Words On Birds 08-08-25

 

     The shorebird migration has brought thousands of birds to the Salt Pannes, Bill Forward Pool, North Pool, and Stage Island Pool on Plum Island. Hundreds of semipalmated sandpipers and semipalmated plovers, along with least sandpipers, are blanketing the flats and shallow water of these pools. This week, more than a hundred white-rumped sandpipers have joined the mix in the shallow waters.  

 

     Small flocks of black-bellied plovers have arrived. Short-billed dowitchers are probing the deeper waters like sewing machines, with their long, straight bills, and some early long-billed dowitchers have joined them. Also probing the deeper water are stilt sandpipers with their long decurved bills. The more common greater and lesser yellowlegs are seen in all the pools.

 

     Birders are always searching for other less common shorebirds like the ruff, red knots, curlew and western sandpipers, and the larger godwits and whimbrels. Soon, the “grass-pipers” will arrive – those shorebirds that feed mainly on the grassy edges of Bill Forward and Stage Island Pools. They include the Baird’s sandpiper, buff-breast sandpiper and the less common upland sandpiper.

 

     And the swallows are here! The annual tree swallow show is ramping up on Plum Island! Plentiful fruit and insects on the Parker River Refuge attracts tens of thousands of swallows in mid-August, and this spectacle is worth seeing before they are gone by month’s end. Thousands of swallows are already staging in the cattails of North Pool and feeding on the evening insects. The swallows form large, swarming clouds as they feed, and you can also watch the swallows skim insects off the surface of the pools. One report estimated 25,000 tree swallows on Plum Island on Wednesday.

 

     Mid-week Margo and I witnessed what looked like a “tornado of swallows” from the North Pool Overlook. We estimated a few thousand swallows in this one swirling cloud! Later, we stationed ourselves with our scopes on the Hellcat dike to view the shorebirds and egrets in Bill Forward and North Pool. The swarming swallows were flying over the dike and there were hundreds of swallows perched in the phragmites there. We were able to show some of these birds, close-up through our scopes, to several curious people visiting the refuge and the Hellcat dike.  

 

     As it turned out, one visitor was a young birder, her first time on the refuge, who had driven three hours from western Massachusetts to purchase a scope earlier that day at our store. She took advantage of our optics week savings and the up-coming tax-free weekend. Some of the shorebirds were life birds for her.

 

     With little breeze late in the day, the mosquitoes and no-see-ums were almost intolerable. But the tree swallows were enjoying the insects, as they were constantly flying by and dipping down to scoop insects off the top of the water. Swallows are a critical part of the food chain and help to naturally control flying insect populations. On a warm summer’s evening, when mosquitoes and no-see-ums start to bite, the sight of thousands of swallows on the wing is welcomed, indeed.

 

     You can see large congregations of swallows on the island anytime during the day and into the evening all along the Refuge road, as these birds gather and move along the dunes and marsh. In addition to feeding on flying insects, swallows gather to feed on the bayberries growing on the bushes along the road and in the dunes. 

 

     If you have a chance this month, do take a SLOW drive along the Parker River Refuge on Plum Island. Be sure to drive slowly, as the swallows will often be hovering over, or even sitting, on the road. Take time to stop along the way to appreciate the phenomenon surrounding you. The spectacle of thousands of swallows is sure to leave an indelible image in your memory.