Cape Ann - from Gloucester to Rockport

Jodrey Pier, Gloucester

A favorite birding destination in the winter is Cape Ann, from Gloucester to Rockport, Massachusetts. I found this link to a map of birding spots along the way, most of which we hit. Thanks to Bryan Pfeiffer for posting this!

Cape Ann hotspots

common eiders

We started at Gloucester Harbor, it was a brilliantly sunny day.

American herring gull

The most numerous birds were common eiders and herring and great black-backed gulls.

common loon

red-breasted merganser

surf scoter

great black-backed gull

purple sandpipers

The birds are plentiful but if the wind is blowing - it's brutal! If you go, dress warmly, bring lots of layers, even if the temperatures are above freezing as they were this day. 

purple sandpipers

harlequin ducks and a common eider

The harlequin ducks are fun to watch, they love to ride the waves and stay really close to the rocky shore.

harlequin ducks, a common eider and red-breasted merganser

redheads and mallards

We spent all day driving around the shoreline, finding lots of great birds. The worst part was getting there, we hit rush hour traffic coming and going! Still, it was a fabulous day of birding!

Some Birds in Putney

solitary sandpiper

Gerry and I stopped at Sackett's Brook Wetland area on Sand Hill Road in Putney where this solitary sandpiper has been hanging around.

So named because the solitary usually migrates alone rather than in flocks, this sandpiper will frequently bob his head, whereas the spotted sandpiper, bobs his tail!

spotted sandpiper

This spotted sandpiper was almost perfectly camouflaged against the bank of the Mill Brook, at Dummerston Landing.

American redstart

The American Redstart flashes the bright patches in its tail and wings. This seems to startle insect prey and give the bird an opportunity to catch them.

caught a bug!

warbling vireo

 Easy to locate by his song, the rhythm of the warbling vireo's song goes like this - "if I see you, I will seize you, if I squeeze you, you will squirt"!

warbling vireo

Warbling vireos are always described as being a small, drab bird.
  

song sparrow

Song sparrow's song consists of 3 short notes followed by a varied trill, sometimes interpreted as "Madge-Madge-Madge, put-on-your-tea-kettle-ettle-ettle".

Another Rare Bird and the Coast of Maine - Part 1

Spotted Towhee

 On our way to Portland, Maine to visit friends, we stopped in Rye, New Hampshire to snag a rare bird. Somehow this spotted towhee veered right instead of left and ended up on the east coast. Related to our Eastern Towhee (they were previously considered one species), this bird is usually found west of the Mississippi.

In Rye since at least the end of January, he was in the thicket scraping the ground for seeds in typical towhee fashion on the corner of Rte 1A and Central Road.

purple sandpipers

 On to Portland and out birding with our friends Ron and Chuck. A stop at Kettle Cove in Cape Elizabeth gave us our first-of-the-year views of purple sandpipers. These hardy shorebirds winter along the rocky coast and usually found on the rocks.

harlequin ducks

 Another bird found along the rocky coast of Maine, is the harlequin duck. Harlequins have smooth, densely packed feathers that trap a lot of air, vital for insulating such small bodies against the chilly waters. It also makes them exceptionally buoyant, they bounce up to the surface like corks after dives.

Harlequin ducks riding the waves at Dyer Point.

long-tailed duck

 

 

According to online sources, unlike other waterfowl, the Long-tailed Duck wears its "breeding" plumage only in the winter. It gets its "nonbreeding" or Basic Plumage in the spring and wears it for the breeding season.

Gerry got a nice shot of the long tail feathers as the duck dove.

While Ron and I were scoping the waters, Gerry got a shot of this Great Cormorant flying by.

One female Black Scoter swimming among the Common Eiders. We had all 3 species of scoter: black, white-winged and surf, along with black guillemots, horned grebes, red-breasted mergansers and common goldeneyes. Part 2 of our bird sightings tomorrow!!

Scarborough Marsh, part 2

Least Sandpiper

More pictures from our visits to Scarborough Marsh. I love this place, if I lived in Maine, I'd be here everyday.

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper preening, Semipalmated Plover in center

Lesser Yellowlegs

Semipalmated Sandpipers

Least Sandpiper

Double-crested Cormorants

Mallard

Eastern Phoebe

Lesser Yellowlegs

Herring Gull flies across a photo-shopped moon!