Belle Isle Bird List October 15, 2006

2006.10.15
Belle Isle Marsh
8:30 am - 12:30 pm (dst)
Dexter Hunneman, Dany Sloan, Soheil Zendeh
High tide: 7 am
Sky: sunny am, clouds moving by afternoon
Temperature: 52° (12°C)
Wind: wsw 10 - 20 mph (16 - 32 kph)
Visibility: excellent
Bird species: 39

Notes:

With the strong wind and cool temperatures, there was very little visible
invertebrate activity. The spiders and snakes had withdrawn. Amphipods and
copepods seem to continue thriving under the boards. From the thousands of
Monarchs we saw going through last weekend, I saw a mere two trying to get
aloft in the wind and giving it up to hunker down on some goldenrod.

The strong west wind pushed migrating raptors shoreward. All the accipiters
and one of the Ospreys skimmed the eastern edge of the Marsh and flew out
over Winthrop.

After we left Belle Isle Park, Dany and I stopped at Simpson's Boatyard
(Revere) and the Five Sisters (Winthrop). The Gull numbers out in Broad
Sound and up into Lynn Harbor was fantastic. I estimated at least 2000
gulls in various feeding frenzies, about ½ to 1 mile off shore. They
appeared to be mostly Ring-bills and Herrings. I wouldn't be surprised if
other gulls were mixed in, but I could not pick out anything unusual.

DCCormornats were also here in immense numbers. Probabaly closer to 1000
along this shore.

Maury Hall sent a note last week that I will quote here:

"We may be seeing the same phenomena as in 1999 and 2000 – very high
chlorophyll in bay, lots of bait fish, even pelicans in the harbor."

Everyone remember the Brown Pelican last week?

Here are the Belle Isle birds:

Canada Goose    1
American Black Duck    6
Mallard    2
Green-winged Teal    16
Double-crested Cormorant    4
Great Blue Heron    3
Great Egret    5
Osprey    3
Sharp-shinned Hawk    2
Cooper's Hawk    2
Greater Yellowlegs    2
Lesser Yellowlegs    3
Semipalmated Sandpiper    1
Pectoral Sandpiper    1
Wilson's Snipe    6
Ring-billed Gull    7
Herring Gull    27
Rock Pigeon    2
Belted Kingfisher    1
Downy Woodpecker    1
Northern Flicker    1
American Crow    4
Tree Swallow    10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet    1
American Robin    2
Northern Mockingbird    3
European Starling    6
Yellow-rumped Warbler    15
Palm Warbler    3
Common Yellowthroat    1
Field Sparrow    1
Savannah Sparrow    4
Song Sparrow    12
Swamp Sparrow    2
White-throated Sparrow    4
Dark-eyed Junco    11
Eastern Meadowlark    3
House Finch    2
House Sparrow    8

Soheil Zendeh
42 Baker Ave
Lexington, MA 02421
home phone 781-863-2392
cell phone 617-763-5637
office phone 617-528-4013