Pair of common loons.
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, wind and rain and an antic surf; today, calm and sun and a tide sublime.
Horned grebe.
The bulk of the day I circled my desk like Mercury about the sun, but I did take a quick trip to Rockport Village, when I confirmed the spring-like nature of the day—and saw a rock pigeon. An early overcast had fled somewhere and the sky was mostly blue.
I thought about heading up Beech Hill, but I couldn’t resist another visit to the breakwater, just to see the contrast. At the parking lot a dozen starlings sat in a bare-limbed tree making subtle, crazy noises. I brought (and wore) my parka, but that was overdressing: what a gorgeous afternoon. The tide was low. A pair of red-breasted mergansers (our local Audubon chapter’s logo bird, by the way) floated off in the cove. A small flock of common goldeneyes bobbed in the gentle surf beyond the flats and boulders a hundred yards or more offshore. A solitary harbor seal perched sidelong on a rock. Common loons on either side of the breakwater.
Juvenile herring gull.
Soon I spotted a little horned grebe—very likely the same bird I’ve seen there two or three times before. It posed for photos. Then I came upon a number of herring gulls picking at urchins on the surface of the great granite stones. And then I heard the inimitable voices of the long-tailed ducks and knew they’d begun their evening flight off shore. Sure enough, swift little groups of them began speeding rapidly around the far end of the breakwater, calling all the way.
Black guillemot.
At the lighthouse end, I stood a while soaking up the gorgeousness of the world and, lo, saw a tiny water bird floating a short distance away. A guillemot in black and white, nearly breeding plumage. Toward the harbor, in the sunset’s reflection, a pair of loons—one dainty, one robust—sailed slowly around the point. Not long after, I heard one call. And again. Again. Again.
And I heard, behind me, a gutteral sound. Looked up. It was a greater black-back, sitting on the peak of the house. It faced the islands. It made pronouncements. I lifted its head and cried.
Walking back I saw several other loons sailing slowly and silently in the reflective harbor. There must’ve been a dozen out there, their plumage also darkening.
Great black-backed gull.
Back at the parking lot, a sparrow flitted across my path. A white-throat from its notes.
It’s winter still, but with spring in the air. What a gentle, sweet-smelling day.
Today’s List
American crow
Herring gull
Rock pigeon
European starling
Red-breasted merganser
Common goldeneye
Long-tailed duck
Common loon
Horned grebe
Black guillemot
Great black-backed gull
White-throated sparrow
Sunset, Rockland Harbor.
Tags: American crow, black guillemot, common goldeneye, common loon, European starling, great black-backed gull, herring gull, horned grebe, long-tailed duck, red-breasted merganser, rock pigeon, white-throated sparrow
