Late August Plum Island morning

Ring-billed Gulls at Sandy Point State Beach

A (very) early morning airport drop-off allowed a rare opportunity--to drive from the airport straight to Plum Island and get a parking space at Sandy Point. I couldn't pass that up!

Semi-palmated Plovers at Sandy Point State Beach

As I hoped, the beach and mudflats were teeming with shorebirds.

Bill Forward, studded with sandpipers and plovers.

I'm still pretty awful at shorebird IDs (colorblindness makes easy reference to leg color impossible) so I didn't look carefully, but no obvious outstanding rarity presented itself.

Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Sandy Point

But who cares when the sandpipers are so numerous and so close.

Least Terns, Sandy Point

Least terns and their children were also plentiful.

Black-bellied Plover, Sandy Point

As were Black-Bellied Plovers, which I viewed with new appreciation since hanging with the Golden cousins in Iceland. 

Tree Swallows in the Phragmites, Marsh Trail

And, of course, Tree Swallows, always abundant this time of year (I don't even think the numbers have peaked yet). 

Cormorants, egrets and gulls in a line, Sandy Point

I was also impressed by the egret numbers, particularly at Sandy Point (hanging with gulls). And starlings (not shown). Indeed, my favorite image of the day was a poor sandpiper that got caught in a swirling flock of starlings, flying in their midst for a minute or two before the starlings realized it and forced it down. 

I also brought my new portable recorder. So here is a sonic record of my time at Sandy Point.