This past weekend we had a wonderful time with our friends at Plum Island. Plum Island is located in northern Massachusetts, near Newburyport. It is a barrier island and famous for birds. The last couple of years, a large population of snowy owls has been at Plum Island, and we had hoped to see some. When we got to Plum Island, the weather conditions were not conducive to birding, it was windy and cold, and most birds seem to have been sheltered somewhere. The exception were some seagulls, which didn’t seem to mind the wind or cold.

After driving down the road towards the southern tip of the island, we decided to walk along a beautiful trail, which led to the water on the side away from the ocean. The only birds we saw there were seagulls dropping clams on the rocks in an attempt to crack them open.

Much to my surprise, I was able to get a different perspective on a seagull.

While it was still windy, the sun started to break through the clouds and created a shimmering sheen on the water.

While we did not see any snowy owls as we had hoped for, we enjoyed the beautiful landscape, which is one of my favorite places.