Rain Subsides, Waterbirds Swarm, for the Lloyd Center’s 34th Annual New Year’s Day Walk

2025 New Year’s Day Walk
The Lloyd Center held its 34th annual New Year’s Day walk at Gooseberry Neck Island, a location popular for hiking and beach goers alike.
Gooseberry is a dynamic island shaped by winds, tide, and currents that transport and deposit sand and cobble along a constantly shifting shoreline. The cobble buildup both provides a fitness challenge on New Year’s Day, and reminds hikers of the submerged rocky shelf surrounding the island that is subject to frequent erosion and storm events. Mounds of “slipper shells’ along the east shore (Buzzards Bay side) both provide an additional footing challenge and depict the high abundance level of a shellfish species. During winter, migrant waterbirds are abundant and seen utilizing the shallow intertidal food source along the island and causeway, including this shellfish species. Gooseberry is in essence, a laboratory where geomorphological, biological, and ecological processes can all be observed at close range while enjoying a brisk walk.

Raft of Waterbirds
On this day, it was hard to imagine an earlier rainy forecast, as the skies became blue and temperatures comfortably warm; great conditions for the 12 people in attendance. Winter waterfowl and other waterbirds were a focal point, and remnant conditions from the overnight rainstorm had birds in formation for prime viewing.
While the seas were churning on the west shore (Rhode Island Sound side), the calm east side was filled with birds at rest and feeding during a falling tide. The group had great close up looks at Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter, scaup, Common Eider, and Bufflehead, with Common and Red-throated Loon and Common Goldeneye visible further offshore. A large raft of gulls floated nearby in the small waves while intermittently feeding. Toward the south tip, the group saw a washed

Observing sandpipers
up horseshoe crab, a “living fossil” alive before dinosaurs, which especially fascinated kids in attendance. Two young girls were able to get close to a sizable flock of Purple Sandpipers at the very tip, a winter shorebird often seen clinging to offshore rocks, but were very approachable at the water’s edge. The kids studied the sandpipers
and looked beyond the birds out to sea, perhaps in contemplation of their possible role in safeguarding our shorelines as a next generation in charge.
The walk continued over cobble and into brisk winds along the east shore, where waterbirds were sparse, but the group got a workout en route to the central path on the island. We stopped for a quick check for Grey Seals which weren’t visible in the choppy waters, before heading back to the lot. It was great to have a successful kickoff educational walk, and we hope to see you at more Lloyd Center nature walks in the weeks and months ahead! Click here for details on upcoming events!