Date: 3/9/25 8:58 pm From: Barbara Volkle <barb620...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] Mission Possible trip results 3/8/25
Thanks to Strickland Wheelock for this report.
Barbara Volkle Northborough, MA <barb620...>
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Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2025 17:13:06 +0000 (UTC) From: Strickland Wheelock <skwheelock...> Subject: Mission Possible trip results 3/8/25
Mission Possible - folks sign up not knowing where the Mission will be heading - goal is to chase the rarest bird within 2 hours of Drumlin Farm & then from there, chase the next rarity near the target, then on to the next - we have in the past ended up in VT finding a N Hawk Owl [just never know] -trip is focused on not the numbers of species seen for the trip but finding these rarities, teaching all the ID features, enjoy the experience, then moving on to a new experience, etc. For the leaders, we love the challenge to quickly put together a day gameplan once we decide on our target - figure out what are the other rarities near the target, where are they being found exactly, etc & to get back to DF by 5 pm. Easy target bird choose - the Tundra Bean-Goose - a super rarity from the far north tundra being seen in Portsmouth RI!Before we could leave the DF parking lot, a Lark Sparrow was feeding close to the cars for all to enjoy [plus Bluebirds, etc] - a great start.From DF, we headed straight to Portsmouth HS as a starting point to start our search as the goose has been known to feed [along with Canada Geese] in a ball field early - if not there, we would head to the reservoir & other fields in the area to track this goose down.We arrived at the ballfield around 8:30 am & before we could get out of the cars, we spotted the goose immediately among a small flock of Canada Goose feeding in the grass close to us! We all could enjoy in detail all the features of this unique goose from bill color & slope, the bright orange legs - every detail knowing we might not ever see this species again.Made a quick stop at Lawton Reservoir since we were so close to enjoy several C Mergansers, distant Ruddy Ducks & Gt Scaup.But back to the next rarity - chasing the Northern Lapwing in Jamestown. While we were scanning these particular farm fields for the Lapwing among many Robins & several Killdeers, we had a Sharp-shinned Hawk fly by, had several Black & Turkey Vultures circle by [ great learning experience comparing the two] - thanks to a tip, we quickly checked a nearby field and found that stunning N Lapwing - watched it feed close by enjoying all its features for a period of time.On to the next rarity - the Black-headed Gulls that had been seen at Scarbough Beach. Once we arrived, found no Blk-h Gulls resting in the fields or parking lots - went down to the beach to scan enjoying 3 Gt Cormorants, Blk Scoters, Horned Grebes & Red-thr Loon when to our excitement, a lone Blk-h Gull flew by landing somewhere back behind the jetty. Off we went to discover a small group of Herring & Ring-billed Gulls along with 4 to 5 Blk-headed Gulls - all easily viewed by scope their size, their red legs & bills, but was really exciting was seeing one with a complete black hood, a 2nd one with a partial black hood coming in and at least 2 still in winter plumage with the black dot behind the eye - what an ID education right in front of us - also of interest was comparing the sizes of the 3 gull species side by side.Before we left, we spotted a flock of N Horned Larks in the short grass near the road - besides super close looks, we watched several taking dust baths - nice ending to Scarbough Beach experience.Nex stop was to be heading to Trustom Pond with the hopes of seeing the Tundra Swan - on our way to Moonstone Beach, we made a quick stop at Perry's Mill Pond hoping for the Eurasian Wigeon - unfortunately no Eurasian but several Am Wigeon, Hooded Mergansers, Mute Swan, Ring-necked & Black Ducks, Gt Blue Heron, D-c Cormorants.Onward to Moonstone Beach were the group walked south along the beach to scan into the brackish pond at Trustom - however the winds really ramped up making the many ducks & this swan hiding along the far tree line & small islands - wind made the viewing challenging but no Tundra Swan sighted but viewed some Canvasbacks, Redheads, both Scaup, Bufflehead in the process.Made 1 final stop at Misquamicut Beach hoping for Snow Buntings or a Longspur in the short grass in this now strong gusting winds - no luck on those two but enjoyed a flock of N Horned Larks and several Brant in the grass.Time to head back to DF - enjoyed a Bald Eagle soaring around as we completed a very exciting trip to RI finding most all of their rarities - such great looks on this sunny, cool & windy Sat. day Thanks like always to Leslie Bostrom & Dan Fournier for their driving and birding skills plus a hardy group of participants as we tracked down our target species - in the end, we found only 56 species as our goal was searching for rarities. Next trip is Sat. 3/29 - RI Duck Bonanza - back to RI again with the new goal of finding 20 to 25 species of ducks where we will be covering a variety of different locations, ponds, bays, ocean to achieve our goal - once we hit 25 duck species with Tufted Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye among the many - love the challenge.
