Third Time is the Charm for Common Ringed Plover – Lifebird, Westport, MA, September, 2017

My track record trying to pursue Common Ringed Plover has been a frustrating one, with two close calls in the past.  The first came in May 2013 when one was spotted on Plum Island, MA, just over an hour away from home.  I was monitoring the MASSBIRD listserve when the post came across that day just after the sighting was confirmed, meaning I could have dropped everything to chase after it.  Unfortunately I was in Ohio at the time, though on a birding trip to Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario.  In fact I was at birding hotspot Magee Marsh in Ohio when I spotted the post.  Ordinarily being at Magee Marsh in May would be a good thing.  But the 2 days I was there were extremely slow (one local birder called them “dead”), which was why I was spending more time checking my e-mails than I was birding.  The Plover was seen by many birders over its 4-day stay in MA, but was long gone by the time I got home.

My next close encounter came in September 2016 in Baie Missisquoi in southern Quebec just across the border from VT.  I birded Baie Missisquoi on my first day in the area finding some locally rare shorebirds including Long-billed Dowitcher, Stilt Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, and Baird’s Sandpiper.  Plus there were many Semipalmated Plovers.  I spent the next day birding in northern VT unfortunately seeing few birds of interest.  That night after returning home I checked the Quebec listserve to see which of my finds might be still around.  There were a flurry of posts, which after some French-English translation, revealed that a Common Ringed Plover had been found at the same spot I birded the day before.  The bird was seen all day long while I was less than 25 miles to the south in VT.  Could it have been in with all the Semi Plovers I saw the day before?  Needless to say, a very frustrating turn of events.

Then fast forward to September 2017 – a post came across MASSBIRD saying that an immature Common Ringed Plover was discovered at Gooseberry Neck in Westport.  And although the bird was re-spotted several times during the day, I couldn’t break free – hate it when work gets in the way of birding.  But the next day was a definite possibility.  Although I had to fly out on a business trip that day, I had an early afternoon flight which would give me a couple hours to try for the bird in the early morning.  Of course I’d have to hope that the bird would continue and not be a one-day wonder.

The next morning I was out of the house early and arrived at Gooseberry Neck at about 8.  I figured I could stay until about 10:30 before I had to head to the airport, so I was optimistic that would give me enough time assuming the Plover had stuck around.  But there were no sightings of the bird yet when I arrived.  I could see a fair number of birders up ahead on the eastern side of the peninsula looking for the bird.  Another birder at the northern end of the peninsula suggested I bird down the western shoreline to search additional habitat.  Although that would be a logical option, I worried that if I headed down that way on my own I wouldn’t find out if the bird was spotted elsewhere.  What to do?  And then just a minute later that same birder got a text that the Ringed Plover had been spotted at the southern tip of the peninsula.  Good thing I didn’t head off on my own!

It seemed to take forever to make my way the 3/4 mile to the southern tip of Gooseberry Neck.  Especially the last several hundred yards which required walking on large round rocks along the shore – good way to break an ankle especially if you’re rushing to see a lifebird.  Finally I reached the tip and saw several birders together with scopes pointed south.  Within seconds they had me on the Common Ringed Plover – success.  I was able to get several phonescoped shots of this quite cooperative bird.

I also heard it give its distinctive and unique call.  Although I would have never been able to identify it by call on my own, I’m pretty sure I would have realized that the call was something I had never heard before.  

Common Ringed Plover was #414 for me in MA, and either #749 or #750 for my ABA list.  The indecision on my part is whether to count the recently split Cassia (aka South Hills) Crossbills which I most likely saw and heard in Idaho a couple years back.