Sanderling Encore

 

Sanderlings at Halibut Point 

The flocks of Sanderlings on our shoreline deserve an encore presentation in the "Notes from Halibut Point." 

During the past week they have enlivened the tidal zone with many more photogenic opportunities. Of course some of the credit goes to the stunning environment itself.

An 'encore' is a demand made by an audience for an additional appearance by performers on stage.

It is a call for 'more', or 'again', after a delightful experience. 

Sanderlings feeding

Just going about their daily necessities these birds can't help being picturesque to us.

Sanderlings bathing

They're diminutive, approachable and resilient, with mysterious intelligence. Cute, you might say, in astonishment at their mastery of a harsh environment and global migration.

A school of fish in the water beside them with equally impressive life achievements would not seem nearly as charming.

Sanderlings blend highly developed individual and collective skills in the solar-energized tumult of atmosphere and ocean. 

Like us, they stand on two legs. Then they fly.

Sanderlings

 

The winter shoreline so impressive for grand elements and vistas truly comes alive with its bird life. This week Sanderlings have appeared at the tide line, sometimes like snowflake specks on distant ledges and sometimes almost at your feet. Their diminutive animated whiteness is irresistible in an environment of enormity.

Sanderlings have an uncanny relationship with waves, which churn up miniscule edible invertebrates for them to find.

Hunting along the edge of the surf means relying on extraordinary reflexes.

Much of what they do seems to depend on split-second signals from other members of the flock.

They fly in tight formations with simultaneous twists and turns and no singular leadership.

Purple Sandpiper

Interestingly, within this nomadic flock were a few individuals of other species that adapted to its group dynamics, communication, and maneuvers.

Dunlin, airborne at left

Since a group of Sanderlings is called a 'grain' these other birds were going 'with the grain.'

Sanderlings congregate for breeding in the northernmost Arctic tundra. Then they disperse globally to shorelines along both hemispheres. Depending on where they winter this journey can be anywhere from 1,800 to 8,000 miles long.

Some Sanderlings maintain a year-round presence on Massachusetts beaches. At Halibut Point we're most likely to see them now when the world travelers are resting and refueling in their cosmopolitan migrations.

Euonymus Mysteries

 

A brilliant fall sight

Since late summer a vivid coral-colored fruit has made an appearance on otherwise ordinary-looking shrubbery along the trails of Halibut Point. A little research reveals these ornaments to be the procreational package of a member of the Euonymus clan. The first question for many people wanting a deeper acquaintance is, how to pronounce that name?

Online you can find phonetic renderings such as /yü-ˈä-nə-məs/ and /uːˈɒnɪməs/. But the simplest, and entirely effective guide is /yoo-on-uh-muhs/. Repeat those syllables a few times to yourself and you'll master the pronunciation of the euonymus genus. Now you can ask further questions out loud more confidently.

Red-eyed Vireo and Euonymus europaeus,
the European Spindletree

The plant that you and this Red-eyed Vireo are looking at is a species brought to North America long ago from Europe where its very hard wood was used to create spindles for wool thread. Interestingly, there was already a native look-alike established here. They can both be found at Halibut Point although they are hard to distinguish. They are in the global family Celastraceae (Bittersweet) which is suggested by the resemblance of these fruit to those on the beautifully rambunctious vine popular for winter decorations.

Seed capsules of Euonymus atropurpureus,
the Eastern (native) Spindletree or Wahoo

The two species differ somewhat in the color of their fruit, which is more crimson in the case of the Eastern Spindletree. When the capsules open both have scarlet arils (seed coverings).

Euonymus europaeus in flower

It's easy to miss the origin phase of either species of Spindletree's fruit when their small greenish-white flowers are in bloom. Various insect pollinators, mostly flies, grasp the opportunity, however. Since bees don't tend to be involved the pollination process may seem mysterious.

 Fruit of the Euonymus alatus, Winged Euonymus

Another member of the clan with a considerable foothold at Halibut Point is the Winged Euonymus. It arrived from Asia as a landscape ornamental in the mid-nineteenth century.

Fall foliage of the Winged Euonymus, or Burning Bush

The Winged Euonymus, or Burning Bush, has achieved great popularity for its fall color and ease of growth in both home landscapes and highway plantings. Its self-seeding adaptability to all environments eventually led to outlaw status on the Massachusetts list of invasive species.

Euonymus fortunei, Wintercreeper

Joining the Winged Euonymus from Asian origins is Wintercreeper, a species seemingly very different until the flowers and fruit are compared.

Wintercreeper ascending a tree

The comparison challenges superficial observation and logic because this euonymus species is a climbing vine with glossy, evergreen foliage. It has equally become a favorite of the domestic landscape industry, for entirely different applications.

Red-eyed Vireo consuming Euonymus europaeus fruit

Catbird

Cardinal

Back in early October the fruit of the European Spindletree was quite popular in the diet of various birds. Mysteriously the remaining fruit seem to be untouched. Red-eyed Vireos have flown off to warmer latitudes but the other species are still here. We think of fruits becoming tastier with chilly weather as their sugar level increases. This will be something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

The botanical name 'euonymus' derives from a combination of Greek words meaning 'of good name': eu- (lucky) +  onoma (name). A deity, the son of Gaia by Uranus, carried this name. We can hope that those remaining fruit on the spindletrees serve the godly function of sustaining more local birds through the winter.

