Ellisville Harbor SP Shorebird Field Trip with Lisa Schibley

The weather could not have been more beautiful for our shorebird trip led by Lisa Schibley at Ellisville Harbor State Park in Plymouth. Everyone was excited about the trip, especially after hearing Lisa speak so enthusiastically about shorebirds the previous night during our Members Only Webinar: The Art and Craft of Shorebird Identification. Lisa is the North American Coordinator for the International Shorebird Survey at Manomet Conservation Sciences and her expertise showed abundantly. The trip was like a master class for shorebirding—Lisa is an amazing teacher. Joining Lisa was Soheil Zendah, the author of the New England Shorebird Guide website.

The ten of us introduced ourselves and indicated what we hoped to see, and Lisa explained what to expect during the trip. We walked about a mile toward the beach along a paved road that hugged the marsh. As the marsh became visible on our left, we saw several Great Egrets, an Osprey carrying fish to its young, a couple of Great Blue Herons, a Northern Harrier flying low, and a Green Heron that seemed to challenge us by staring towards us as it walked closer and raised its head feathers. These sightings were a great prelude to the shorebirds to come.

As we approached the beach, we felt the cool breeze of the ocean and soon saw our first shorebirds along the water’s edge. Lisa had us study the birds in detail and discuss what we were seeing. She asked us what features we noticed: What kind of bill does it have? What color are its legs? Does that make it a juvenile or an adult? Are you noticing the warm colors? Soheil Zendah brought up the New England Shorebird Guide website several times on one of our phones and showed us photos of the bird’s details to compare them with what we were actually seeing in the field, teaching us how to make the final ID.

Our group sighted ten shorebird species, including 300 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 4 Short-billed Dowitchers, 11 Black-bellied plovers, 6 Greater Yellowlegs, and most notably one Pectoral Sandpiper that napped off and on for quite some time. The tide was going out and we enjoyed approximately two hours of observations of the birds, mostly at rest or feeding. The entire experience was educational; the birds were so close that we had great views. As we were leaving the beach we heard the haunting calls of a Common Loon. Does it get any better than this?

View the eBird list from the trip.