North Eastham brush dump, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 7:00 AM – 9:45 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments:     SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
31 species (+1 other taxa)

Sharp-shinned/Cooper’s Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Mourning Dove  35
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern)  3
Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern)  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  3
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  8
American Crow  3
Black-capped Chickadee  5
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
Carolina Wren  2
Eastern Bluebird  8
American Robin  4
Gray Catbird  6
Orange-crowned Warbler (Gray-headed)  1
Common Yellowthroat  3
Palm Warbler (Western)  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  3
Chipping Sparrow  75
Field Sparrow  10
White-throated Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  6
Swamp Sparrow  4
Eastern Towhee  1
Northern Cardinal  4
Indigo Bunting  3
Baltimore Oriole  1     ad male, unusual
American Goldfinch  2

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047562

High Head, Pilgrim Heights, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments:     SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
3 species

Virginia Rail (Virginia)  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
American Robin  10

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047567

Beech Forest, Provincetown, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments:     SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
14 species

Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  5
Black-capped Chickadee  10
Tufted Titmouse  4
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern)  2
House Wren  1
American Redstart  1
Blackpoll Warbler  2
White-throated Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  2
Northern Cardinal  1
Common Grackle  30

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047568

Race Point Beach, Provincetown, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments:     SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
24 species

Common Eider (Dresser’s)  50
White-winged Scoter (North American)  350
Black Scoter  5
Common Loon  1
Red-necked Grebe  1
Cory’s Shearwater (borealis)  50
Great Shearwater  1750
Sooty Shearwater  25
Manx Shearwater  50
Northern Gannet  3
Double-crested Cormorant  300
Great Blue Heron (Blue form)  1
Turkey Vulture  9
Sanderling  150
White-rumped Sandpiper  1
Parasitic Jaeger  30
Black-legged Kittiwake  4
Laughing Gull  200
Ring-billed Gull  X
Herring Gull (American)  X
Great Black-backed Gull  X
Roseate Tern  2
Common Tern (hirundo)  400
Tree Swallow  150

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047828

Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments:     SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
28 species

Canada Goose  6
Wild Turkey  3
Great Blue Heron (Blue form)  2
Green Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Northern Harrier  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Greater Yellowlegs  19
Lesser Yellowlegs  5
Belted Kingfisher  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1     imm
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern)  2
Hairy Woodpecker (Eastern)  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1
Blue Jay  10
American Crow  25
Black-capped Chickadee  12
Tufted Titmouse  2
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern)  2
Gray Catbird  3
American Redstart  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  6
Northern Cardinal  3
Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged)  3
Common Grackle  5
American Goldfinch  2
House Sparrow  X

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047571

First Encounter Beach, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Oct 7, 2017 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.25 mile(s)
Comments:     SSBC/BBC trip, Ernie L, Dave B, Susan H
17 species (+3 other taxa)

Common Eider (Dresser’s)  200
Surf/Black Scoter  500
scoter sp.  1500
Black-bellied Plover  44
Semipalmated Plover  11
Whimbrel (Hudsonian)  4
Sanderling  50
Dunlin  50
Pectoral Sandpiper  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1
Short-billed Dowitcher  1
Greater Yellowlegs  10
Parasitic Jaeger  10
Long-tailed Jaeger  8     Someone said “Is anyone looking at these jaegers that are coming overhead?” at around 4:45ish p.m..  Looking up I saw five birds up a few hundred feet and thought these aren’t them, they are terns.  However, the birds appeared darkish underneath and had a long tubular tail and the one I concentrated on showed two pointed tail streamers beyond that tail almost the same length.  The others did not had tail streamers of that length, the all five had the same shape and size.  With the small headed appearance and the long body appearance beyond the wings they were not shaped like the Parasitics (kind of like the difference between Common and Arctic Tern) we had seen most of the day (30 at Race Point beach and another 10 at First Encounter).  All five appeared dark on the underwing with no obvious white patches which all the jaegers of the day prior showed easily.

They quickly made their way over Cape Cod Bay and were joined by at least three others which looked very similar in size and shape.  I watched via scope and even though the late day lighting was marginal I never saw any obvious white flashes for the five or so minutes I was continuously watching.  Eventually they drifted too far to see anything additional and they kept high in the sky the whole time unlike all the other jaegers I have seen, perhaps ever.  It was interesting to see the them struggle against the rather modest wind seemingly not making any progress and constantly drifting away in the direction of the prevailing wind.  Quite different from all the jaegers I have seen this year.  The heads of these birds were small and the extension behind the wing was longer than the jaegers we had seen during the day.

All the literature, images and drawings I have looked at never shows Parasitic with those body proportions.  The only conclusion is that they were all Long-tailed.

Is that possible?
Laughing Gull  300
Common Tern (hirundo)  100
Forster’s Tern  50
Sterna sp.  200
Palm Warbler (Western)  2
Song Sparrow  1

View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S40047578