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An intrepid group of six members of the Athol Bird and Nature Club,
led by
veteran trip leader Mark Taylor, traveled to Newburyport, Plum Island,
and Salisbury State Park to bird on a wet, windy morning. The
incredibly high tide flooded the entire marsh side at Plum Island,
while on the ocean side it practically rose up to the dunes. A lot of
bird movement on both sides, which made fighting the elements worth
the struggle. The most impressive sightings were the huge number of
ducks in the air and on the water, and a steady flow of Red-throated
Loons seen on the ocean-side and mouth of both Parker River and the
Merrimack. Here are some conservative estimates of what we saw:
100 Red-throated Loons
25 Common Loons
2 Horned Grebes
5 Red-necked Grebes
30 Northern Gannets ( these birds were in close to shore even flying
and
diving into the mouths of the rivers)
1 Great Cormorant
1 Double-crested Cormorant
8 Mute Swans
1 Snow Goose
200 Canada Geese
100 Mallards
200 Black Ducks
200 Gadwalls
500 Green-winged Teals
20 American Widgeons
1 Northern Pintail
25 Greater Scaups
300 Common Eiders
4 Black Scoters
100 White-winged Scoters
25 Buffleheads
*2000 Unidentified Duck Species
4 Northern Harriers
2 Red-tailed Hawks
1 Rough-legged Hawk(light morph, Salisbury side of Merrimack)
50 Black-bellied Plovers
15 Greater Yellowlegs
200 Sanderlings
150 Dunlins
1 Bonaparte's Gull
50 Ring-billed Gulls
20 Herring Gulls
75 Great Black-backed Gulls
1 Razorbill (just left of the jetty at Salisbury Beach)
1 Belted Kingfisher
1 Northern Shrike (adult, entrance to Salisbury St. Park)
3 Blue Jays
20 American Crows
2 Horned Larks
10 American Robins
8 Northern Mockingbirds
2 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers
4 American Tree Sparrows
200 Snow Buntings
20 House Sparrows
Dave
e-mail
Dave
www.gis.net/~dhsmall
www.massbird.org/athol
We are looking for more people to host fundraising Butterfly and
Birding Buffets. Large or small, breakfast, lunch or supper; even a
picnic at one of your favorite spots. Sign up now!
We are also hoping to have more fundraising garden tours next
year. If anyone is willing to share their yard with the public, let us
know.
Call or write
Dave Small at 978-249-2094 or
e-mail Dave
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