festival fatigue May 21, 2006
The Plover and Wildlife Festival at Parker River National Wildlife took place yesterday. The refuge was crawling with birders but no more so than it probably would have been anyway given the first nice day after the flood and all. I mean the hardcore birders were of course out there during the storm looking for phalaropes, but the first nice day draws all the somewhat less insane birders. Thirty people showed up for the "early bird special" walk at 6:00 AM. I don't know how many were at the 7:00 or 8:00 AM warbler walks. There were not a ton of warblers, just a ton of birders. But overall this festival didn't draw a huge crowd of out-of-state (unless you count New Hampshire) visitors to boost the Newbury/Newburyport/Rowley economy. It is but a barely noticeable blip on the birding festival scene. I had tea with Kate at Licorice and Sloe in NBPT in between birding and botanizing (wildflower walk with Unit 11). She suggested we should have people dressed up as plovers to liven things up. I dunno. The Great Salt Lake Bird Festival is packing them in and meeting their goals to bring out-of-state bird enthusiasts and their travel dollars to northern Utah and foster a greater appreciation for their world-class birding opportunities among the local residents. And Birdchick wore herself out over-birding at the Detroit Lakes Festival of Birds, which isn't even her favorite (that would be the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival). I do garner from her entry that David Sibley is evidently a much bigger draw outside of Massachusetts. Maybe when you could accidentally run into him out birding the thrill is less. Oh well, at least the National Guard got the Goffstown trash cans off the Newbury town beach before the plover festival and in time for Memorial Day weekend. And the flood level on the Merrimack is finally going down as of this morning. We may not have "destination birding" yet but where else do you get to experience world-class birding and world class flooding at the same time!?! The funniest moment of the day was when a woman on Sandy Point beach pointed out to me "They've got one of them plovers there in a cage." She made it sound Iike it was on display for the festival. I just said "Yup." I didn't tell her the plovers can get out but the predators can't get in and that's the whole point. Anyway, note egg in picture.		Bird Sightings May 20 Plum Island tree swallow purple martin greater yellowlegs American robin willet semipalmated plover semipalmated sandpiper least sandpiper common tern great egret eastern kingbird common grackle bobolink gadwall readwinged blackbird blue winged teal mallard Canada goose great black back gull herring gull snowy egret northern mockingbird double crested cormorant northern harrier gray catbird piping plover brown headed cowbird American goldfinch yellow warbler eastern towhee pine warbler mourning dove lesser yellowlegs osprey green heron short billed dowitcher May 21 Plum Island American black duck mute swan yellow warbler common yellowthroat American robin snowy egret redwinged blackbird double crested cormorant tree swallow Reading May 21 Over The Rockies With The Air Mail by Franklin W. Dixon, Rural Life by Verlyn Kinkenborg This Year's Reading 2006 Booklist
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