Three Days of Adventure Post #1 of 7 Napatree and Lady Luck

There are all or part of 18 different Red Knots in this photo

My three days of planned fun started with a ninety minute drive at 5 am this morning. The goal, Napatree Point. The reason...shorebirds. I got Napatree at 6:45 and walked out to the lagoon. Napatree is a very good spot to see shorebirds but you have to pay your dues by walking  mile over sand. I didn't have any intended targets in mind, nor did I know of any rarities out there.

As I was walking in, another birder was walking out. He told me there was a Little Egret in the lagoon along with some Snowys. A "Little Egret" is the name of a species. It is not a description. They are rare in the United States because the live and nest in Africa!!! I do not know how many documented sightings there have been in Rhode Island, but my guess is less than a handful.

  This bird was reported last week. Apparently, it roosts across the Pawcatuck River in Connecticut and in the morning it flies over with its Snowy cousins to feed at Napatree. I hadn't heard any reports about it in many days. Secondly, I didn't even know it was at Napatree, the last report I had heard was it roosted it the marsh in Weekapaug Pond. I never really gave it any thought because when it was reported, I knew I wasn't getting down there anytime soon.

Black Bellied Plover- these are a common shorebird but usually
skittish. When I try for a pic they always walk or fly the other
way. While looking through the scope at the Little Egret, I looked
up for a second and this guy was 20 feet from me. I had to
take a few pictures. He even caught himself a 10 inch sandworm
Luck was on my side today! 

So it was pure blind luck this guy told me about the Little Egret. Chances are I wouldn't have given the egrets a second look if I were out there alone because I was looking for small shorebirds. I walked over to edge of the lagoon and all the egrets were feeding on the other side. It took less than a minute to see the long ten inch plume hanging off the birds head. I watched it for a few minutes but had to be at work at 10:30, which meant I had to leave at 9 am, so I  moved on from the rarest bird I have seen this year.

Next up, I started scanning the water for shorebirds. I crossed the little river that connects the lagoon to the bay. On the other side I came across my favorite shorebird, Red Knots. I started counting them and there were more and more. I counted 40. This is a lot for this species so I reported it on the RI bird Facebook page along with letting others know the Little Egret was there.

After I left the Red Knots, I headed back towards the car and lagoon. Two birders showed up and scoped the three hundred or so terns. I had made a decision not to invest much time on the terns because I was limited and wanted to move around. One of the guys told me he had a black tern in his scope and wanted me to take a look to confirm it (it's nice to have a witness). From my point of view, it was nice he showed it to me. I talked with those guys for five minutes but had to hustle back to the car under an increasingly hot sun. But man, what a morning

Ruddy Turnstone

Author's Note- I was asked if I got any good pictures of the extremely rare Little Egret. The answer is no. It was across the lagoon. I could have walked around the pond and tried to get some pictures. I did not want to take the chance of flushing it. If I would have scared that bird off and other birders didn't see it, I would have felt absolutely awful. So I made the decision not to attempt a photo. It worked out just fine since I saw the forty Red Knots.