Annual Plum Island Trip

Indigo Bunting

    Though I haven't posted lately, I have been out everyday. I've been leaving to go birding early in the morning and fishing most evenings. I've been birding in Rhode Island almost everyday. Mostly I have been going to Miantonomi Park in Newport. I went there for a week straight. Yes, I did get tired of seeing the same birds. So I decided on mixing things up. Yesterday I birded by bike along the South County Bike Path. I had eight species of warblers. Mostly breeding birds in RI. 

   Today I took my annual trip to Plum Island. I look forward to going every year. I have discovered the best birding is around the twentieth. I have been keeping an eye on the wind and last night was a southwest (despite below freezing morning temps which made no sense to me) I got a little later of a start than I would have liked consequently I didn't get there until 7:30.

   There were still plenty of birds to look at. The pine trees in the sunlight were loaded with flying insects and the hungry warblers noticed. The few pine trees along the road were dripping with warblers. Many of the rarer warblers were feeding on these insects. My very first bird on the refuge was a Bay Breasted Warbler. I had a feeling it was going to be a good day after that. 

 

Olive Sided Flycatcher

    The best bird of the day wasn't a warbler. It was an Olive Sided Flycatcher. This rare bird lands on dead branches to perch. They are a large flycatcher with a big head. They have a white chest that makes it look like it is wearing a suit. Unknown to me until today, they also have white spots on their back that look like cotton balls. This bird hung around all day. I saw it four times in four different dead snags. 

   Besides the rare flycatcher I saw many species of rare warblers. The "best" warbler was probably a Tennessee. I had only seen two before today. They usually hang out in the top of trees. The first one I  ever saw was in a seventy foot oak. Not exactly a great view. The trees at Plum Island are stunted due to the salt air. So today's Tennessee and all the other birds were no more than thirty feet off the ground. 

 Other good warblers were a Canada that I only got one photo of, and it was a bum shot. I watched a Blackburnian for fifteen minutes hopping around and foraging in a small oak. The bird I most wanted to see was a Wilson's Warbler. I ended up seeing one after noontime. There was also a Blackpoll in the same tree. The best bird that I found, that had not previously reported, was a Cape May. 

   There are multiple ways to bird Plum Island. One is to see how many species you can see in a day. This would require stopping at Lot #1 and scanning the ocean. You'd also hit Sandy Point for the ocean and the beach. There you can get birds like Piping Plover and Least Terns. Other places to hit would be the Wardens for sparrows and the Salt Panes for shorebirds.

  I did none of that. I didn't care about seeing shorebirds or counting species. I went to the island to see warblers. I spent all of my time at Hellcat parking lot and the Pines Trail. Hellcat was where it was at today. Especially the road. The boardwalk trail was pretty dead. On the other side of the road where the trail crosses I did have the Wilson's Warbler and where the Waterthrush lives. But most of the birds were along the road.

 

Tennessee Warbler

     All in all, it was a great day on the island. The pine trees were loaded with birds in the morning. I ended up seeing eighteen species of warblers. As I said the best bird of the day was the Olive Sided Flycatcher. However, there were many species of rare warblers. The only species that I know was there today that I dipped on was Northern Waterthrush. It was not for lack of trying. I looked for it five different times in the swampy areas. 

   After things died out I went shad fishing for a bit in West Newbury. I knew right away it was a waste of time. The wind was blowing in my face dirtying the water. Underwater visibility was about a foot. I gave it a half hour anyway. I then quickly drove over to Mill Pond where I saw Blue Winged Warblers and an Indigo Bunting. Many more photos below

Bay Breasted Warbler

Baltimore Oriole

Wilson's Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler (and below)

It was a little crowded 

Chestnut Sided Warbler

The backside of a Canada Warbler

Common Grackle

Red Winged Blackbird

Black Throated Green

Common Yellowthroat

Indigo Bunting

Blue Winged Warbler

The back of the Olive Sided Flycatcher.
 Notice the cottony white patches on its back