A Mountain Plover Far from Home. 7/23/2023

While checking the Massachusetts rare bird alert, which I do occasionally, I noticed that someone had reported seeing a Mountain Plover at Long Beach Conservation area in Barnstable, and that it had been confirmed! According to the MA Avian Records database, this is only the second one seen in the state, the first being in 1916 in Chatham. That bird was deemed so rare that it was captured and stuffed, and actually still resides at the Boston Museum of Science. Mountain Plovers are usually not found near water, but in the prairies of the Midwest where they are currently endangered.

This particular bird was foraging along the wrack line at Long Beach, and it seemed completely unperturbed by all of the commotion that it was causing. Photographers were lined up in a semicircle, and beachgoers were pausing to ask questions and admire the bird. Mountain Plovers are quite beautiful in their breeding plumage with a golden color overall, a dark spot on their forehead, and a black eye stripe. The size was more like a Black-bellied Plover than a Piping Plover, the latter of which were also nesting nearby. This lone Mountain Plover hung around for another few days and then wasn't spotted anymore.