Shore Road
“On this same day along Shore road there were a wonderful dozen or more Blue-headed Vireo’s announcing their arrival with sweet slurred songs.”
Through the year
Columns that mention it, by the month they were published.
Year by year
Columns that mention it each year.
In his words
Ten of the 42 passages, oldest first.
Eastern Bluebirds have begun to court from one end of Shore Road to the other - noticeably chatty this time of year.
A House Wren was seen and heard along Shore Road.
On May 21 eleven types of warblers were seen along Shore Road, many of them within the upper canopy of our old oaks, including a wonderful pair of Blackburnian Warblers and greater numbers of Canada (with both male and female exhibiting the telltale black streaked necklace), Wilson’s, Magnolia and Tennessee Warblers.
Also, on more than one night I have heard bard owls calling along Shore Road.
While on the subject of nighttime nature activity, I was walking along Shore Road around 9:45pm on November 9th when I was startled by the harsh caws of a couple of American Crows flushed from their roost.
A solitary Brown Creeper was spied along Shore Road.
In the early morning hours of Jan 17 a very cold looking Hermit Thrush was seen in a Winterberry bush along Shore road.
For the record, this was the second time this month that I had heard this species of owl along Shore Road.
Then on the afternoon of March 13 I was very surprised to hear old Bubo calling at 3:00 p.m. along Shore Road.
On March 19 around dusk a Barred owl was hunting the fringe, where forest meets field along Shore Road.
Show all 42 passages
On this same day along Shore road there were a wonderful dozen or more Blue-headed Vireo’s announcing their arrival with sweet slurred songs.
Along Shore Road in nearly every flowering tree there were significant numbers of Magnolia warblers, American Redstarts and Tennessee warblers.
On the same day along Shore Road I spotted a juvenile Cedar Waxing begging its parent for food.
The following evening, I heard the eerie shriek of Great Horned Owlet begging for food somewhere back off of Shore Road.
On August 23 an adult male Baltimore Oriole lingered along Shore Road.
On the morning of September 26 I caught glimpses of one, then two Blackburnian warblers high up in an old White Pine on Shore Road.
Additionally, I had a Common Raven and an Eastern Phoebe (flycatcher) calling along Shore Road on Oct. 5.
On a sunny Saturday afternoon (January 18) two adult Bald eagles flew high above Shore Road.
The following evening along Shore Road, relatively close to town center, I heard two Great-horned Owls (later saw one of the two) engaged in a quite a chatter.
From Shore Road I rode my bike out along Scott Dyer Road, turning left on Spurwink Avenue until I ran into Bowery Beach Road.
On the 8th of May my first treetop dwelling Great-crested Flycatcher was seen and heard calling along Shore Road.
On July 29 around dusk I heard a single shriek from a Great Horned Owlet begging for food somewhere back off of Shore Road.
Additionally, on more than one night I have heard a Great-horned Owl calling (rather softly) along Shore Road.
On the evening of October 9 I heard two Great-horned Owls calling to each other along Shore Road and on October 11 while biking in Gull Crest I practically ran over a Woodcock who did not seem the least bit concerned with my presence.
Also, along Shore Road I heard many Northern Parulas.
The bird appeared from the shadows of an old White Spruce along Shore Road; its tiger striped breast with bright yellow belly and orange-chestnut ear patches were aglow.
On June 3, three Red-eyed Vireos were located along Shore Road.
Along Shore Road I located three separate oriole nests, notably all of them are directly over the road, between 30’-40’ feet up in oak trees.
On the morning of September 11 following the big night I found three Northern Parulas, five American Redstarts and twelve Red-eyed Vireos along Shore Road and a single Great-crested Flycatcher along the field borders of Runaway Farm.
On September 27 a sprightly Least Flycatcher with its wide white eyeing, wing-bars and slightly forked tail materialized in an old apple-tree along Shore Road.
On the 24th, three Northern Flickers were spotted along Shore Road and on this same day the first of the season Dark-eyed Junco appeared below our feeders.
On the morning of January 22 I counted twelve waxwings in a cherry tree along Shore Road.
And under the dim evening light of March 21 I lost track after counting a dizzying thirty-six American Woodcocks – four along Shore Road and the remainder along the Willow Brook, Spurwink River and across Gull Crest (uplands included).
Two observations of note in late April included a stunning male Indigo Bunting that my wife reported seeing within the tangles of Jordan Farm Road on April 29 and, the cryptically plumed nightjar I heard somewhere along Shore Road on April 30.
On October 8 I counted six Gray Catbirds calling and scolding along Shore Road along with several Eastern Phoebes in fresh fall plumage.
…on February 6 three Brown Creepers were foraging in an old White Oak Tree along Shore Road and on February 9 along the Spurwink River two male Common Goldeneye ducks performed brief courtship displays including the “head throw kick” while a Belted Kingfisher unleashed its wild rattling call directly overhead.
On March 18 I noted seventeen Cedar Waxings and four Wood Ducks along Shore Road.
And as dusk arrived my wife and I watched a Great-horned Owl hunting in a field off Shore Road.
May 25 – Lightning bugs and small brown bats along Shore Road.
Additionally, on the night of April 6 along Shore Road I heard the high pitched too-too-too call of a Northern Saw-whet Owl.
Additionally on the evening of April 27 and within less than a minute of each other, I heard both a Barred Owl and a Great-horned Owl calling from their haunts along Shore Road.
Other recent highlights on this day in May included a singing Winter Wren, strong numbers of Pine Warblers, several Yellow Warblers, a single male Northern Parula, and a solitary Nashville Warbler working through an apple tree along Shore Road.