of Cayuga, at the head of the lake, finding our first of many ospreys, a northern rough-winged swallow and several carpenter bees, one of which is pictured at left with his shadow.

Onward through rolling farmland we drove, pausing at promising, yet strangely disappointing spots along the way. We had calls and songs, but mostly distant. We couldn't even get the squirrels right. At Long Point State Park, we found a gray squirrel that was more red than gray. Still, nobody complained. By the end of the day, as we pulled into Ithaca and the parking lot of our hotel, we'd scored 47 species of birds, mourning cloak butterflies, woodchucks, a brown snake, and more.

We started fresh on day two, waking up for some 5 a.m. owling that went absolutely nowhere, except to the tree branch hangout of a singing purple finch. We regrouped and headed for one of our target destinations, Sapsucker Woods and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. (I thought I heard a fish crow in the parking lot of the hotel as we left, but then realized that, according to Sibley, that would be too far west for their range). Each trip I've taken to Sapsucker has produced sapsuckers. Finally, the birding gods were with us. Our first sapsucker (of about ten), desperately wanted to be heard; we found it drumming on a metal sign on the street. On the way around the Wilson Trail, we spotted a singing swamp sparrow, a nest-building house wren, and a pair of bluebirds performing the same task. Later, from the Woodleton Boardwalk, we heard a pair of northern waterthrushes singing their spring song.

We poked through the Lab, spending some money at the gift shop, and then headed for the western shore of Cayuga Lake. After a quick visit to Buttermilk Falls State Park, we walked the gorge into Taughannock Falls, where ravens and northern rough-winged swallows took the day. A single black-throated green warbler sang on the south slope and white and red trilliums dotted the landscape. Our day ended with a teaser run-through of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.

Day three began in the town of Victor, with a short drive through Rochester on the way to Braddock Bay. We lingered at the hawkwatch there, amazed at the building kettles in the distance, and awed by the beauty of broad-winged hawks soaring closely overhead. Two American pipits flew overhead, a bald eagle perched in a tree in the distance, an orchard oriole flashed in and out of view, and four caspian terns dove into the bay. Yellow warblers sang heartily and a gray catbird made a very, very brief appearance.

Southward we pushed through a powerful thunderstorm, to the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, where the site's fiftieth anniversary celebration was taking place. There we met a man who brought up the name of Dutch Barney, the gentleman who provided Mass Audubon with one of its little known gems, the High Ledges Wildlife Sanctuary. He had brought Dutch and his wife in for their last visit to their beloved site before they passed, and wanted to know how it was being kept. And did I mention there was cake?

On a pretty good sugar rush, we headed toward the Cayuga Overlook, where we sighted pied-billed grebes, an ancient bald eagle's nest, white-crowned sparrows, northern pintails, and more. Nesting black terns were due any day, and there had even been a brief sighting that morning. A short walk down the Onondaga Trail brought out calling gray tree frogs, more yellow warblers, a brown creeper and a surprise blue-headed vireo. Two kestrels emerged from a box and put on a show for us on the way out. Day total? Seventy-two species, plus twenty-two woodchucks on the road from Iroquois to Victor, just over a one-a-minute pace.

Day three began back in Victor again, with a quick run west to Mendon Ponds Park to find our only cedar waxwings of the trip. At 9:45, I joined Ray Brown on his Talkin' Birds radio program. (Don't tell him, but it was at a rest stop and not Montezuma as I said on the air; we were less than four minutes away when the cry for a bathroom break arose, and I had to oblige our guests). At Montezuma, the purple martin colony had returned, northern shovelers, blue-winged teals, American coots, redheads and canvasbacks fed in the main pool. Carp tried crazily to force their way in from the nearby feeder canal, and from the overlook at the Tschache Pool we spied seven bald eagles, approximately twenty-five great blue herons (nesting on the ground), another pied-billed grebe, two tundra swans and more. As we watched, a fish crow called, circled the tower, and flew away. We posed for a group picture, and we drove through the Mucklands for home.

After four days, we could claim 103 species of birds, snapping turtles, deer, muskrats, spring azure butterflies, trout lilies, Carolina spring beauties, garter snakes, marsh marigolds, and even a bullfrog. The skies darkened and the temperature dropped as we drove east, from 75 to 45. There were plenty of jokes about turning around and heading back, but that day will come. I know that next year at this time, I'll probably be making this report again.

Off and Running

Are you ready for all this? Here's a rundown of the past two weeks.

