Morning at Duxbury Beach

I headed out early this morning to try to catch the sunrise at Duxbury Beach.  I was a little late for the immediate break over the horizon, but I did get to see the pretty early morning light.  I was also just a little too late for a Snowy Owl sighting.  Two cars stopped to chat with me as I crossed Powder Point Bridge, to tell me there was a Snowy Owl on the footbridge to the beach.  A third person stopped to talk about it in the parking lot.  They were all quite excited.  Of course, it had long since been spooked away by all the attention by the time I arrived.  Oh well!

There is a parking lot on the inland side of Powder Point Bridge, where I park and walk into the reservation.  Duxbury Beach Reservation, on the opposite end of this bridge, requires a permit for parking or driving.  Since I do not have said permit, I do a lot of walking.  It's always beautiful!

Rock Pigeon on the bridge

From the bridge I saw Common Eiders and Common Goldeneyes, as well as Herring Gulls, but not much else.  There was still a brisk wind blowing today, not as bad as yesterday's, but chilly.

American Crow

From this point on, I walked the beach almost exclusively.   I loved this flock of shorebirds, almost in the same spot at last time, but considerably larger in number.

Dunlins

Northern Moon Snail Shell

Sanderling

sleepy Dunlins

See the shorebirds?  

They blend really well with the rocky shore.

closer (now you see them!)

and in flight

Seaweed

(looks like a tasty salad, doesn't it?)

 View towards Marshfield

Another Sanderling.  I almost stepped on this one before I noticed it.  I had been looking at shells instead of birds!