Parker River NWR, Massachusetts

Today was a scheduled off-day for the teardrop, so I took advantage and drove up to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island in Massachusetts.  My wife Sam and I have been there a couple of times in November, but I wanted to see the bird life in summer.

Was I rewarded!

I saw, as I recall, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs, Greater Yellowlegs, Eastern Kingbird, Bobolink, Tree Swallow, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Cedar Waxwing, Saltmarsh Sharptail Sparrow, Killdeer, Semi-Palmated Sandpiper, White-Rumped Sandpiper (I believe, awaiting confirmation of identification) (turns out to have been a transitional Sanderling), several unidentified Terns (I am not able to identify Terns), and unidentified Flycatcher, and Wild Turkey, not to mention the ubiquitous Redwing Blackbirds, Canada Geese, and three unidentified ducks.

And, since I only drove in about half way before turning around, there were probably more species to be seen.  Needless to say, the area supports a great variety of bird life.

Photos:  Let us begin and proceed alphabetically.

Cedar Waxwing:

Eastern Kingbird:

Greater Yellowlegs:

Lesser Yellowlegs:

 

Least Sandpiper (okay, the astute reader will recognize that I violated my promise of alphabetical order, but I wanted to juxtapose the Greater and Lesser above for contrast.  Note the size of the beak in relation to the head for the distinction.)

Snowy Egret:

Wild Turkey:

 

Finally, a shot of some of the wildflowers in the area:

In all, it was quite a day!