We took the Airstream to Massachusetts to see Jennifer and her family and do some birding in one on my favorite counties. Essex County is so geographically diverse and filled with good birds and some amazing birders. (I don’t count myself in that latter category!)  In a couple of days, I picked up 68 species and never got on to Plum Island for shore or sea birds.

Saturday morning, I took the dog on a little outing with the truck and we explored a few of the back roads of West Newbury.  It was a morning of dog walkers, runners, cyclists, and trash pickup trucks on the narrow wooded roads.  There is one short stretch that bisects a marsh – part of the Crane Pond Wildlife Management Area – where I have previously birded.  The road is paved until you get to the marsh, then there is a dirt stretch that is severely washboarded, but that didn’t slow down the folks out for their Saturday morning errands.  I walked the dog, dodged traffic, and saw some nice birds.  Here are a few photos:

The WMA is part of the headwaters of the Parker River and stretches across the towns of West Newbury, Newbury, Groveland and Georgetown.

In spite of being adjacent to developed sites, the marsh is wild-like.

Early in my walk, I spotted an Eastern Kingbird flitting about.  I took this shot just before the bird flew to a nest.

I never would have spotted her (him?) if I had not seen the bird flying.

As might be expected, there were dozens of Red-winged Blackbirds. It’s amazing that a bird which we celebrate in early Spring can become commonplace and taken for granted.

Likewise, the first Tree Swallows are exciting. I never tire of watching these aerial experts perform their routines.

Cedar Waxwings were looking sharp in the morning sunlight.

After a while, in spite of the good birds, I got sick of eating dust from passing trucks and cars and headed back to the truck.  It was a good outing – a little piece of wildness in an urbanizing area.  Good birding.

Leaving the Airstream in Vermont (as noted in my last post), we got on the road a day early to combine a medical visit to Dartmouth with the trip to Massachusetts and got here Tuesday night.  Then the sleet, rain, and wind hit and our decision felt pretty wise.  Plus, it gave me a chance to bird a bit more — and for both of us to spend more time with the family.

There is quite an irruption of Snowy Owls in the Northeast and several had been reported in the Plum Island/Salisbury area so bright and early Wednesday morning, after walking the dog in the gale, I loaded her up and trekked over to Salisbury State Reservation.  Here’s the beach scene:

The sea was rough with mist in the wind, and few birds flying. This is the breakwater at Salisbury Beach where Purple Sandpipers hang out at high tide. Not Tuesday – or Wednesday.

Steven Grinley of Birdwatcher’s Supply in Newburyport had reported a Glaucous Gull and a Laughing Gull in the flocks at the beach parking lot so I spent some time, from the shelter of the truck, sorting and counting gulls.  It reminded me of going through flocks of Canada Geese, one by one, looking for a Cackling Geese or Snow Goose.

Nothin’ but us Herring Gulls here, sir!

So, we got a lot of fresh air, sorted through hundreds of gulls for something unique, and decided to try another day for Snowy Owls.

There are some farm fields not far from Jennifer’s house which have nice tree and brush lines and are a favorite place to bird while allowing the dog to roam to her heart’s content. We spent an hour there the evening before leaving for Vermont and it was a nice productive outing.

I nearly always hear and see Red-bellied Woodpeckers which are pretty special since they hardly ever frequent my Vermont haunts — and sure enough, there were at least three squawking and pecking away. Penny works ahead of me up the windrows of plants and weeds and for a while, all I saw were wings and tails of small brown birds. They were Song Sparrows and a whole host of Dark-eyed Juncos.

Heading up the second open field, two raptors suddenly soared overhead pretty low. I got the bins on them and then tried to frame them in the camera as they circled, often blocked by trees. At first I thought they were Red-tails but there was no red on either tail — and I’m pretty certain that they were Rough-legged Hawks. ( a birder friend, Sue McGrath wrote that they appear to be Red-tails, and I defer to her expertise.) Here’s one of them:

Red-tailed Hawk circling farm field in Merrimac.

We walked up to the fields on top, enjoying the fall afternoon but not seeing much, but returning, I noticed a couple of birds high in a tree down at the end of the field. The light was awful — I could not figure out what they were as we descended. I got closer and closer, with the dog cruising here and there, figuring that they would get scared off. Finally, almost right below them, I got to a place where the sun was behind me and sure enough, they were a couple of Rusty Blackbirds.

Rusty Blackbird high in tree

The truck was parked by an abandoned landfill which often has a lot of birds around it. As we approached, I saw some Tufted Titmice foraging in the leaves but then noted some flashes of blue — brighter than the Titmice. About six Eastern Bluebirds were feeding and being relatively uncooperative for long-range photos. The one I zeroed in on was doing all sorts of grooming but finally slowed down enough for this shot:

This Bluebird spent five minutes grooming, and still has some feathers askew.

I had logged my sightings into Birdlog as we went along and so I submitted the report as I got back to the truck. Just as the report swooshed off, I heard a Pileated Woodpecker – a nice ending to a nice outing.

We loaded up the truck Saturday afternoon and headed to MA (sans Airstream since it was a quick trip) to celebrate two important birthdays:  daughter Jen’s 50th and grandson Mac’s 13th.  The dog and I grabbed some good walks and birding as part of the deal.

I love to bird Parker River NWR when I’m visiting but since they do not allow dogs, it was out this trip.  Sunday, Penny and I went over to check out a few favorite spots in West Newbury.  Cherry Hill Reservoir always seems to have interesting birds and as I drove up, I could see hundreds of Ruddy Ducks sleeping and occasionally diving to feed.  Here are a couple:

Ruddy Ducks dive to feed on aquatic invertebrates, especially midge larvae. They feed most actively at night, so you’ll often see Ruddy Ducks sleeping during the day, head tucked under a wing and tail cocked up.

I was hoping to walk the dog along the eastern shore where there is a nice trail and lots of sparrows but a guy showed up with a dog just as I did, and I decided to move on.  So we drove a few miles over to Artichoke Reservoir where last year, I had seen some Greater White-fronted geese.

I had forgotten that last year, I got tangled up in a big road race that starts in Newburyport and weaves its way up along the reservoir.  I was literally right in the middle of the back of the pack with the big truck as joggers and walker, most with earphones, moved up the narrow winding road.  I finally got to an intersection where I could escape and I returned the following day for the geese.  So, when I saw a small “road race 11-2” sign I realized that it was going to happen again, if I stuck around.

I had recalled seeing a gated woods road back aways at the south end of the reservoir so returning there, Penny and I had a great outing.  There was no one around and she could run down the oak-lined farm road to her heart’s content.  As we approached the outlet to the reservoir, I heard the croak of a Great Blue Heron and up ahead in the marsh, I saw it.  I took a long distance shot before the dog scared it off.

“As my buddy Big Pappi says, ‘This is my #$%@! marsh!”

Further ahead, there was an overgrown trail that lead to the marshy shoreline.  I flushed about 25 Mallards but across the water, there were dozens of Canada Geese and an old farm.

We finished up our walk as Penny romped through the farm fields.  I got home in time to change, get to a birthday  lunch with Jennifer, Mary, Mac, and Ben, and return to the house for dessert.  Here’s the birthday girl and the killer cake that Ben ordered — it made me glad we’d done some much walking.  I knew that we had another cake for Mac on Monday.