Birds of the Massachusetts Coast

These images are from my exhibition at the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service, Hadley, Mass. (Summer 2009), which I am showing again at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape Cod (May 20-June 29, 2010; talk and reception on May 22nd)   Most shots are from Mass Audubon’s Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in Westport (south of New Bedford), which I’ve visited regularly since 2005.  Each larger image has  a detailed caption, taken from labels in the exhibition—I hope you’ll find them informative.   (Updated May 18, 2010)

The shots focus especially on the birds’ characteristic activities; for me most intriguing are the breeding and feeding behaviors of piping plovers and least terns.  Some twenty pairs of piping plovers nest at Allens Pond each season, cheek by jowl with up to 200 pairs of least terns. Both species are listed as threatened–the plovers at the federal level and the terns by the state. Especially for plovers, intensive management and monitoring of New England’s coastal habitat has greatly increased their population—in Massachusetts from 135 pairs in 1986 to over 560 in 2008. Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program (CWP) continues to play a leading part in this effort at over 140 sites, including Allens Pond.   

The page portrays a limited number of other species, such as other shorebirds and terns, a herring gull, and ospreys.  Ospreys are large birds of prey (raptors) that feed almost exclusively on fish. Several dozen pairs nest each spring around the mouth of the Westport River and at Allens Pond. They’ve been banded and monitored locally for years, but it has been impossible to follow their long-distance migration south—it’s believed most go to South America.  However, this spring the monitors placed small transmitters on three mature osprey in hopes of following their travels.  Two of the transmitters are still operative, on birds named Hudson and Ozzie, and on the project’s website you can track them. At last report (October 14), they’ve reached Venezuela and Cuba (I assume with no political motive!).  Last June I managed to photograph Hudson with his transmitter (and a fish!).

