Northern Saw-whet Owl and Seal Walk Result
December 6, 2009
This is our friendly and “slightly” cold group, L to R : Pete, Michael, Cathy, Elizabeth, Rio, John, Aihua, Eamon, Billy, Benjamin, baby Maya and Rie, Riki, Bing and David. Missing: Lou and Jack.
That’s Eamon, Rio, Ricky and Benjamin looking out into the bay.
We met in the Orchard Beach Parking lot and the wind was blowing pretty hard. It was cold. Promptly, at 8:10, we proceeded up the path. Our two youngest birders, Rio and Ricky spotted the first bird of the day, a nearby Red-tailed Hawk. A few feet away, we had some good lucks at two White-breasted Nuthatches on some nearby trees. A Blue Jay flew into the grove nearby. We cut into the area where I saw the Northern-Saw-whet Owl a day or two ago. The bird has been seen by several other birders as well, for the past two weeks. My heart sank as the bird was nowhere to be found. We spent twenty minutes or so, straining our necks trying to spot the little guys. Satisfied that we had done thorough search, we walked down toward the shoreline and climbed onto a large flat rock that looked out onto a small bay.
The sun was shining brightly and it was a spectacular view in the early morning. Here we saw some Black Ducks, Mallards, Red-breasted Merganser, Red-throated Loon, Bufflehead, Double- crested Cormorant, Brant and a Great Blue Heron. After feeling sufficiently warm from standing out on the rock, we continued along the coast and walked out along some wooden planks to another area that becomes an island a high tide. We relaxed and scanned for more waterfowl.
Billy and Michael looking for that award winning shot.
Aihua pauses after scanning the bay for ducks and a loon.
It was getting late so we decided to get to the boardwalk to look for the Harbor Seals. I saw the seals, along with some friends, on Wednesday afternoon. For many years we’ve seen them sunning themselves on a group of distant rocks at low tide. The seals too were missing. Although we were disappointed, the group was nothing but smiles. It was a beautiful morning and a great day to be outside. We decided to look for the owls one more time, hoping they possibly had flown into the grove. Unfortunately the birds were not there. We did meet a group of other birders who were trying their luck. We then went back to our cars and bicycles to get home. It was a wonderful morning.
Eamon, Cathy and Pete standing and scanning the bay. David and Bing warming themselves in the sun. None of us expected it to be so cold. We were out on the small island created at high tide. The view was fantastic, (but few birds.)
Our youngest “walking” birder, Rio. His baby sister, Maya, was positively our youngest birder, being carried by Mom the entire time.