HBC-Cape Cod Weekend

Ten members of the Hampshire bird Club made a weekend trip to Cape Cod a couple of weeks ago. Overall the weekend weather was pretty good, but certainly a bit on the windy side. We headed out early Saturday morning for Race Point in Provincetown, hoping to cash in on a few pelagic birds. The biggest obstacle we encountered was the WIND….but we managed to find a couple lingering Great Shearwaters , 3-4 Parasitic Jaegers, lots of Bonaparte’s Gulls, Gannets, Scoters, Common Eiders and one Wood Duck flying close to shore with a flock of Common Eiders? Along the Beach…a flock of Snow Buntings and an American Pipit put on a nice show.

During the next two days we would work our way up and down Rte 6 from Chatham to Provincetown, stopping at Fort Hill, Wellfleet Harbor, Morris Island and High Head to mention just a few. We had some nice birds but nothing to out of the ordinary.  A late Lincoln’s Sparrow at High Head, Fox Sparrow, Rusty Blackbird at Fort Hill and loads of Dunlins, Black-bellied Plovers, American Oystercatcher and a couple Peregrine Falcons in Chatham.  Complete list below.   

Northern Harrier- Race Point

Gray Seals- Herring Cove Beach, Provincetown.

Common Eiders- Provincetown

Great Blue Heron- Marsh near High Head.

Provincetown

Race Point- Provincetown.

Common Loon-Wellfleet Harbor

Common Eider-Having a snack...Wellfleet Harbor.

The Gang....Chatham Light

Chatham

Chatham Light

Herring Gull- dropping a scallop.

Greater Yellowlegs

Great Egret- Coast Guard Beach.

Great Blue Heron

Bonaparte's Gull- Coast Guard Beach.

Yellow-rumped Warbler- Fort Hill.

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker-Fort Hill

Peregrine Falcon- Fort Hill.

                                              Hampshire Bird Club                             

                                  Cape Cod Trip – Nov. 9-11, 2013

 

Areas Covered:

Chatham (Chatham Light/Morris Island/Cow Yard Rd/Hardings Beach/CockleCove)

Orleans (Nauset Beach)

Eastham (Coast Guard Beach/Fort Hill/First Encounter Beach)

Wellfleet (Harbor)

Truro (High Head/Head of the Meadow)

Provincetown (Race Point/Herring Cove Beach/MacMillian Wharf)

 

Species:

Canada Goose- Low numbers.

Brant -10

Mute Swan -2

Wood Duck -1. Flying with Eiders at Race Point.

American Black Duck- common.

Mallard- surprisingly uncommon this weekend.

Green-winged Teal-17. Coast Guard Beach, Nauset Beach, High Head.

Ring-necked Duck-8 Eastham.

Greater Scaup- 9

Common Eider- 3000+ large numbers in Chatham.

Harlequin Duck-1 male. Nauset Beach…Thank You Sally.

Surf Scoter- Common- 50-100

White-winged Scoter- Most Common-1000+

Black Scoter- 250-300

Long-tailed Duck -12

Bufflehead- 250+

Common Goldeneye-2.

Hooded Merganser- 3 Fort Hill.

Red-breasted Merganser- 75+

Red-throated Loon- 25

Common Loon- 65

Horned Grebe-15

Red-necked Grebe- 4

Great Shearwater-2 Race Point.

Northern Gannet- 400

Double-crested Cormorant- 1500+

Great Cormorant-6

Great Blue Heron- 10

Great Egret-2

Northern Harrier-6

Sharp-shinned Hawk-3

Red-tailed Hawk-2

Merlin-1. High Head.

Peregrine Falcon- 3. Chatham & Fort Hill.

American Coot- Eastham

Black-bellied Plover-150+ (Most at Morris Island)

American Oystercatcher-1 Morris Island.

Willet-1 Chatham.

Ruddy Turnstone-1 Chatham.

Sanderling-35+

Semipalmated Sandpiper-6

White-rumped Sandpiper- 1 Herring Cove.

Dunlin-275

Bonaparte’s Gull-300+ Largest numbers-Race Point.

Laughing Gull-9

Ring-billed Gull- 40+

Herring Gull-very common.

Great Black-backed Gull-Commn

Common Tern-50 Race Point.

Parasitic Jaeger-3 Race Point.

Rock Pigeon- 300

Mourning Dove- 14

Red-bellied Woodpecker-1 Fort Hill

Downy Woodpecker-3

Northern Flicker-4

Blue Jay-5

American Crow

Horned Lark-6

Black-capped Chickadee 23

Tufted Titmouse-4

Red-breasted Nuthatch-1 Morris Island

White-breasted Nuthatch-1 Fort Hill

Carolina Wren-7

Golden-crowned Kinglet-3

Ruby-crowned Kinglet-1 Eastham.

Eastern Bluebird-2 Eastham

American Robin- 85+

Gray Catbird-4

Northern Mockingbird-3

E.Starling-400_

American Pipit-1 Race Point.

Yellow-rumped Warbler- 65+

Palm Warbler-2 Chatham Light.

Fox Sparrow-1 Fort Hill.

Song Sparrow-15

Lincoln’s Sparrow-1 High Head.

White-throated Sparrow-3

Snow Bunting-41 Race Point.

Northern Cardinal-17

Red-winged Blackbird-1

Rusty Blackbird-1 Fort Hill

House Finch- 22

American Goldfinch-20+

House Sparrow-20

 

     84 Species  

Mammals

Gray Seals

Rabbit

White-tailed Deer

 

Weekend Weather: Temps 38-60, Strong NW winds on Saturday 10-20mph.

Sunday-light winds (SW) Cloudy-light on-off rains. Monday –Clear steady NW winds.

 

.

 

Nine members of the Hampshire Bird Club (led by Tom Gagnon) enjoyed a rewarding, but cold day in the Berkshires today. The highlight of the day was the fallout of Scoters that occurred throughout the Berkshires and many other regions of Massachusetts. By far, Black Scoters were the most numerous, with token appearances by White-winged and Surf Scoters. We visited several lakes and reservoirs from Hinsdale, Cheshire, Pittsfield, Richmond and to Stockbridge. Every body of water had a flock of Scoters on it, this was the first time this annual trip had encountered something like this. We ended the day with 264 Black Scoters, 2 White-winged and 10 Surf Scoters. A total of 16 species of waterfowl, including Canada Goose (200+) Wood Duck (2) Mallard (125+) Am.Black Duck (8) Green-winged Teal (24) Ring-necked Duck (2) Long-tailed Duck (41) Common Goldeneye (3) Bufflehead (86) Common Merganser (70) Red-breasted Merganser (1) Hooded Merganser (83) and (2) Ruddy Ducks. Also seen, 1-Common Loon,2-Pied-billed Grebes, 1- Double-cr.Cormorant, (2) Great Blue Herons, 28 American Coots, 2 Bald Eagles, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, 2 Common Raven, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Snow Bunting.



Black Scoters- Cleveland Reservoir. The first of serveral flocks encountered.

Bald Eagle-(Juv) Kept the Ducks moving around the lake.

Scoters & Buffleheads- Large flock containing all three species of Scoters on Lake Onota.