Around 3pm this afternoon I was just beginning my introduction to the
Winter Waterfowl Walk I was about to lead as a volunteer at Back Bay NWR
when Lisa, another volunteer, motioned me over saying that a visitor had
found an injured bird and she wanted me to help decide what to do with
it. While we walked toward the visitor who was watching over the bird,
we made the decision to contact a local rehabber, and I tried to think
of what to put the bird in for safekeeping. As we approached the site
the bird waddled out of the brush and onto the boardwalk; it was a
Dovekie. What a cutie! It sat there in its erect penguin-like posture,
looking around at the three of us as if asking, "So what's the fuss?" I
said to the others that this bird was not injured; it had just landed in
the wrong spot and needed to get back to the ocean. At that point the
bird took off and flew ahead of us along the boardwalk toward the
beach. Lisa said she would shepherd the bird back to the ocean which
she did successfully. All ended well for the Dovekie and I resumed my
waterfowl walk. Had I known when I left the group that the bird was a
Dovekie and was not in fact injured, I would have brought the whole
group (32 people) with me to see this rarity on land. This was my first
Virginia Dovekie crash. Dovekies are somewhat famous for landing in
strange places away from the ocean that may or may not include water.
