Date: 11/8/25 9:40 pm From: Barbara Volkle <barb620...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] Mission Possible - double success
Thanks to Strickland Wheelock for this report.
Barbara Volkle Northborough, MA <barb620...>
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Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2025 05:12:02 +0000 (UTC) From: Strickland Wheelock <skwheelock...> Subject: Mission Possible - double success
Folks are signing up for a trip [Mission Possible] to somewhere - goal is to find the rarest bird within 2 hrs of Drumlin Farm WS & that goal I only determine the day before by checking all the ebird hotlines in NE - then from that location with the target bird [hopefully to be seen], then we then need to come up with gameplan for the balance of the day hopefully finding more rarities.This Sat. 11/08, our target bird was the Brown Booby being seen often from Sesuit Harbor's breakwater on Cape Cod - another super rarity has been a Cave Swallow hanging around with some Barn Swallows at the same location - my concern would be if the Booby had moved on, maybe feeding down Corporation Beach but these 2 rarities were worth the shot.We drove straight down from DF to the breakwater under mild conditions, little breeze & no rain once we arrived - unfortunately no Brown Boody on the breakwater or flying around. We did enjoy a few Sanderlings, all 3 Scoter species, Long-tailed Ducks, Red-thr & C Loons, 1 close in Gannet when suddenly the Brown Booby came soaring in close, low over the water & passing over the jetties a few times checking out the channel giving everyone awesome looks and pictures for the camera folks.While that was going on, suddenly some Barn Swallows flew up the channel along with a Cave Swallow mixed in - now the folks ere torn to keep admiring this Booby performance or separate the Cave Swallow out from the Barn Swallows - a task several of the group were able to do= Finally the Booby flew low close by us heading to the west when several shorebirds suddenly arrived - several Blk-b Plovers, Dunlin & Sanderlings landed on the breakwater plus 1 Ruddy Turnstone with a Forster's Tern flying nearby - also a pair of Brant flew by - unfortunately the rain also arrived driving us back to the vans.From the Harbor, we headed east to Herring Pondhoping to see this HY male Tufted Duck - rain stopped & we were treated toa pond loaded with many species for everyone to enjoy - 100+ Ruddy Ducks, Am. Wigeon, Greater Scaup, Bufflehead, Ring-necked Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Red-b Merganser, Coot, Pied-billed Grebes, Kingfisher, Gt Blue Heron, Mute Swans, Canada Geese - Yellow-rumped Warblers called from the trees nearby - missed the Tufted Duck.After lunch, off to Fort Hill for a quick stop where we had a few interesting birds - a late Parula Warbler, Merlin, Meadowlark, several Flickers, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Bluebirds, Brant, Black Ducks - time to head back to DF with 1 very quick stop at Scusset=C2=A0 Beach checking the end of the canal - here we enjoyed Bonaparte & Laughing Gulls by the breakwater, Surf Scoters, Red-thr & C Loons, Brant, many C Eiders to end a very successful day - 70 species including the 2 target species! Thanks like always to Leslie Bostrom, Ed Bogle, Lindsay Neubeck-Brooks for all their driving & birding expertise plus a wonderful group of enthusiastic birders sucking in all these special species. Strickland Wheelock Uxbridge Ma
