Cape Cod Bird Nerd

11.15.17 Yarmouth Park & Recreation Bird Walks - Flax Pond
South Yarmouth, MA

I've been looking forward to spending an hour with these new Bird Nerd friends I've made. We all remarked on how the weather was much better this morning, with no rain to contend with. This made us hopeful for more bird sightings. I also wanted to check out a wooded trail that I've been eyeing for months, though I hadn't had an opportunity to walk the trail previously. We all chose to brave it! Well, it wasn't like it was leading us to any grave danger... and it didn't. It turned out to be a trail that led straight to the newly fancy paved Cape Cod Rail Trail section in Yarmouth...exactly as I suspected. I think it would be fun to lead a bird walk on the rail trail someday for folks who aren't interested in walking in the woods and/or need a level surface to travel on when outdoors...ambitions!

We did see and hear a few species while on our bright Wednesday morning walk. While I was busy gabbing about something, a hawk was spotted soaring right up above us. It was up high enough to make a positive ID challenging. My suspicions from the field marks I observed, was that it was a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. We discussed how to discern one hawk from another, and how fun it can be simply to know, which bird is which.

We had a really nice wooded hike, and what was interesting... we saw and heard more bird species as we walked on the edge of the property line of Thirwood Place. The trail gets really close to the buildings and there are residents who feed the birds, so it makes sense. Flax Pond is just through the trees as well, which is a wonderful water source. I wanted to end with the pond this morning, because I'm always hopeful for migrant winter waterfowl... we were NOT disappointed!!! There was a Bufflehead male, just cruising and occasionally diving, like they do, along the surface of the water. He seemed a perfect finale bird for our time together! I hope to schedule more of these walks through Yarmouth Parks & Recreation. I had such a fantastic time getting to know these sweet bird-loving Bird Nerds!
(double click photos to enlarge)

Our List:
White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Mourning Dove
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-tailed Hawk
American Crow
Downy Woodpecker
Tufted Titmouse
American Robin
Northern Flicker
Bufflehead (!!!)