Date: 11/19/24 5:53 pm From: Matt S. <accipiter22...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] November 19, 2024 North Shore Waterfowl Expedition
Hi All,
I joined the BBC North Shore Waterfowl Expedition this morning, hitting the
Topsfield Fairground, Putnamville Reservoir, Cherry Hill Reservoir,
Artichoke Reservoir, the northern part of Plum Island and Parker River.
Putnamville produced a couple bald eagles, one of which took a dive at a
merganser, missing when it dove. There were a lot of eagles out today
actually, that was probably what will stick out the most in my mind for
this trip. The other was the rafts of Scaup at Cherry Hill. I like a good
scaup, and both were well represented, although Greater more so. Artichoke
(and Cherry Hill) are fairly close to my house; I did not even know
Artichoke existed before today, so that was good. Plum Island coughed up a
very close flotilla of long-tailed ducks, and Parker River Lot 1 had a
red-necked grebe, and at the blind we had several elegant looking pintail,
another favorite of mine. There was also a barred owl near the road at
one point, with a few people (not in our group) crowding it, playing owl
proctologist.
By my tally we got to 25 species of waterfowl, 26 if you include cormorants
in your definition. The only thing we did not see, by my recollection, was
a red-breasted merganser. This trip is one of my favorites of the year,
it’s nice to see all the local waterfowl in one trip and roll the dice on
something rare showing up, or even the half dozen or so eagles we had
today.
