Yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, in the hope of seeing some, or all, of the good
birds reported on this list in the AM, I met Neil Vita at RMSP, where we
proceeded to miss the species seen there, as well as those seen at the west end
of JBSP. On the bright side, Neil did get 5 new birds, including his first
warbler...a female plumaged Redstart !
My route home took me past the Eastport sod farms, and at the Route 51 field, I
found the following shorebirds: ~ 6 Black-bellied Plovers; 1 A. Golden Plover;
2 Semipalmated Plovers; ~ 5 Kildeers plus, an additional "birder" - in the
guise of a beautiful, healthy, adult Red Fox ! No "Mange" on his body, but, I
believe, with food on his mind. While scanning for the birds, which were
dispersed on both the barren dirt and the ground that had just been plowed
over, I noticed an odd object, moving slowly in the plowed soil. Shortly after
I took interest in it, the movement stopped, but with my curiosity getting the
better of me, I drove to a spot that would put me between "it", and the
security of the wood lot to the east. As I approached that spot, the fox showed
it's true colors, as it went to "afterburners", retreating the ~ 250-300 yards,
from the bare field to the safety of the woods. When have you ever seen a fox
out in the middle of a large, open, dirt field ?
Once on the run, the fox's bright body color and darker tail was easily seen,
in contrast to when I first came upon it, as it's color & shape blended in
quite effectively with the brown background. After realizing that I had never
witnessed a fox run so hard and for such a long distance, I had the following
thought - we know how much a cat (both feral & house) can impact the avian
population, but has the fox ever been seen in the same light, and in
proportional numbers ? We know it's reputation for being a cunning predator,
but would the effort expended be worth prey this size, which can also take
flight ? The strategy of approaching the shorebirds using the camouflage
provided by the turned over dirt mounds, seemed to be sound...as evidenced by
my not being sure of what I was seeing at first. Has this been observed
previously by anyone out there ? Was this atypical behavior ? What ever it was.
it certainly was unique for me, in addition to proving (at least to me) "a day
of learning, is a day of yearning...for more"
Cheers,
Bob...P.S. For the observant brethren - yes, I have known Neil for all his 17
years, but only became aware of the correct spelling of his name, today !
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