ITEM PHOTO BY PAULA MILLER
Soheil Zendeh heads out after siting the rare Smith’s Longspur bird at the Wheelabrator’s Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Saugus on Wednesday.
SAUGUS — Over thirty devoted bird watchers braved Wednesday morning’s frigid temperatures to seek out the uncommon Smith’s Longspur at Wheelabrator’s Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Smith’s Longspur is a rare species that typically only winters in the center of the United States and breeds along the Arctic shore.
“This is a rare opportunity to see this bird – the Smith’s Longspur – in the state of Massachusetts and fortunately, this bird has been very cooperative for our visitors,” said Geoff Wilson, sanctuary manager for Wheelabrator’s Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary.
“I’ve been birding for 38 years and it’s a rare opportunity to see something like this,” said Fred Bouchard of Belmont. “For many of us it (could be) the only chance to see it at all. I feel grateful for the chance to see it here.”
Wilson said the bird has been in the general area for approximately a month but nobody had been able to get a good look at it until birders identified it on a walk this past weekend.
Each year the group of bird watchers participates in a Christmas count in the weeks surrounding Christmas. The group counts each type of bird they come across. This year, they saw a very rare Swainson’s Hawk, said Soheil Zendeh, who organizes the events.
“It took a while to figure out what it was,” said Zendeh.
Zendeh said the hawk is a midwestern bird that travels to South Africa. The bird watchers took photos and sent them to someone they knew could identify the bird.
“When I saw the photos later that night I nearly fell over,” he said.
The group organized a special walk to attempt to see the Swainson’s Hawk the next day. Though the group could not find the hawk, they came across several other interesting species, he said.
“We found all sorts of other things including this bird (the Smith’s Longspur),” he said. “We knew it was something interesting but not what it was.
“This past Sunday we got a good view,” he said.
Photos of the bird were sent to Marshall Iliff, who Zendeh said is a “big bird” in the birding world. Iliff identified the bird to be a Smith’s Longspur.
A group of over 30 people, the largest group Zendeh has seen attending an event at the sanctuary, showed up Wednesday morning to track down the tiny bird.
“I think bird watchers have both the hunting gene and the gathering gene,” said Jim McCoy of Melrose. “The hunting part is obvious but we also get a sense of satisfaction in checking off another box.”
“This is not a bird I expected to see here,” said Wayne Petersen of Mass Audubon. “This is the third sighting of the bird in Massachusetts. It was seen once in the 60’s, once in Nahant, and now this.
“There have been some other sightings in the North East,” Petersen said. “It’s an unusual bird. It’s not very common.”
Wilson said bird and wildlife diversity in the sanctuary has improved as the shrubland habitat has matured.
He is most impressed with “the diversity of grassland birds and the unique habitat in this area,” he said.
“We actively manage it for the grassland birds and I’m really pleased with our success,” Wilson said.
The Wheelabrator Saugus Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary is 340-acres and has grown to be one of the largest bird migration staging areas in the North Shore. With nine ecosystems integrated into the active landfill, it is a habitat for not only 200 bird species but also coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and snakes.
The installation of the shrubland habitat began 16 years ago. The habitat is just starting to mature and Wilson has already seen a response in bird diversity, he said.
“The next habitat milestone will be when the woodlands habitat matures” which is expected to be in about ten years, Wilson said. “I expect a jump in diversity when that happens.”
Rare bird species recorded at the site this migratory season include the Vesper Sparrow, Swainson’s Hawk, and the Smith’s Longspur.
“We would like to invite anyone interested in seeing the bird to one of our scheduled bird walks this winter,” Wilson said.
The next regularly scheduled bird walk will be Sunday, January 31 at 9 a.m. This is a three-hour walking tour of the Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary. Winter weather appropriate clothing and boots are advised.
Anyone interested in attending a bird walk at the sanctuary is welcome and can arrangements can be made by emailing the company at [email protected].
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected].
