Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Plum Island (7/30)

To escape the summer heat, my parents and I decided to go to the beach. We figured that by going to Parker River NWR, we could cool down and also do some birding.

A rare exotic, a Black-tailed Godwit, had been discovered there earlier in the month and birders had been reporting it ever since. When we got to the refuge, we checked the whiteboard and saw that the bird had been reported earlier in the morning. We searched for a while but never found it and gave up in favor of a swim in the ocean.

After spending the hottest part of the day by the ocean, we decided to pack up and make our way out, stopping at the sites as we went. First we made the short climb to the top of the outermost tower. From this vantage point, the view of the refuge was pretty spectacular. As we admired the scenery, a Northern Harrier flew into the marsh spooking flock of birds as it passed by. The harrier touched down a couple of times but didn't appear to catch anything (at least while we watched).

Also, from the top of the tower we could hear several Cedar Waxwings in the bushes below. When we finally climbed to the bottom of the tower, we noticed that there was actually a nest in the bushes which held three baby waxwings. We watched them for a couple minutes before continuing on.

A bit up the road we decided to stop to see if the Ospreys were visible on their nesting platform. Atthis location, the green-head flies and mosquitos had joined forces to make the path virtually unwalkable. But, after hosing down with bug spray, we were able to make it. And, it was worth it. Besides getting good looks at the Ospreys we also found several Red-spotted Purples in the bushes. The field adjacent to the path was filled with Monachs and we also spotted a few pairs of Bobolinks.


Butterflies: Monach, Tiger Swallowtail, Common Wood Nymph, Red-spotted Purple, Dun Skipper, Cabbage White, Clouded Sulphur

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