There are a large number of fascinating bird species seen on and about Straits Pond and nearby ocean areas. Featured on the right is a red-tailed hawk spotted on the Pond in the fall of 2017.
Photo left shows SPWA Board Member and locally renowned birding expert and enthusiast Sally Avery giving a presentation at the 2015 Annual Board Meeting. Sally has led numerous tours for Mass Audubon and has a local and statewide following.
The list below is of 90 reported species sighted and/or heard.
American Black Duck
American Crow
American Goldfinch
American Robin
American Tree Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
Barn Swallow
Belted Kingfisher
Black Scoter
Black-capped Chickadee
Blackpoll Warbler
Blue Jay
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Bonaparte’s Gull
Brant
Brown-headed Cowbird
Bufflehead
Canada Goose
Carolina Wren
Cedar Waxwing
Chimney Swift
Chipping Sparrow
Common Eider
Common Grackle
Common Loon
Common Tern
Common Yellowthroat
Dark-eyed Junco
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Eastern Kingbird
European Starling
Glossy Ibis
Gray Catbird
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Great Cormorant
Great Egret
Greater Yellowlegs
Green Heron
Herring Gull
Hooded Merganser
Horned Grebe
House Finch
House Sparrow
House Wren
Killdeer
Least Tern
Lesser Scaup
Long-tailed Duck (formerly Oldsquaw)
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Mourning Warbler
Mute Swan
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Gannet
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Osprey
Palm Warbler
Philadelphia Vireo
Pine Warbler
Purple Sandpiper
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-eyed Vireo
Red-necked Grebe
Red-throated Loon
Red-winged Blackbird
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Dove
Ruddy Duck
Sanderling
Savanna Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Snowy Egret
Song Sparrow
Surf Scoter
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Turkey Vultures
Warbling Vireo
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-winged Scoter
Willow Flycatcher
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
(Updated November 2004 by Nancy Kramer, Hull)
Field Notes: additional specie sitings.
October 2002: Greater Yellowlegs and Northern Gannet.
November 2002: Common Loon, Horned Grebe, Lesser Scaup, Black Scoter, Purple Sandpiper, American Tree Sparrow.
June 2003: Least Tern, Willow Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Cedar Waxwing
November 2003: Palm Warbler.
March, April, May 2004: A Glossy Ibis was spotted, by Nancy Kramer, on 5/11 feeding for over 3 hours near Straits Pond and a pair of Glossy Ibis was sighted in the Weir River Estuary area.
Nancy also spotted a White-crowned Sparrow in May. Sally Avery recorded the earliest sighting of an egret, (a Snowy or possibly a Little Egret) on 3/13, feeding in the Pond, and a Long-tailed Duck (formerly named Oldsquaw), Osprey and Turkey Vultures were spotted mid-April, by Sally Avery.
Marge McNamara, and several others, reported Kingfishers, numerous Cormorants and gulls, 8 Mute Swans, Great Blue Heron, many Tree Swallows, Bufflehead and Mergansers feeding on Straits Pond, mid-March, early April.
The highest reported number of mute swans observed on Straits Pond in 2004 was 88.
November 2004: added Red-necked Grebe. We saw a few Mute Swans, Canada Geese, American Black Ducks, Mallards, Hooded Mergansers, Red-breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads and Ruddy Ducks feeding and swimming.
Land birds were scarce but we did see some Rock Doves, (recently renamed Rock Pigeon), Mourning Doves, Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, many European Starlings, House Finch, American Goldfinch, and many House Sparrows.
At Gunrock and Black Rock ocean areas, we used Sally’s birding telescope to spot Red-throated Loon, Common Loon, Red-necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, Common Eider, White-winged Scoter, Black Scoter, Ring-billed Gulls, Herring Gulls, and Great Black-backed Gulls. Bufflehead and Mergansers were also spotted in ocean areas.