Going to Plum Island, MA. Anyone been there?

[semillama]

That's the birding destination I have selected for my day of bird watching alloted on our upcoming vacation.

I've read the official website, and if anyone here has been there, maybe you could clear up a couple things:

Admission - how much?

How early should you arrive to avoid waiting to get in?

If you had to wait to get into the refuge, how long did you wait?

Will my non-birder girlfriend be able to sit on the beach while I birdwatch?

I'm thinking the last one is the most important to answer!

[semillama]

1. ok, perhaps I will post about Plum Island once I get back.

If no one has info, then it's my duty to provide some after the trip out there.

I'm aiming for Saltmarsh Sharp-Tailed Sparrows, among other things.

[Catbird]

2. Winter visits only

I've been there several times, but only in the winter, when there are fewer people. And no one sits on the beach then. It's a great place, and I hope you enjoy your trip and report back to us.

[semillama]

3. Here's the report

Beaches were mostly closed for the piping plovers, and the green flies were out in force, which limited the birding quite a bit. Also, we didn't get there til late, so it had already gotten hot, and we spent only an hour and a half at the spot.

Where you could bird though, was pretty excellent. Thousands of shorebirds. There were probably some birds there that I was really looking for, but there were so many and due to time and fly constraints, I didn't spend a lot of time picking through all the birds. I did pick through a big flock of semipalmated plovers, trying to turn one into a piping plover, but no luck.

Going to Plum Island to bird was actually not the main goal of the trip. It was actually my excuse to get alone with my girlfriend so I could propose (she said yes)!

That said, I would love to go back a little later in the season, after they reopen the beaches, and hit it early before the beachgoers take all the parking spots. I would recommend it!

I did get a life bird, a Least Tern, so that was good.

In all, I saw:

Least Tern
Common Tern
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Killdeer
Semipalmated Plover
Short-billed Dowitcher
Ruddy Turnstone
Black-bellied Plover
Greater Black-Backed Gull
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Catbird
Eastern Kingbird
Double-Crested Cormorant

[blindpig]

4. good for you

and congrats!:party:

Too bad about the flies. Deet is your nasty friend but I suppose that wouldn't have helped with "the moment".

I was going to post a similar thread as I'm going to Sonora/Sinaloa Thursday but seeing the response you got I decided to pass.

I'll post my trip list in about 2 weeks.

[TaleWgnDg]

5. Hhhmmmmm, nobody mentioned deer ticks? And Lyme Disease?

.
Hhhmmmmm, nobody mentioned deer ticks? And Lyme Disease?

Essex County, Massachusetts, is deer tick country, unfortunately. Deer ticks cause Lyme Disease. No laughing matter. Plum Island is in Northern Essex County and has quite a large population of deers thus deer ticks.

I strongly urge that you use DEET and other precautions when visiting Plum Island or any other Essex County town. See, for example: http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/epii/lyme/lymehp.htm

As for birding on Plum Island, it's one of the best places for such activity particularly during migratory seasons, both spring and fall. A large section of Plum Island is a national park, "Parker River National Wildlife Refuge" . . . for national park information see: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/parkerriver/





.

[semillama]

6. I've been vaccinated against Lyme Disease

In my line of work, tick checks becomes an almost unconscious response after walking through anything that looks like tick habitat.

I used to work in west central Wisconsin, which is another Lyme Disease hotspot, which is why I am vaccinated.

[intheflow]

7. I love Plum Island!

Really the only place I've actively birded, and the best beach in Massachusetts.

I do photography, so I'll see if I can dig up any of my many photos of birds there and post them in this thread. :hi:

[intheflow]

8. Here's my favorite photo I took at Plum Island.

Great Blue Heron