Thursday, November 30, 2006

Gloucester/Rockport (11/25)


OK, I'm back to being behind in my posts again. But I'm not going to skip posts just to get back on track. Especially since I've been to some nice places since my last post.

On Saturday, November 25th I took a drive up to Rockport, MA. Its not a short trip but it went relatively quickly. The first place I stopped was at one of the local boat launches where I was able to find a few Bufflehead amongst the Mallards and gulls. I also heard what I thought may have been a Yellow-breasted Chat. This isn't too far fetched since a Chat had been reported in the area. But, it was probably just wishfull thinking.

From there I continued towards Halibut Point stopping at the sites along the way. One of the small bodies of water along the road had a large flock of Gulls. As I sped by, I thought that they looked weird... thin black bills, black spot behind the eye, and strange flight. Looking thru the guidebook, I think that they may have been Bonaparte's Gulls. Unfortunately there wasn't a good place to pull over so I only got the quickest glimpse.

Next I stopped at one of the local cemetries. Following a trail from the back of the property led to a great overlook. The day was still really cloudy and the waves were fiercely crashing on the rocks. But there were still birds. I spotted a group of Harlequin Ducks just outside the breakline. A Common Loon was diving further out to sea.

Next, it was on to the main attraction: Halibut Point. During the short hike to the overlook the clouds cleared and it ended up being a nice day. There weren't scores of birds but this was a case of quality over quantity. There were more Harlequin Ducks and Common Eiders. But there were Red-throated Loons and Double-crested Cormorants. I even spotted what I'm guessing was a Great Cormorant. It flew like the more common Double-crested but it had distinctively long wings. But the best bird for the sight were the Gannets. We spotted several dozen of them, mostly flying around relatively close to shore. The only downside is that they weren't feeding which is something memorable to see. When diving for fish, these birds tuck their wings to their sides and do a barrel roll dive into the water. Its so cool to watch.

After a quick lunch at one of the local places, I continued to another boat launch. There were more Harlequin Ducks here but there was also a small flock of Purple Sandpipers on the rocks. As the tide came in, the birds were finally forced to higher ground.

My final stop was at the Coast Guard station. A guard was posted there to keep people from walking on the breakwater due to the high surf. But, you could see great birds from the parking lot. I spotted some Red-breasted Mergansers and Horned Grebes. I even found one Red-necked Grebe. The best part was that they were all close to shore and easy to see. Which was a good thing since I was losing the light as the sun set.

Birds: Mallard, Rock Pigeon, Bufflehead, American Crow, Blackcapped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Black Duck, Common Eider, Harlequin Duck, Northern Cardinal, Northern Mockingbird, Herring Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Common Loon, Tufted Titmouse, Cooper's Hawk, Mute Swan, Boneparte's Gull (?), White-brested Nuthatch, White-wing Scoter, Song Sparrow, Northern Gannet, Downy Woodpecker, Red-throated Loon, Tree Sparrow, Ring-bill Gull, Greater Black Back Gull, Purple Sandpiper, Canada Goose, Red-breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Great Cormorant (?)

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