August 6
80 degrees, winds SW 15
10:30 am -1:30 pm
I hiked north toward the Lighthouse along the beach. I fell in line with the 120 sanderlings and dozen semipalmated plovers who led the way. Each time I got close, they winged ahead… their white bellies glinting in the sun as they banked over the ocean. A spotted sandpiper kept a bit separate, bobbing incessantly.
The herring and black backed gulls must have been fishing elsewhere. Normally there are large groups of them “ down front”, but not today. And the lesser black backed gulls, which are always here in winter, are not around in summer. A small group of cormorants relaxed at the shore.
A semipalmated plover played “king of the hill” on the rocks , which were exposed as low tide approached (12:44 pm at Great Point). These rocks are the gathering spot for the harlequin ducks in winter.
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| Sanderlings |
I followed the sanderling plover parade past Sankaty Light and midway to Quidnet they headed back south….to be replaced by a new group of sanderlings heading north, as well as terns winging over the sea.
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| Spotted Sandpiper |
More cormorants, Canada geese and terns congregated on the Sand bars at the cut. I headed along the rim of Sesachacha Pond, past the Greenhills and the osprey nest, toward the Audubon property. Four lesser yellowlegs fed at the foam edge . The marsh fleabane (pluchea odorata) grew out of the sand. The osprey warned me to get lost.
Least sandpipers and snowy egrets bathed in the inlet near the swamp. Mallards floated and sixty-ish Canada geese honked. The pond is low...13 steps from the edge to where the path leads up.
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| Lesser Yellowlegs |
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| Least Sandpiper |
I was rewarded with a pearl crescent and an Eastern black swallowtail during my walk home.
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| Least Sandpiper |
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