Registrar: Evelyn Huang
Participants: 18
Weather: 35–40° F; mostly cloudy, NW wind 8 mph
Bird Species: 39
The group met at 9:00 am at the Orchard Beach parking lot, and started walking to the beach, stopping to look at sparrows, cardinals, woodpeckers and a nuthatch along the trail. Some of the group had received reports of Red-necked Grebes on the water, so we scanned the water and indeed found three of them by the coast near Hunter Island. We proceeded to scan the Sound, from the middle of Orchard Beach to Twin and Two Tree Islands, were we were treated to three Purple Sandpipers resting along the rocks. Nearby was an American Widgeon, and we soon spotted a couple more, very well camouflaged by the rocks. As we were looking at the Purple Sandpipers, one of the group pointed out a Razorbill that had come quite close to our shore. We had already seen two Razorbills but those had been distant and visible only through scopes; this one was close and unfazed by us, giving even some of the more experienced birders in our group their closest look ever at this species.
Walking back from the shore, we saw a young Red-tailed Hawk swooping as it practiced hunting. In the grassy field just before the parking lot, we were treated to the sight of a trio of American Tree Sparrows foraging in the grass – we were keeping our distance to avoid flushing the birds and from afar we thought they might be Chipping Sparrows but a sharp-eyed birder pointed out the bi-colored bill, and our identification of the Tree Sparrows was further cemented by photographs. This wrapped up our great morning of birding, lead by the wonderful Jack Rothman who generously shared his expertise and his know-how of the park.
The eBird list can be found here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S162757636
Species
Brant
Canada Goose
American Wigeon
Mallard
American Black Duck
Greater Scaup
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-necked Grebe
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Purple Sandpiper
Razorbill
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Peregrine Falcon
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
White-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
American Robin
House Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Northern Cardinal
