The circus came to town on Sunday – a local birder spotted a very rare bird. It has only been spotted three times before in the US and mostly hangs in northern Europe/Asia/Siberia in Summer and on the coast of Africa in the winter – a Terek Sandpiper. It is tiny with an upturned beak. It landed at Napatree Point – in Watch Hill – which is part of Westerly.
I did not chase it because:
Napatree is a tough hike under the best of circumstances – lots of loose sand
Almost impassible except at low tide which was in the afternoon
Very crowded during the summer
Parking is difficult or expensive
Sometimes the bird leaves
The woman who found the treasure got a parking ticket waiting for someone to verify and take photos. The circus didn’t really start on Sunday, just the Locals so that was tame by comparison – I think about 200 birders (who posted to eBird – I’m sure there were more) found the bird. Yesterday they closed down access to lagoon because it was getting overrun. Two winners of the Big Year – Neil Hayward (Boston) and Ruben Stott (Tennessee) both came. Neil found it on Monday, Ruben who arrived on Wednesday did not.
Watch Hill parking at 6am yesterday was crowded – normally there are one or two cars. My neighbor went out yesterday and did not see the bird, but he did meet Ruben and pointed him to some other birding hotspots in the area.
I continue to be grateful to live in an area that is capable of putting on a Circus for the Birds.
Zen birding lesson for the day -- sometimes the birders are more interesting than the birds.
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