Southern New England Outdoor and Nature Site: This year, my White Whale has been Purple

Sunday, February 10, 2019

This year, my White Whale has been Purple

White Whales, aka- purple sandpipers

If you have been reading along, you know I have been looking for birds almost every day off so far since the new year. I have spending my days trying to find birds I have not yet seen that would be around in the winter.

One bird I have failed miserably on over and over has been Purple Sandpiper. As the name implies, it is a sandpiper and it really is purplish. This species has been declining year after year (kind of like stripers). Seeing one used to be as easy as going to a rocky point such as Beavertail or Sachuest. This year I have gone to those places multiple occasions plus others and yet to see one.

Up until today, I was 0-9 looking for these little guys. I had tried Beavertail and Sachuest multiple times. I expanded my search checking the rocks near Scarborough, the Avenues, and any other places there were rocks. I even took the long walk out to Napatree in January! to see them at the point. I had a 100% success rate until that trip seeing them there. No luck.

Quite honestly, I like Purple Sandpipers. They are one of my favorite shorebirds. So seeing them isn't just about tacking them to my list. I genuinely like them, making it that much sadder I am watching their numbers decline so rapidly. That said, I have spent an ungodly amount of time looking for them. Driving to and walking out to Napatree is almost five hours I could be checking multiple spots for a number of other species.

Today was an Ocean State Bird Club trip on the Block Island Ferry. The winter trip is designed to get seabirds that winter here from the Arctic. Besides the seabirds, I was also really hoping to find a Purple Sandpiper. Taking the ferry offered me a lot of opportunity. I could check the Short Wall, West Wall and even the edge of the Center Wall. Block Island's harbor is also protected by two jetties, and if I didn't get them on the way out, maybe they would be there on the return trip.

There wasn't anything on the walls, but pulling into Block Island, I spotted a few right at the end of a jetty. Glad that hunt was over! When I saw them I pointed them out to the group who had no idea how difficult they were for me.

Also spotted on our trip were harbor and grey seals, black guillemot (year bird), long tailed ducks, tons of loons and white winged scoter, peregrine falcon, and a bald eagle flying back to the mainland.