A Snowy Owl, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

At the end of a bone-jarring ride along the rutted, rocky, sandy, 4-wheel-drive only single lane road, one must still walk on foot quite a ways to get to the tip of the Plymouth Beach peninsula. It is out here among the dunes where one might, if one is fortunate, find a Snowy Owl this time of year.



It helps to have a son who is a bird expert and knows where to look.



It's not possible to get close since much of the dune area is fragile and off-limits to humans. And anyway, the Snowy would not tolerate closeness to the humans.

High tech optics and related equipment comes in handy.



And if you have the trained and experienced eye of a skilled birder, you can pick him out perched in the distance within the dunes - watching, waiting, totally aware of the humans intruding into his domain.



He saw and heard our every move long before we saw him.

Another Trip to the Tip, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

Another late day/early evening trip out to the tip of Plymouth's Long Beach with my son. This scene struck me as vaguely reminiscent of an Andrew Wyeth image - just needs someone crawling.



Hundreds of birds were feeding along the surf line. Some of them are on their journey from Northern Canada to South America - Plymouth offers some good eating along the way.



Mountain ranges viewed from space? Rows of lavender ready to be planted? Or, the ripples of sand left from the ocean tides?



Ripples of sand is the correct choice.



Doing what a committed birder does hoping to get closer - crawling on elbows, belly, and knees in the wet sand. That is Bug Light in the water in the background (built in 1871 to mark the harbor into Plymouth and Duxbury).



Sunset behind a dune near the tip of the peninsula.



A lone fisherman heads out for an evening's work/play.



Spotting scope, binoculars, and camera - tools of the birder's art and science.



Three osprey chicks on the nest.



The distant bump of land is Duxbury where the Myles Standish Monument State Reservation is located. Time for the long walk back in the fading light. It is worth noting that it is still above 80 degrees F as 9pm local time approaches. Quite a summer day in New England.