Click an image for a larger version with caption

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A general view of Little Beach at Allens Pond--mid-morning looking east (August 2005). This is the area where most of the images on this page were taken, although it has changed markedly each year since 2005 under the influence of winter tides and storms Little Beach at Allens Pond: Just after sunrise, looking back to the west toward the houses, in August 2005.\nI use the frisbee gizmo at the lower right (frisbee on2x4s with a bolt) to hold my tripod head with my camera and lens, permitting me to lie on my stomach to photograph piping plovers and other shorebirds. "Gentle Waters" -- Piping Plovers move extensively around their beach territory, often approaching the water. They feed everywhere, frequently stopping to pick up small organisms, which they find as often on the wet portions of the beach as elsewhere. "Tug of Worm" -- At Allens Pond on a warm July morning in 2005, I lay on my belly waiting for an approaching willet; as it passed, I got some shots (none in the exhibiiton). Then I spied this Piping Plover approaching well behind the willet. As the plover finally reached me, it found this sandworm and pulled it out. I held the shutter down to shoot continuously, and at one point this image flashed in the viewfinder. I thought, “If I get that, I’ve hit the jackpot.” And I did! "Three’s a Crowd!" -- In the weeks before settling down to nest, Piping Plovers seek to establish and defend a territory (up to perhaps 50 square yards) against other pairs in the vicinity. This often involves direct confrontation, as we see here. In a less photogenic sequence that I captured, a plover physically forces his antagonist onto his back. "Courtship at Sunset" -- Piping Plover pairs frequently perform this type of courtship display (here in April 2009 at Allens Pond). The male raises and spreads his tail, while the female bends low behind him (although sometimes the female may be further away or absent). "Forward–March!" 1 A male Piping Plover approaches his mate at Allens Pond in May 2009, performing the display known as high-stepping while standing strikingly erect. I suspect this specific type of courtship display may be more likely to lead to actual mating than others (it did very briefly precede the one act of copulation that I saw that spring). "Forward–March!" 2 Detail of the male Piping Plover performing a high-stepping display for his mate (see previous caption). "It’s a Big World!" -- I took this Piping Plover chick on my first visit to Allens Pond, in mid-June 2005. It’s probably around two weeks old, with its contour feathers beginning to produce a fuzzy appearance. The vegetation was fairly widespread that year on Little Beach--the main nesting area, especially for terns, but it has greatly diminished since. Low-lying coastal areas evolve constantly, especially during each winter’s strong winds and waves. "My Little Angel" -- Young plover chicks often take cover under a parent. Here are two chicks–one has just come out and is flexing its wings, while the other is still nearly hidden--we see a pair of tiny legs under the parent’s breast on the left.\nAll Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) images in the exhibition are from Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary. Piping plovers are a threatened species, widely monitored by organizations such as Mass Audubon. "Seeking Shelter I" -- This first image of three shows two Piping Plover chicks getting under their parent, as they often do in the first couple of weeks after hatching. The chick on the left will be the first to emerge. "Seeking Shelter II" -- An apparent six-legged plover! (Possible amusing captions: “Officer, I have nothing to hide;” “Next time I’ll lay these eggs before they hatch.”). "Seeking Shelter III" -- The third and last shot of two plover chicks getting under their parent. The second chick to arrive has just emerged; its sibling's legs are visible directly behind it. Piping plover chicks are “precocial”when hatched–that is, they are well-developed and can almost immediately search for food. "Helter Skelter" -- Piping Plovers can run with astonishing speed and assurance, as adults and also as chicks–even just a day or two after birth. It’s impossible to follow their stride with the naked eye and capturing them with a camera is far from easy. This is a COMPOSITE IMAGE OF ONE CHICK--perhaps just over a week old-- which I put together from four successive shots. "Tern Takeoff!" -- A Least Tern takes off from Little Beach at Allens Pond, where over 200 pair of its compatriots nest each summer–one of the biggest breeding sites for Least Terns on the east coast. "Count My Feathers!" -- The Least Tern (Sternula antillarum) is the smallest of the 14 species of terns (related to gulls) which breed in North America; adults measure 9 inches in length. They fly very actively, diving often into water to catch small fish. When breeding, as here at Allens Pond in June 2006, they are aggressive in defending their territory with swooping passes at any intruders–including photographers! "It’s Yours!" -- This pair of Least Terns are engaging in courtship feeding. It’s May at Allens Pond, and the bird on the left (presumably the male) has just passed the small fish on to his mate; then both immediately took flight. Least Terns spend most of the summer offering fish to others, even well after mating has taken place and chicks have hatched. But before mating the offer is much more often actually accepted than later–later in the summer it’s rare to see a second tern actually accepting an offered fish. "Evening Morsel I" -- Against a driftwood tableau at Allens Pond in August 2007, a Least Tern chick stands and spreads his wings, seeing his parent approaching with a small sand lance. He deftly takes it, and in the last image he has just gulped it down. Least terns feed almost exclusively on such very small fish, which they frequently offer to their mate (as noted in another caption). In contrast to piping plovers, young tern chicks cannot feed themselves. "Evening Morsel II" -- A closer view of the young least tern taking a sand lance (small minnow from the sea) brought by its parent (#6 in the preceding composite of 9 images). "I’m Colorful!" -- This Least Tern juvenile–perhaps 4-6 weeks old–was photographed in August 2005 at Allens Pond. It has fledged, i.e. begun to fly, but is probably still being fed by its parents. "Feeding Time" -- A Common Tern swoops down to feed its offspring–I can’t say chick, since the juvenile clearly can fly, but it’s also clearly happy to be fed by mama or papa. This was taken on a wonderful day in July 2007 on Popponesset Spit on Cape Cod. My friends at the Coastal Waterbird Program tell me that it has not been so productive since. "Roseate Family on the Beach" -- Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) breed mainly on small islands off the Atlantic coasts, where many are banded. They’re hard to see elsewhere, and my first real chance to photograph them came in July 2007 on Popponesset Spit on Cape Cod (near Mashpee), where we found a dozen which