Bird-a-thon 2011

Willet

These are some of the pictures that Pete, Tom, and I took during Birdathon last year.

Piping Plover

Birdathon is a 24 hour race to find as many bird species as possible in Massachusetts. It a big fundraiser for Mass Audubon, but it's also a way to get detailed "state of the birds" data and migration data.

Roseate and Common Terns

Birdathon is also a crazed competition between Mass Audubon sanctuaries. Different teams spread out throughout the state - climbing mountains and wading through swamps - just to find that one rare species that might win the day for their team.

Yellow Warbler

Last year we met up with my cousin Catie in Bridgewater on Friday night. (Catie's BirdingGirl blog inspired me to start blogging two years ago!)

Marbled Godwit

We were up at dawn to try our luck at Plymouth Airport, then Tom, Pete, and I walked all the way out to the very tip of the peninsula at Plymouth Beach and all the way back in.

Canada Goslings

Then Pete dragged us to the Daniel Webster sanctuary to add even more birds to the list!

Laughing Gull

Despite the endless and very tiring walk, Plymouth Beach was a blast - and a birder's delight.

Common Tern

Pete can't be here for Birdathon this year. He started a new job as a Forest Ranger in Oregon yesterday. I still haven't adjusted to not having him around, and I miss him terribly.

Common Tern

Between not having Pete to ID birds and my residual pain and vision problems from breathing in metal dust and glue fumes last winter, I was planning to skip Birdathon this year.

Semipalmated Plover

But at the very last minute I changed my mind! I might not do as well without Pete, but with Tom at my side I'm going to try. I'll probably embarrass myself - but at least it's for a good cause!

Of course, I'm really desperate for donations now because Birdathon is only two days away. If you can spare a few dollars to save The Nature of Massachusetts, I'd be eternally grateful!

Marbled Godwit: A Very Special Bird!

Marbled Godwits are NEVER seen in Massachusetts at this time of year.  Tom captured dozens of photos of this bird, but I probably would never have been able to identify the species on my own.  Luckily, we met a member of the IBA (Important Bird Area) Birdathon team on the beach, and he told us what we had found. 

Despite his very distinctive features (a very long, upturned, orange and black bill, for example!), I would not have confirmed the ID of a bird that wasn't even on my list of target species.  (Target species are unexpected but recently sighted birds in your assigned area).

Marbled Godwits are more than unexpected around here in the month of May. Marbled Godwits are unheard of in Massachusetts during May.  Why? 

Marbled Godwits breed in the northern Great Plains of the U.S. and Canada. In May, they are seen migrating over the central states in large flocks.  Massachusetts is nowhere near their springtime migratory route.

You occasionally see Marbled Godwits in the fall, if they get blown off course as they head for their winter homes along southern coastlines from North Carolina to Central America. But according to an expert source, there have been only three or four sighting of Marbled Godwits in Massachusetts during May in all of history!

We were very lucky to catch a glimpse of such a rarity - and luckier still that an experienced birder was present that day to ID the species for us.  After all, it required an expert to know it wasn't a Hudsonian Godwit (black wing linings seen in flight) or a Bar-tailed Godwit (brick red underparts and a striped black tail).  The Marbled Godwit is similar to these birds, but can be identified by it's cinnamon wing linings and paler underparts.

To tell you the truth, seeing a Marbled Godwit was really quite a thrill!

Bird-A-Thon Pictures!

Piping Plover at Plymouth Beach.  Endangered Species.

Bird-a-thon was awesome!  It was insane and exhausting, but also fun and rewarding. Our little team of four netted 52 different bird species. I suspect that is on the low side for really enthusiastic birders, but I thought we did an outstanding job. Tom took all of these pictures, and every one of them is outstanding, too. We even saw Piping Plovers, a lifer for me, I think. They are cute, adorable, and endangered.  (BTW, you should view these pictures LARGE or ORIGINAL size at Flickr.  They are really that good!)

Willet on Plymouth Beach.

Mid-day Saturday was shorebirds at Plymouth Beach. This is a Willet. Willets are large shorebirds, speckled gray-brown with a long straight bill. Willets look quite nondescript on the ground, but once in flight or even with wings spread out, they are distinguished by their striking black-and-white color pattern.

Common Tern in Flight

We saw four different species of terns in Plymouth! Four! This beauty is a Common Tern, which is not at all common as far as I'm concerned.

Laughing Gull, May 15 2010

All four of Massachusetts' gulls were well represented, too. I couldn't resist this shot of a laughing gull.

Marbled Godwit

I wanted a Yellowlegs, but I got a Godwit. I actually failed to see more than a couple of my target species, but seeing a Marbled Godwit in the spring is quite rare, or so I've been told. Pete and I saw this guy on Saturday. A birder from another Bird-A-Thon team gave us the ID and the info on this species. If he hadn't, I'd still be looking through field guides!

More to come later on. Thanks especially to BirdingGirl (my cousin and inspirational fellow blogger!) for joining our Birdathon team and taking us birding in Bridgewater Friday evening!

IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO MAKE A DONATION!  25 CENTS PER SPECIES WILL COST YOU ONLY $13.00!  CLICK HERE OR CLICK THE FUNDRAISING WIDGET ABOVE.   THANKS, ALL!