by Marion Sprague
Despite the forecasted rain, 4 intrepid young birders joined our outing on Saturday, June 17th. We arrived at Laudholm to overcast skies. We managed to stay dry(ish) until around 9:30 when the rain started in earnest, but we saw 32 species in the 2 hours we were out! We finally called it quits at 10:00AM as the rain began to soak through most of our rain jackets and was beginning to pool in our shoes.
While waiting to collect our team of birders, we were greeted by a very vocal Northern Mockingbird flying between the light posts and a tree nearby. This was followed by some ruckus from a group of American Robins in response to a Red-tailed Hawk. The hawk landed on a light post near the parking lot and hung out there for 10 minutes giving us great looks and photo ops.
To make the most of the tide schedule and drier weather, we headed straight for Laudholm Beach using the Barrier Beach Trail to look for Piping Plovers and Least Terns. We were not disappointed. Where the trial splits between Barrier Beach and the Cart Path we saw not 1 but 2 New England Cottontail Rabbits! We also heard the songs of several Eastern Towhees reminding us to “drink our teeeea”, the bright “tea-kettle, tea-kettle-tea-kettle” call of a Carolina Wren, and the distinctive laugh of a Pileated Woodpecker. As we reached the road leading to the beach we saw an Eastern Phoebe ferrying for insects, a Great Blue Heron fishing, and 2 Willets in the marsh.
While we all enjoyed spotting several Piping Plovers running along the shoreline, the highlight of our trip was baby Piping Plovers!!! It is hard not to love those little fluff balls. We also got to see two of them seeking shelter form the rain under one of their parents. While we saw no immature Least Terns, we did see a few sitting on what appeared to be nests in the protected area along beolow the dunes. At this point the drizzle had begun to transition to a steady rain.
We made our way to the Laird-Norton Trail hoping to find some cover under the canopy of trees. As the rain intensified the bird activity lulled, but we did pick up a Wild Turkey just poking its head up to peak at us above the grass. We made our way to the Saw-whet trail, before finally deciding to call it a day. A huge thank you Ben Tucker for bringing us all eclairs from Beach Pea Baking Co!
All in all, it was a surprisingly productive trip with a total of 32 species despite how inclement the weather was! Our full checklist can be seen here:
https://ebird.org/me/checklist/S142933944
We are heading to Stratton Island on July 15 (rain date July 16th). Details and registration for the trip will be coming this week. As with last year this trip is limited to 10 young birders due boat capacity restrictions.
