All week Cave Swallows and a Pacific Loon were seen in Rhode Island. Both birds would be lifers for me. I had to wait until Friday until I had a day off. Both species were seen on Thursday so I knew when I went to bed that night I'd have a shot at two species. I was going down to South County anyway to fish but knew I had to bird first.
Cave Swallows are a bird of the southwest. During specific wind patterns in the fall they get blown all the way from Texas into Ontario on south to southwest winds. When the wind changes to a northwest, they get pushed from Ontario to the east coast. It is a very dependable pattern and you can count on seeing the Cave Swallows if you follow the weather pattern. I've never had days off from work to be in the right place at the right time. I've tried on a whim many times to see them but never got lucky.
As for Pacific Loon they are very rare and show up randomly. It has become my nemesis bird. I've missed it multiple times. Starting six years ago, even if one was seen, it was always gone by the time I got there. On the other hand, if one was seen on a day I was working, it would be around all day and all of my friends would see it. Though rare, Pacific Loon is the easiest bird I have not seen in Rhode Island.
I started Friday out looking for Cave Swallows at Scarborough Beach. I searched for ninety minutes without any luck. So I went to Blue Shutters and looked for the reported Pacific Loon. Dipped again. So at noon I went to Charlestown and fish for stripers. I tried in moving water, the mouth, and the beach. Stripers-1 Nick-0.
So I went back to Narragansett and tried the beach again. After half an hour just sitting in my car I noticed a swallow fly by. I got my binoculars on it and saw enough color to know it was a Cave. Another guy was sitting in his car with binoculars and I screamed that if he was looking for it it was in front of us. He informed me he had already seen it.
This guy happened to be my friend Dave C's brother who I had met once or twice. He got out of the car and looked with me. I had my camera and it was a lifer for him also. I'm sure he wanted me to get a photo for proof that he too had seen it.
I won't bore you with play by play of the next hour. But I got much better looks at it. Dave's brother left and two other birders came by. One of the swallows kept making passes by us from the jetty to the pavilion. I took dozens of blurry photos and a couple that could be considered bad but passable proof shots. Enough to confirm on ebird. The Cave Swallow is my 349th Rhode Island bird. One more for 350!
Postscript- I caught three stripers before dark. 3 pm-5pm was the best two hours I've had in nature in a long time.
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