Crescent Beach State Park
“Harlequin Ducks (Two Lights and Fort Williams, Common Eiders, at least one King Eider (Dyer Point), Black and White-winged Scoters (Crescent Beach), Pintails (Ferry Beach), Red-breasted Mergansers, Red-necked Grebes, and numerous Common Loons.”
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Harlequin Ducks (Two Lights and Fort Williams, Common Eiders, at least one King Eider (Dyer Point), Black and White-winged Scoters (Crescent Beach), Pintails (Ferry Beach), Red-breasted Mergansers, Red-necked Grebes, and numerous Common Loons.
Speaking of ducks, fair numbers of Black and White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed, aka “Oldsquaw’s”, Common Loons and Eiders can still be seen without too much effort off Crescent Beach and rocky bluffs along Fort Williams State Park.
As for shorebirds, there are good numbers of semipalmated and black-bellied plovers along Crescent Beach.
Other noteworthy mentionings - On February 9 at Crescent Beach State Park, I came across Ruffed Grouse tracks in the snow while walking a game trail deep in a stand of old conifers.
On May 12 I spotted three Laughing gulls on a rock outcropping just offshore along Crescent Beach State Park.
Highlights from Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Scarborough Marsh and Crescent Beach State Park include, Semipalmated Plovers and sandpipers, Black-bellied Plovers, Least Sandpipers, Greater and Lesser Yellow Legs and Killdeer.
Additionally, I saw a Tennessee Warbler and a Nashville Warbler traveling south together somewhere around the fringes of Crescent Beach State Park.
Other noteworthy mentionings: on Oct. 20 there was a large gathering of lingering Tree Swallows along Crescent Beach State Park.
In the last days of December around dusk, my wife, son and I were walking along the road down to the beach parking lot within Crescent Beach State Park when we accidently flushed a raft of 20 or so American Turkeys that had suddenly appeared out of the dense spruce understory.
From here I followed Route 77 past the Sprague’s land and Crescent Beach State Park, connecting with Old Ocean House Road and back into the center of town.
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The first being a single Least Tern which was spotted actively hovering and hunting prey along the shoreline of Crescent Beach.
As for shorebirds, there are good numbers of Semipalmated and Black-bellied plovers along Crescent Beach.
On October 3, I saw a Tennessee Warbler and a Nashville Warbler traveling south together somewhere around the fringes of Crescent Beach State Park.
On the same morning a sizable flock of Purple Sandpiper caught my eye along Crescent Beach State Park before heading out to the exposed rocks (Seal Rocks) a ways offshore.
On the morning of February 7, the following birds were seen along our coastline between Kettle Cove and the far fringes of Crescent Beach State park – a solitary Northern Mockingbird guarding his Winterberry throne, a Herring Gull pilfering a Common Eiders hard earned meal (a mussel), two diving Horned Grebes…
Also, on this day my wife spotted two first of season Tree Swallows along Crescent Beach.
On June 19 my wife, son and I spotted a Willet (stocky shorebird about the size of a crow) from Sawyer Road crossing through the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge and heard two Black-throated Green Warblers along the road down to Crescent Beach.
The following day my son and I spotted nineteen Sanderlings and seven medium sized, stockier shorebirds with stubby bills (Black-bellied Plovers) dining on marine worms along the wrack-line towards the far end of Crescent Beach.
On this same day I spotted six Surf Scoters off of Crescent Beach State Park and a solo Orange Crowned Warbler along Pond Cove.
That said, on the evening of December 3 from somewhere within the depths of Crescent Beach State Park’s forest, three soft calls from a Northern Saw-whet Owl were heard followed closely by fleeting flashes from double shooting stars overhead.
On one of the last days of December while walking the back path along Crescent Beach State Park I noticed a flurry of activity around a gnarled old Pitch Pine Tree.
On this same day just before sunset along the Crescent Beach State Park trail a Juvenile Bald Eagle was spotted roosting in an old Oak tree.