had come to feed. Roseates are named for a faint rosy tinge on the belly during breeding. But this is rarely visible in the field, and the main distinctive feature is a very long tail in the adult, seen here on the left with its juvenile offspring (the tail is the pair of thin white feathers extending beyond the wings). "High-Tailing It" -- Display rituals–seen here between a pair of Roseate Terns in Maine–are an important element of courtship, serving to reinforce bonding between male and female. As noted, the long tails are a key distinguishing feature of Roseates. Over Memorial Day weekend in 2009 we took a morning's excursion from Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine to nearby Eastern Egg Rock. We weren’t able to land on the tiny island, but we saw birds in profusion. "Balancing Act" -- This pair of Roseate Terns may well be further along in their relationship, since they are in the act of mating. Like the preceding image, I took this from our boat circling Eastern Egg Rock off the coast of Maine in May 2009. These two shots are the only ones not from Massachusetts–I include them because neither the behaviors shown nor the Roseate Terns themselves are ordinarily easy to see or photograph. "Watch Out Below!" -- This Herring Gull has found a large channeled whelk (a kind of sea snail) on Popponesset Spit (near Mashpee on Cape Cod) and is attempting to break its shell by dropping it on the shore. This is common behavior among gulls. This time the drop was unsuccessful, and the next image shows the sequel ... "Off We Go!" ... A few instants after the previous shot the Herring Gull dropped down, grabbed the unbroken whelk, and flew off, doubtless in search of a rockier shore to break it on. Ellen Jedrey (assistant director of Mass Audubon’s CWP) told me that she’d used this shot as her computer desktop. I take this as a real compliment, especially since people working with shorebirds aren’t usually partial to gulls–they’re aggressive and sometimes harass smaller birds such as plovers. "Early Light" -- Photographed in August 2005 shortly after dawn at Allens Pond, this juvenile Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) is perhaps six to eight weeks old. Although as big as an adult (ca. 6 inches long), he (or she) is still nearly the smallest bird in this show. Its plumage is crisper and more brightly colored than an adult’s but otherwise quite similar. Its greenish-yellow legs distinguish it from the two other small sandpiper species, Semi-palmated and Western, which both have very dark legs. "Feast of Green" -- Dunlins (Calidris alpina, in the sandpiper family) are often found in groups, as with this individual. The dark belly is characteristic of its breeding plumage (this shot is from May), and is a feature unique among similar-sized shorebirds. Slightly larger than the Sanderling, Dunlins have a somewhat longer, clearly down-curved bill. It feeds with a rapid sewing-machine motion, normally pausing only very briefly–very frustrating to photographers, though I seem to have caught a pause here! "Racing the Surf" -- This Sanderling (Calidris alba, in the sandpiper family) is in his element–feeding on micro-organisms at the very edge of a smooth beach at Allens Pond, racing the incoming waves like a wind-up toy. Sanderlings are often found in close-knit groups, moving virtually in unison at the same breakneck pace that individuals maintain. Their migratory range is as far as any bird species--up to 6,000 miles; they breed in spring in the High Arctic and some winter just as far to the south of us. "Oysters Anyone?" -- The striking bill of the American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus) is adapted to penetrating the shells of bivalves (oysters, etc. with two-part shells) and snipping the operative muscle. A pair or two of Oystercatchers have nested at Allens Pond the last few years–in 2005 they were on the beach. as here, but since then they’ve been much more elusive. "Lavender Dawn" -- Willets (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus, in the sandpiper family) appear in all sorts of permutations and habitats. In winter in Florida their non-breeding plumage appears in many variations of grey–and I have some nicely subtle shots–one was in the Burnett show in July 2007. When breeding (as here at Allens Pond) their patterning is more pronounced, and can wonderfully echo the sun’s early light. Willet "Walking on Water" -- During three days of a four-day visit to Allens Pond in May 2009, the wind blew constantly–but on the fourth day it was eerily calm at dawn. Driving down to the beach as the sun rose, I saw a Willet on the shore of the pond; I stopped, took a so-so shot or two–then two pairs of Willets began flying over the pond, with stunning reflections. I shot and shot, not believing my luck, and this was the most striking image I came up with: one Willet landing by the shore (which is just out of sight to the left). "I Am Watching You!" -- An Osprey nesting on the Westport river, at Westport, Mass. These Ospreys have been monitored and frequently banded since 1963. They nest on platforms erected on areas of salt-marsh peat in the river near the sea. Monitoring involves approaching the platforms by boat and climbing up to the nest to count the eggs or chicks. As the chicks reach 3 weeks old they are candidates for banding (e.g. Hudson 13 years ago). Generally the parent who had been on the nest hovers overhead during the process, sometimes dive-bombing the monitor climbing to the nest–or the photographer! "Nest With a View" -- Two Osprey “chicks” in their nest on a platform on the Westport river, at Westport, Mass. These youngsters are at least 2 ½ weeks old and nearing the size of their parents–but they still cannot fly. It’s around this time that they are banded. Each band has a unique number, as well as information for contacting the Fish and Wildlife Service to tell them where and when the bird was found. Osprey nests are anything but orderly–they are constructed mainly with small branches, but also with everything else under the sun. "Hudson to Base: 'I have a fish!'” -- This Osprey is one of three nesting on the Westport river fitted with a transmitter in the spring of 2009 (his nest is W3). Named Hudson by a sponsor of the transmitter project, he has been tracked ever since. He had been banded by Gil Fernandez (bander of Westport Ospreys from 1963 to 1999) as a juvenile in 1996, making him 13 years old. On our outing in June, we were fortunate to find Hudson on his nest, since females tend to do most of the incubating. A poster-sized display of additional images, which served to introduce the exhibition, and provide additional context. The top section of the poster-sized display of additional images, which served to introduce the exhibition, and provide additional context. The middle images from the poster-sized display of additional images, which served to introduce the exhibition, and provide additional context. The bottom section of the poster-sized display of additional images, which served to introduce the exhibition, and provide additional context.  

Bird Photographs by John Van de Graaff