Monday started off with the usual suspects.
Moonstone Beach
Common Yellowthroat


Yellow-rumped Warbler

Common Yellowthroat (there were 2)






Savannah Sparrow

Common Yellowthroat

Succotash
Flora

Northern Cardinal


Double-crested Cormorant -- not sure if it's living...

Song Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Tuesday afternoon I got an eBird notice that there was a Lapland Longspur, a species that was largely absent in early 2024 at the Watch Hill Lighthouse. Unfortunately it was only about 20 minutes before my art club started and I needed to be there to let folks in. I jumped in the car (without my normal bag or my coffee for art club) and sped down to the lighthouse which is @10 minutes away. I arrived and did a quick scan (no Longspur) before starting back up the hill. Sue Palmer was coming down the hill. She let me know she found the bird, just as I approached my clubhouse. She also found a female King Eider -- also needed that for 2024. Left the Art Club a little early and met Allison O'Connor at the lighthouse. She had already see the Eider but was kind enough to help me locate it too and then we found the 2 Longspurs (my camera battery died so no photos today). A great day for October -- no small thanks for Sue & Allison.
I also went birding in the morning
Moonstone Beach Road
Savannah Sparrow


Blue Jay

Galilee Bird Sanctuary
Snowy Egret & Double-crested Cormorant

Snowy Egret

Savannah Sparrow

Snowy Egret

Watch Hill Lighthouse
Monarch Butterfly

Female King (Queen?) Eider

Monarch Butterfly

Surf & Black Scoter (circled in Red)

Female King (Queen?) Eider

Wednesday I started at Moonstone again but ended at Watch Hill Lighthouse, hoping to get a photo of the Lapland Longspurs -- no luck
Moonstone Beach Road
Northern Harrier


Yellow-rumped Warbler

Blue Jay with acorn



Charlestown Breachway
Great Blue Heron

Double-crested Cormorant with BIG fish






Snowy Egret


Watch Hill Lighthouse
Female King (Queen?) Eider



Surf Scoter

Black Scoter

Song Sparrow

A fairly quiet morning but I had a Gulp of Cormorants, a Murder of Crows & a Squabble of Gulls with a Lesser Black-backed Gull thrown in for color (yellow legs). What did you see?
Moonstone Beach
Glup of Double-crested Cormorants

Matunuck Beach Road
Murder of American Crows



Squabble of Gulls

Lesser Black-backed Gull

In the evening a Red-headed Woodpecker was reported at Burlingame Picnic Area @8 miles from my house. Again, I stopped what I was doing and went over -- these are rare and usually not seen so close to home. I dipped (didn't see the bird) even though my friend Sue saw it while I was there -- it was too quick for me. Here are some other birds that showed up while I was there.
Burlingame Picnic Area
Song Sparrow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Spotted Sandpiper

White-breasted Nuthatch

Stunning Fall Foliage

Friday I went back to Burlingame - heard and saw the Red-headed Woodpecker, but did not get a photo. Then off to Misquamicut and I finally got a photo of a Lapland Longspur and a few other creatures.
Misquamicut State Beach Parking Lot
Horned Lark





Clouded Sulphur


Lapland Longspur





Late Friday afternoon a Tropical Kingbird was identified at Albro Woods in Middletown -- too late to chase, but it was the first ever Rhode Island sighting, so I knew the community would be out in force early Saturday. I got up earlier than usual because the parking is very limited there.
Walked out into the field a little before 7 and shortly thereafter... My friend Scott T walked out from the woods and immediately heard the bird calling overhead. Bill T (no relation) spotted it and tried to get the MOB (Many Other Birders) on the bird. I just got on it when it flew overhead displaying bright yellow breast. I was busy looking at it and did not get a photo, but others there did. It flew off down toward another road. I sent a report to Rhode Island Rare Birds tell the community that the bird had been relocated. I knew other birders would be flocking (sorry) to the small preserve. I decided to return to my car, free up a parking spot and head for the other road to try to help relocate the bird. I was unsuccessful, but I got the bird. When I left lots of birders still looking.
I headed up to Portsmouth and over to the "Other" side of Rhode Island too see if I could find another rarity. I did not, but it was a lovely day to be out birding.
Boyd's Lane Marsh
Female Red-winged Blackbird

Nonquit Fish Ladder
Belted Kingfisher


Seapowet Marsh
Palm Warbler



Savannah Sparrow


American Goldfinch

Great Blue Heron

Misquamicut State Beach
Lapland Longspur



Sunday brought a beautiful, slightly warmer morning sitting at Quonnie. It is my last official International Shore Survey of the year. Just the usual suspects, but boy was it pretty.

This Immature Horseshoe Crab festooned with some plant material before I carried it back to the water so it did not get consumed by something... not on my watch!

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