This time of year, Guillemots can be tricky to identify because younger seabirds have mostly whitish heads, neck and underparts Lastly, on the afternoon of February 26 my son and I came across a flurry of activity along a bare patch of grass in the parking lot of Crescent Beach State Park.
Other mentionables include: on May 1 along the back trail of Crescent Beach State Park, a single Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Red-breasted Nuthatch.
…American Bittern or Virginia Rail Two other notes from the field over the last several weeks include, on June 12 along Crescent Beach State Park, four Black-bellied Plovers and three Least Sandpipers and on June 14 my wife spotted a Brown Thrasher in an old crab apple tree in our backyard.
Also, on the late afternoon of July 21 a single Eastern Towhee was singing along Charles Jordan Road and on July 24 just before dusk I heard the lush, flute like song of my first Wood Thrush of the year somewhere along the woodland fringes of Crescent Beach State Park.
The autumn Yellow-rumped Warbler migration phenomenon along our coastline continued through October 10 with many hundreds of warblers both high and low across Gull Crest, Robinson Woods, Fort Williams, Crescent Beach State Park and the old White Oak Trees in my yard.
Later that day I noted seven black and white sea ducks called Surf Scoters aka “old skunkhead’s” off of Crescent Beach State Park.
Although I did not find any artic wanderers that day, I did spot an adult Bald Eagle soaring along Crescent Beach State Park and a single Common Raven headed out to hunker down on Richmond Island for the night.
Also, on March 18 while meandering along the back beach trails of Crescent Beach State Park my son and I heard the far-carrying cry of four Killdeer overhead.
The following morning of October 28 along Crescent Beach State Park I noted lingering Yellow-rumped Warblers and secretly singing White-throated Sparrows along with two Immature Bonaparte’s Gulls and a pair of Red-necked Grebes off Richmond Island.
Lastly, there have been several reports of Snow Buntings across Cape including Two Lights State Park, Crescent Beach State Park and Dyer Point.
Additionally, on February 5 my son and I watched as two Ravens crossed the wide blue sky above Crescent Beach State Park heading towards Richmond Island.
Specific to the smallest of these three owls, Aegolius acadicus, I’ve heard more squawks, high-pitched barks and me-ows from Northern Saw-whets during this past, largely snowless winter than the last several including from my own backyard, Two Lights State Park, Robinson Woods and Cresent Beach State Park.
As for observations from the yard and field, on November 16 while doing one last scan of the gravel sections of parking lot within Crescent Beach State Park I noticed a flash of white as several bluebird sized birds briefly rose up in the air then seemingly disappeared.
And lastly, while wandering the back paths and fringes of mowed fields within Crescent Beach State Park a small nest caught my eye.
Additional observations include: on February 9 a Hermit Thrush in Kettle Cove and along Crescent Beach State Park, eight Long-tailed Ducks, six Buffleheads, four Red-breasted Mergansers and two Lesser Scaup ducks.
Great Pond was ranked 24th and Crescent Beach State Park came in at 39th out of 100 locations with only 28 individual species recorded.
Lastly, on May 24 along Crescent Beach State Park I noted six Piping Plovers, four Semipalmated Plovers, two Semipalmated Sandpipers and a lone, Black-bellied Plover.
Additionally, on September 7 while traveling the back trail of Crescent Beach State Park, a small mixed party of birds appeared to include one each of the following: American Redstart, Black-throated Green Warbler, Cape May Warbler, and Philadelphia Vireo.
Additionally, on the snowy late afternoon of December 2 within Crescent Beach State Park, I observed four Greater Scaup, a Red-throated Loon and a Northern Mockingbird fiercely guarding its winterberry fiefdom.
Later on in the afternoon I made my way along the back path field section of Crescent Beach State Park and a flock of a nine Snow Buntings took flight in the direction of Richmond Island.
On the last day of January my family and I were walking Crescent Beach when I noticed a large, white object atop a very distant telephone pole.