Had a lovely birding morning, until it wasn’t. One of those very rare days where I was hoping to see a Bird (Marbled Godwit) that was spotted in a less accessible place yesterday and I not only saw 1. I saw 2 and I spotted it on the fly (I wish I were better at that - so I am hoping that is an incidator that skill is developing). I heard something unusual then saw two birds that had longer bills and also didn’t look familiar. A birder friend Jan StJean was with me and we followed one of them to the sandbar and confirmed through our scopes it was the Godwit. Shortly, I found the second one about 200 feet away.
After a bit, Jan spotted them taking wing and were flying together close to the sandbar - every few moments they shot up in the air together and returned to flying low above the sandbar. It was crazy & fascinating, although then they flew high and out of sight - that is always disappointing. They were too far away for a photo, but that experience is imprinted in my memory. Then Jan spotted three less common terns in a flock of 300+ - Roseate, Black & Forster’s.
A bunch of people descended on the point and then three inflatable boats filled with 8 men each landed on the sandbar, carried the boats across flushing all the birds from the north end. Then they put them back in the water paddled to the south end, did the same drill and flushed the rest of the birds. The boats said Moxie Outdoor Adventures, but it looks like they do tours in Maine, so not sure exactly who it was. Just amazing how dense people are when it comes to disturbing the birds.
That was my cue to depart, I had close to three hours of great birding! And for that, particularly on a Weekend at Quonnie, I am exceedingly grateful.
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