Date: 11/22/25 7:18 pm From: Barbara Volkle <barb620...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] "Birding the South Shore" report 11/22
Thanks to Strickland Wheelock for this report.
Barbara Volkle Northborough, MA <barb620...>
*
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2025 01:51:35 +0000 (UTC) From: Strickland Wheelock <skwheelock...> Subject: "Birding the South Shore" report 11/22
Some trips can be challenging weather-wise and this trip today [11/22] fell into the category - light cool rain from the start at 7 am to noon. Fortunately we had a hearty group of participants and when the weather cleared, we hiked the Westport Town Park and Gooseberry Neck to finish the day.The rainy part of the morning we explored 3 bodies of water for ducks & other water birds, then a stop at Emile Ruecker Park for passerines. The duck part went well with initially 16 species that included 4 N Shovelers, 5 N Pintails, 40 Hooded & 30 Red-b Mergansers, 20 Gadwall,25 Am Wigeon [missed our Eurasian Wigeon], all 3 Scoters, I C Goldeneye, 1 Ruddy Duck, 40+ Bufflehead, etc. Along with the ducks were several Horned Grebes, Coot, both Red-thr & Common Loons, Brant, Gt Blue Herons.At the Emile Ruecker Refuge in the light rain, had 1 surprise Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrushes, 4 species ofwoodpeckers including 1 Sapsucker, both Turkey & Black Vultures, Wht-thr Sparrows, Carolina Wrens, E Bluebirds, many Am Goldfinches & House Finches, Cardinals Cedar Waxwings, 4 Wild Turkeys, 3 deer After semi-drying out at lunch, we headed to the Westport Town Park for a quick walk/birding to show the folks this wonderful habitat - 1st bird we see is a Merlin teed up for us to study well - part way down the trail were flocks of Cedar Waxwings feeding on berries, Ruby-cr Kinglets, Catbirds, Cardinals, Mockingbird, Goldfinches, Red-tailed Hawk, Wht-thr Sparrows, etcLast stop was Gooseberry Neck at low tide. Due to time, we walked straight out to the Point to enjoy the Harlequin Ducks, Great Cormorants, many scoters & eiders & Red-thr Loons, several Yellow-rumped Warblers along the trail, Dunlin - overall, very quiet for Gannets, interesting gull species & other shorebirdsOverall in these mixed weather conditions, we ended the day with 18 species of ducks and 65 species. We were blessed with a hearty crew of participants and like normal, great co-leaders [Leslie Bostrom, Lindsay Neubeck-Brown, Ed Bogle] doing all the driving & working with the participants on spotting & ID questions.Dec. is filled with the weekend Cape Cod trip, X-Mas counts & holidays. Our next day trip if interested is our New Year Madness trip where we head to the North Shore to rack up all the special species in the area to start your2026-year bird list on a high note.https://www.massaudubon.org/programs/ drumlin-farm/98801-new-year-birding-madness