On Monday, April 7, a friend and I took a common day off to visit Cape Cod for some birding. We started with a pre-dawn walk at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield to check unsuccessfully for owls, but instead scored timberdoodling American woodcocks. From there, it was straight - okay, with a Dunkin' Donuts stop on the way - to the Beech Forest in Provincetown, where she fed the chickadees and red-breasted nuthatches by hand while I snapped some pics. At Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary we met the little blue heron at left, and on we rolled until we ran out of Cape to see. After crossing the bridge for home we stopped at the Myles Standish State Forest to listen for singing pine warblers and watch for foraging ring-necked pheasants.

The next day I joined three other birders, Charlie, Joe and Allan, on an exploratory walk through Scituate's Glades for the Breeding Bird Atlas 2 project, finding a surprise osprey on a pole that was not used in 2007. That afternoon, the South Shore Sanctuaries staff brought a van full of volunteers to Mass Audubon's Visual Arts Center in Canton to see the current exhibit and even a little behind the scenes. That night, I led a woodcock walk at Daniel Webster, finding a sharp-shinned hawk and a northern shrike on the way to Fox Hill, and numerous woodcocks doing their thang in the failing light of the setting sun.

The next week was a blur - eye doctor, Friday Morning Birding, Celtics game (the win against the Bucks), two days in Maine (L.L. Bean, bowling, Scarborough Marsh, Cape Elizabeth, Portland Head Lighthouse, Lenny the 1700-pound chocolate moose, left). On Monday the 14th, I gave a talk on hawks and owls to the folks at the Duxbury Senior Center, then did our North Hill Marsh Waterfowl Survey (ring-necked ducks, wood ducks, green-winged teals). Tuesday night the 15th I gave a talk on Mass Audubon's Baltimore Oriole project, and on Wednesday I met a friend in Boston for burritos and a chance to see the fork-tailed flycatcher in Brighton, also a miss.

Thursday I "atlased" a block with a friend who needed some tips on places to go, and Friday, with my co-leader David Ludlow chasing Henslow's sparrows in North Carolina, I led Friday Morning Birders to Duxbury Beach and the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, picking up several new birds for the year (eastern towhee, greater yellowlegs, black-bellied plover, etc.). Saturday morning I led a sunrise walk at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary and then the Friday Morning Rewind, retracing our Friday morning steps for those who missed them. The sunrise walk in particular did not disappoint, with a palm warbler, a lingering rough-legged hawk and more.

Sunday morning, after brunch, I received a call from Tim O'Neil, who had led our full moon hayride on Saturday night at Daniel Webster. Snow goose! Luckily, as you can see, it  was still there when I got there this foggy morning, Tuesday, while working my breeding bird atlas block.

Got all that?  Good, because I have to pack. I'm off to the Finger Lakes for a few days of rest, relaxation and...birding.

There, there, there and back again

Spring keeps rolling on in! It's been another interesting and exciting week around the region. In fact, with all that's happened, I'm kind of dumb-founded to think that only seven days ago I was on Nantucket with the gang.

Tuesday, the day of the Red Sox re-opener in Oakland, I led a woodcock walk at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary. Kathy Clayton, a fellow program leader, and I had seen them displaying back on March 9, and they were still at it hot and heavy earlier this week. Walking the trails at the sanctuary we had a sharp-shinned hawk, northern harriers, our northern shrike and more. All in all, a wonderful night that ended with a strange distant sound that may have been a fisher attack. But it was so drowned out by the sound of the hundreds of spring peepers around the sanctuary that we may never know.

Wednesday I attended the Mass Audubon education staff meeting at the Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick. As is my custom, I got there early enough to walk for an hour around the property, catching some early moring tree swallows on their boxes, as shown above. During the lunch break I got the chance to visit the resident great horned owl nest on the property, at left. The owl's moved in on an old heron nest, and if I was the heron, I think I'd take it up in court rather than try to make the eviction myself.

That night, I headed for the Lloyd Center in Dartmouth to help with a Breeding Bird Atlas 2 meeting (I'm a regional coordinator for the project). While witnessing a red-shouldered hawk display put on by the staff, I heard the familiar hoot of a barred owl in the distance. I then gave it my best "Who cooks for you?" and called in a dueting pair, a probable breeding record for the area. Great horned and barred in one day, without any darkness! What are the chances?

Thursday brought a meeting at Plimoth Plantation forthe upcoming FlightPath exhibit of shorebird photography from Plymouth Beach, and Friday, of course, meant Friday Morning Birders. For the four billionth Friday in a row, it rained. No worries!  David Ludlow and I found 56 species of birds for our attendees, including American kestrels and Wilson's snipes at the Daniel Webster Widlife Sanctuary in Marshfield, and this mute swan at Store Pond in Plymouth, one of three we saw sitting on nests around that city. We also found a Canada goose on a nest in Marshfield, and a total of seven confirmed breeding records in the region. I told you spring was here...

