Category Archives: Halibut Point

Fare Thee Well, Winter Birds

Dunlin, egret, Eider ducks, Gold Crowned Kinglet, Halibut Point, herons, Horned Lark, Long Tail Duck, Loon, massachusetts, Nature, Sanderling, Swans, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Well, this title isn’t entirely accurate.  Many of the winter birds are still hanging out, as is the cold weather.  Still, I thought I’d better post on some of our winter visitors before the air conditioners snap on and the Baltimore Orioles start sipping mimosas and fanning themselves.  The first visit I want to mention was a local one:  the Swedish Cemetery in Worcester.  Here, we had the great pleasure of snapping some shots of Gold Crowned Kinglets.  These cuties are awfully fast, so Yang actually managed to end up with a few shots of a tree where the bird had been a millisecond before.  Nevertheless, he did get some nice photos, as you see.  Some were even “action” shots like the one below!

In January, we also made it to Gooseberry Island, one of our favorite spots.  Though, for the first time, we missed out on the Long-tailed ducks there, we did sight lots of other feathered pals.  We caught some Eiders on film.  There was a male, a female, and an immature male.  Note the immature male at the the top, right,  acting like a typical teenager – not wanting to be seen with his parents.

We also some adorable shore birds.  The Dunlins were real cuties.

 

 

 

 

 

And the Sanderlings were no slouches, either!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to go to Halibut Point to see the Long-Tails and Harlequin Ducks.

 

 

 

 

 

We also made to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, where we saw many a different waterfowl.  The Coots were in abundance – and they loved to hang out with the Swans.

 

 

 

We also got some closeups of these plump guys.  Their heads are black, their bodies are grey, they have a white streak over their beaks, and they have huge, lobed, yellow feet.  We couldn’t get a good shot of their feet because they were in the water.  Still, we did get some nice close ups of these guys.  They are still at the the Reservoir now, along with tons of Ringed-Neck Ducks.  The Ruddy Ducks have also re-appeared – but that’s a set of pictures for another blog.  For now, enjoy these rotund cuties.  By the way, they also love Horn Pond in Woburn – the forthcoming subject of another blog.

Their bodies may be plump and take-off may be skittery, but the coot can fly!

 

Last report is on our visit to Meig’s Point in Connecticut in February.  A week or so before, we’d gone there on an unseasonably warm Saturday – and, unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea.  There were tons of people but hardly a bird to be seen.  That was sad for Yang, because this was the place we always saw one of his favorites, the Horned Larks.  So, we went back on a colder weekday a week or two later and guess what we saw?

We got to see a whole flock!  We were so careful to approach them quietly, because these guys are very shy.  The the flock will fly off in a winged shape, much like the Snow Buntings that we saw on Deer Island.  It’s so neat to see that sweep of black feathers giving them a “horned” appearance, with that splash of chartreuse on their faces.  As you can see, it’s hard to pick them out with the way their brown feathers blend them in with the winter seared grass.  If you click on the photo, you’ll get a better look.

We didn’t just see the larks, though.  I wasn’t able to get a picture, but I did see a female Ruby-Crowned Kinglet close up.  We were  sighted lots of Loons (the avian not the human kind) swimming along the shore, like this chap.  At one point, we even saw three seals sunning themselves out in the bay.  Sorry, they were too far to photograph.  Here’s one of the many Golden Eyes we saw, along with tons of Surf and Black Scoters.  We also had the pleasure of watching a conference between a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret that, fortunately, ended without bloodshed.

 

 

So, winter may be past, or passing, but we did get some nifty bird sightings in!

 

 

Halibut Point Feathered Friends

American Black Duck, birds, Cape Cod, Ducks, Eider ducks, Great Scaup, Halibut Point, Harlequin Duck, Long Tail Duck, Loon, massachusetts, New England, Rockport, scoter, Seal, , , , , , , , , , , ,
Two Fridays back, Yang and I happened to be on the North Shore, so we stayed overnight in order to make an early visit to Halibut Point State Park.  We’d been meaning to get there since November, after hearing about all the cool water fowl hanging out there.  Unfortunately, the opportunity hadn’t come up before this.  So, after our breakfast of bagels and cream cheese (yum!), we headed out to the state park.  We were not disappointed.  In the quarry, we spotted a Scaup, Black Ducks, and Mallards.  When we headed for the ocean, we got an even bigger treat.  Here you see me peering out at the ocean’s wonderland – or wonderwater- of ducks. Isn’t that point beautiful?

At first, we  saw only a couple of pairs of Harlequin Ducks, looking absolutely adorable.  All the FB bird groups to which I belonged extolled the plenitude of Harlequins out here.  So, we were happy to spot this couple chilling along.

 

 

 

 

Mrs. Harley seems to be finding a snack while her husband looks on.

Neat as this sighting was, things got MUCH better.  Looking all around and out to sea, we saw flocks of Harlequins diving, chilling, and looking good.  There were so many that we couldn’t always get them all in one picture.  I would say we saw several flocks ranging from 9-15 Harlequins.  And that’s not counting the friendly-neighbor Long-tail Ducks who joined the party.  Counting the ducks was never easy, because, all of a sudden, the whole kit and kaboodle would take a dive on a hunt for food.  So, Yang had to time his shots carefully to catch them.  I guess it’s true that these ducks love rough waters, because that’s exactly what they got here and in the other place we saw them, Sachuest Point, RI.  This was the biggest contingent of Harleys that I had seen. Though the ducks are hard to pick out in these pictures, if you just click on them you will get a better look.

Then we saw this Loon way off above the group of Harlequins.  It’s the white figure in the upper left corner.

Wouldn’t you know, we also saw plenty of flocks of Scoters. 

 

 

 

Here’s a closeup of a female Scoter.  I believe these are all Black Scoters.

 

 

When we moved onto the harbor at Rockport, Yang also got a shot of a male Eider Duck.  Usually we see big flocks of these guys, especially at Cape Cod (check out this older blog).  Today, we saw this guy all by his lonesome.

 

 

 

 

Then, finally, what should we espy on the other side of the point in the harbor in Rockport?  We thought we it was a brown female eider – except, Yang said that once the critter dived  he could see her  walking under water.  Huh?  Then “she” came up.

 

Yup, a seal!  So I hope this critter can be a “seal” of approval for today’s blog.