Gloucester Daily Times – Aug 23 6:41 AM
Gloucester Daily Times
PLUM ISLAND – The sign leading into the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge tells the story of swarms of swallows stopping here to eat up the plentiful moths, spiders and mosquitoes.
On a simple white marker board with a drawing of a swallow-like bird, it asks visitors to drive slowly through the refuge to avoid hurting or killing swallows. “Please drive slowly,” it reads, “Tree swallows in road.”
In fact, the swallows, tens of thousands of them, aren’t just in the road at the refuge: they’re everywhere.
David Larson, the education coordinator at Massachusetts Audubon’s Joppa Flats, said the swallows – up to four species of them – are stopping on the island as they prepare for their journey south. He said they will fatten up by eating insects and bayberries.
Larson said the birds eat bayberries, which are used to make candles, and turn the wax into much needed fat.
“It’s all about food when you’re migrating and getting enough food to go long distances,” he said. “That’s what their up to.”
Depending on the time of day or one’s luck, the island could provide a glimpse of hundreds or even thousands of birds flying overhead, feeding on gnats, mosquitoes and other insects.
“It is really quite spectacular,” Larson said. “I am sure there are undoubtedly many tens of thousands of swallows there.”
He said the birds have been roosting in the evenings, when they don’t hunt for insects to eat, in the north pool area in the brackish water marsh on the refuge.
Yesterday afternoon Barbara Roggeveen of Needham was with friends at the Hellcat section of the refuge with binoculars around her neck looking for birds on the island. One bird she had no problem finding, she said, were the tree swallows.
“As we drove in, they were just all over the place,” she said.
The swallows willuse the island as a migrating pit stop for the next several weeks, probably into the first week of September, Larson said.
Graham Taylor, the refuge manager, said observing the birds on the island is an “amazing sight.”
“It is a truly extraordinary event to see thousands and thousands of these birds swirling around and feeding as they make their way south for the winter,” he said. “It is a constant stream of birds passing through the area.”
Calvin and Loretta Louks of Salem, N.H., have also been soaking in the migration.
Yesterday afternoon, while sitting in their car and peering out over the salt marsh, they recounted the experience with the birds they saw late last week. They said it was mid afternoon Friday, just after lunch, when they saw hundreds of the swallows on the refuge.
“It was remarkable to see the number of birds coming through,” Calvin Louks said. “They just kept coming in waves and waves.”
Jennifer McQueen of South Africa was with Roggeveen at the refuge yesterday looking at many birds which she cannot find in her home country. She pointed out that this is just the beginning of the season when birds collect food in preparation for migration, which gives other birders the opportunity to see the huge flocks starting their journeys from Plum Island.
“It’s been just the start of the collecting,” she said.
It is really quite spectacular,” Larson said. “I am sure there are undoubtedly many tens of thousands of swallows there.”
He said the birds have been roosting in the evenings, when they don’t hunt for insects to eat, in the north pool area in the brackish water marsh on the refuge.
Yesterday afternoon Barbara Roggeveen of Needham was with friends at the Hellcat section of the refuge with binoculars around her neck looking for birds on the island. One bird she had no problem finding, she said, were the tree swallows.
“As we drove in, they were just all over the place,” she said.
The swallows willuse the island as a migrating pit stop for the next several weeks, probably into the first week of September, Larson said.
Graham Taylor, the refuge manager, said observing the birds on the island is an “amazing sight.”
“It is a truly extraordinary event to see thousands and thousands of these birds swirling around and feeding as they make their way south for the winter,” he said. “It is a constant stream of birds passing through the area.”
Calvin and Loretta Louks of Salem, N.H., have also been soaking in the migration.
Yesterday afternoon, while sitting in their car and peering out over the salt marsh, they recounted the experience with the birds they saw late last week. They said it was mid afternoon Friday, just after lunch, when they saw hundreds of the swallows on the refuge.
“It was remarkable to see the number of birds coming through,” Calvin Louks said. “They just kept coming in waves and waves.”
Jennifer McQueen of South Africa was with Roggeveen at the refuge yesterday looking at many birds which she cannot find in her home country. She pointed out that this is just the beginning of the season when birds collect food in preparation for migration, which gives other birders the opportunity to see the huge flocks starting their journeys from Plum Island.
“It’s been just the start of the collecting,” she said.