This morning I led "All Around the Mouth of the North River," based on my new book The North River: Scenic Waterway of the South Shore, now out from the History Press. Got my first great egret of the season, out on Damon's Point in Marshfield, and first chipping sparrow, right outside my window at the North River Wildlife Sanctuary office. I guess no matter how far you roam, there's always a reason to come home.

Tonight is "Timberdoodles and Tapas!" Every good birding adventure starts with hors d'oeuvres, I always say.

Back from the Rock

It was a weekend full of Nantucket surprises, even despite heavy prep time. I did my due diligence, contacting Nantucket's birding guru, Ken Blackshaw, for hot sightings, and brought the list with me. Carol Decker, the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary director, and I chased down some of our old favorites and mixed in some of the new.

We started in the fields of the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfieldon Friday morning. Our walk around the grasslands was highlighted by a male osprey who was so adamant about not sharing his fish with his mate that he actually ripped it away from her and flew off with it; northern harriers hunting over the fields; a Cooper's hawk perched on a heavy vine about twenty feet away; a belted kingfisher on a wood duck box in the wet panne; a gorgeous male eastern bluebird; and a wild turkey that ran away upon our approach, but diligently stayed to the mowed trails, as any visitor should do.

The ferry ride from Hyannis to Great Harbor was, as usual, invigorating. Either that or it was so cold topside that I was happily delirious. Actually, I take that back. The ride over was tropical when compared to the ride back. The wildlife stole the show - red-throated loons, common loons, northern gannets, long-tailed ducks by the hundreds, all three species of scoters, a pair of Bonaparte's gulls, a razorbill and a belted kingfisher chasing a red-breasted merganser. American oystercatchers greeted us as we pulled into the harbor.

We shared breakfast at 5 a.m. before heading for Smith's Point - or what's left of it. Last year we walked for more than an hour on the sand to watch the lift-off of the long-tailed ducks, a Nantucket nature specialty. This year we barely had gone ten minutes before we were greeted by an impassable, 150 to 200 foot wide cut that had separated Smith's Point from the Madaket mainland. We stood there dumbfounded by the power of nature as common eiders and common loons flew over our heads, and four piping plovers peeped at our feet. We lingered, but knew that as the sun came up our options would begin to wane, and so headed for other points of interest: North Head Long Pond, Eel Point Road, Miacomet Pond, Polpis Harbor and Sconset.

Sconset did not disappoint, as we located numerous Iceland and lesser black-backed gulls. Buffleheads by the hundreds had formed tight flocks, ready to head north. An eastern phoebe flicked its tail in some seaside thickets, and a lone early barn swallow worked the beach for goodies. At Sankaty Head Lighthouse, two snow buntings lifted off in the face of a peregrine falcon that was sitting nearby. It turned out that when he flew, he had bells attached to his legs, a kept bird wearing his jesses. The owner appeared and called him back in with the promise of a frozen quail, which he readily devoured. We learned that what we were watching was a peregrine/gyrfalcon hybrid. He allowed us to take all the photos we wanted before getting into his master's truck and perching on the seat back for the ride home. As the sun set, we found a beach that offered a northern gannet feeding frenzy before heading to dinner at the Atlantic Cafe.

Sunday morning, we slept in - til 5:30. At 6, we stood in the state forest off Lover's Lane listening to the strange hoots of a northern saw-whet owl and the sweet little song of a singing brown creeper. As we left there, a migration wave of several dozen, perhaps as many as a hundred yellow-rumped warblers swept past. We tried Miacomet Pond again, and added a pied-billed grebe; visited the marshes by the Nantucket Life Saving Museum and encountered the man himself, Ken Blackshaw, calling in a Virginia rail; and found the island's famed glaucous gull working the remains of the scallop pile at Jetties Beach. While standing there I reported live to Ray Brown's Talkin' Birds on WATD 95.9 FM about all the fun we'd had during the weekend. Seventy-six species of birds, in all light, in all habitats. We rode the ferry home in the cold (yes, we could have gone below decks, but where's the fun in that?) and parted company.

Tonight I'm off to find ritualizing American woodcocks at the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, and am preparing for "Timberdoodles and Tapas" this Saturday. In three weeks, I'm off again, to Sapsucker Woods and the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Six days after that, it's North Carolina and Florida!  What a spring this is going to be.