[MASSBIRD] Austin Smith Sanctuary, Eastham/Orleans

[Brian Manning Delaney]

Have been enjoying birding at Austin Smith Sanctuary (locals have likely
seen the small sign on the Cape Cod Rail Trail (CCRT) 100 m or so north
of the overpass over Rt. 6).

My loop: By car -- exit the rotary at the north exit (sorry, can't
remember what the sign says -- but it's the tiny, "local"-feeling exit
-- you'll see the guardrail of the road the exit soon t's into -- Rock
Harbor Road, called Smith Lane if one goes right [1]). Go left 200 m and
park in the small lot to the right, just before the CCRT overpass. I
bird the parking lot, which is curiously rich with passerines and
woodpeckers. Then I go up the steep path to the CCRT, walk north a
touch, cut to the right into the woods by the "Austin Smith Sanctuary"
sign, look for thrushes (no luck so far -- but I've heard them there
while cycling by), and whatever might be heard or visible in the marsh
to the east. Then back to the CCRT, cut west at the obvious entry to the
open area, do one of the obvious loops, hoping for an obscure sparrow (I
tend to miss these) or something, then back to the CCRT, and a touch
more to the north, and there's always something in the flats --
sandpipers and plovers and often a willet. Darn-ish certain I heard a
Least Bittern today on the other side of the trail, but need to go back
and try again.

Nice place to go if you only have an hour or so before work and you're
in the area.

Today's modest sightings:

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31138656




Austin Smith Sanctuary, Barnstable, Massachusetts, US
Aug 18, 2016 5:58 AM - 7:08 AM
Protocol: Traveling
0.6 kilometer(s)
Comments: Hazily overcast; heat has moved inland. Patience paid off
with a few silent birds (one of the orioles, the Titmouse, a flicker --
most of the rest were vocal). Didn't have time to wait for fall(-ish)
warbler motion in tree tops though.

30 species (+5 other taxa)

Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus) 25
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 2
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 3 In the normally more
productive flats as the marsh begins to the north of the sanctuary
(= small wooded area between highway and marsh). Flats squirming
with food. Puzzling that so many birds missed the breakfast bell.
Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) 1 Flyover. Would have missed
had it not laughed at the nutty birder below. (Got a good look, too.)
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) 1
gull sp. (Larinae sp.) 1
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 25
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica) 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 2
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 2
Downy/Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens/villosus) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 3
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 7
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 20
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) 1
crow sp. (Corvus sp. (crow sp.)) 4
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) 14
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) 1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 2
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 3
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 3
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 7
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 2 Possibly several more (under
"passerine sp.").
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 3
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 5
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 25
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 1
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) 2
blackbird sp. (Icteridae sp.) 250 Too distant to ID.
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 2
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 1
bird sp. (Aves sp.) 1 85% certain it was a Least Bittern; will try
to edit/manipulate/listen to a bad recording and now-mystical-to-me
verbal notes, and get the percentage certainty high enough to list it as
more than a sp. (Note: eBird seems not to allow a broader taxon than
"shorebird" (like waterbird, Aequornithes, Pelecaniformes, etc.),
without jumping up to "Aves sp." Sorry if I'm missing something. 12:40
edit: nope, stuck at 85% certain.

View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31138656

Best,
Brian


[1] Here:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/41°47'58.6"N+69°59'04.4"W

--
Brian Manning Delaney
Orleans, Massachusetts /
Stockholm, Sweden