Buffet in Gravel

Today, Thanksgiving, is a traditional time to enjoy a good meal. For me this year it's also been an occasion to ponder the variety of birds at Halibut Point that search for sustenance in the gravel.

Swamp Sparrow with cedar berry

Sometimes it's fairly obvious that the bird has found something edible that fell from a tree, like this Swamp Sparrow foraging at the base of a cedar.*

Pine Siskin

In other cases a photograph helps to reveal the bird's interest. The tiny fruit of Staghorn Sumacs occupies the attention of this Pine Siskin. **

Chipping Sparrow

Often times the bird is not harvesting something that grew directly on that spot, but seeds blown from adjacent areas that handily are trapped in the coarse gravel and remain more visible than if they had fallen into vegetative duff.

Savannah Sparrow

Scratching and searching these apparently lifeless places can be worth the risk of exposure to danger.

Fox Sparrow

Often times the foraging birds stay within the protection of a shadow.

Hermit Thrush

Many of them depend on camouflage to minimize their visibility.

Blue Jay

Somehow Blue Jays don't seem to worry about being seen, or heard. This one may be swallowing gravel to aid digestion in its crop. Or it may have found a morsel for its omnivorous diet.

Dark-eyed Junco pair

The gravelly margins of paths and roads in the Park make scrabbley habitat for pioneering weeds and the birds that feed on them.

Snow Buntings

Even the ones that come in flocks have to respect each other's resource boundaries.

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*  Our local cedar trees get their popular name from their fragrant, durable, colorful heartwood. Botanically speaking they are junipers, Juniperus virginiana. Their fruits that appear to be berries are actually fleshy cones containing seeds.

Cedar Waxwing with cedar berry

**  Flower panicles of the native Staghorn Sumac produce crimson fruit in clusters at the top of  the shrubs, where they are eaten by many birds in late summer and fall. The small fruit are drupes with stony pits surrounded by sugary flesh, like cherries, plums and peaches.

Robin with sumac berry

Birding the Parking Lot

Most of us arrive at Halibut Point State Park with our minds in forward gear to get out into its varied niches for enjoyment of the natural and quarry landscape. Bird watchers know there's a chance of seeing almost anything along the shoreline, uplands, or ponds.

Yellow-rumped Warbler, shade tree, utility line

By ironic experience many of us have learned not to overlook possibilities around the parking lot itself. The other day after I'd searched and vigiled all the usually productive spots in dim and blustery weather with scarcely a sighting of avian beings, it wasn't until back near the car that I was gratified. The birds evidently had enough sense to stick to this sheltered terrain.

With birds, practical matters come first. They go where the food is. Now that all those tall "weeds" in the traffic islands are going to seed, opportunities abound for seeing unexpected species close at hand. It pays to arrive camera-ready, sharp-eyed, and open-minded.

Field Sparrow on the pavement

With birds, practical matters come first. They go where the food is. Now that all those tall "weeds" in the traffic islands are going to seed, opportunities abound for seeing unexpected species close at hand. It pays to arrive camera-ready, sharp-eyed, and open-minded.

Red-bellied Woodpecker on utility pole

Sometimes birds actually take advantage of man-made features, like this woodpecker caching future meals in a utility pole.

Magnolia Warbler in ash tree

Trees in and around the parking lot are advantageous not only to the birds but to photographers who have good sight lines and access sometimes 360˚ around their subject.

Crow bullying Cooper's Hawk

Open fields of view also favor birds of prey. The top of this dead pine tree is a desirable perch for a crow that resents rival occupation by a juvenile hawk.

The Cooper's Hawk displaced

The hawk had to give up its promontory for a vigil site closer to the ground where it was undeterred by unmanned vehicles.

Scarlet Tanager male in eclipse plumage

On arrival it pays for visitors to scan the trees and brush line surrounding the parking lot. In fact you might spend time birding here as worthwhile as anywhere else. Sometimes, driving by when I don't have time for a proper meander, I make a cameo stop hoping for a chance encounter and grateful for a contact moment with the fringes of wilderness.

Almost anything could overfly this arena, perhaps taking a short cut across the peninsula between the Ipswich Bay and Massachusetts Bay. I'm almost sure I once saw a Glossy Ibis in the sky. One day the Merlin app reported hearing Whimbrels overhead. An acquaintance got his best-ever look at a secretive Black-billed Cuckoo when it jumped out of the deep canopy to forage on the lawn.

The parking lot sits at the intersection of several diverse habitats. It is surrounded by pasture land grown up into woods with an abundance of food-bearing plants. The meadow sits across the street, a couple of small wetlands nearby. There are bird feeders in the neighborhood.

Cedar Waxwings

Even when it's not a destination in itself the parking lot facilitates both people and creatures in orienting for the possibilities of the day.

Autumn Delights

These images represent the sorts of pleasures to the eye available at every walk in the Halibut Point State Park.

Pond Edge

Stag

Poison Ivy

Queen Anne's Lace

Blackpoll Warbler

Cherry leaves, Burdock seeds

New England Asters, Orange Sulphur

House Wren, Staghorn Sumac

Migrating Brant