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Dovekie Blows into Newtonville 
The exhausted Dovekie, not usually found inland, did a belly flop in the backyard of Anne Simunovik (who has a feeder and keeps count of which birds come to her feeder). It was during the big snowstorm on Dec 16 (which caused the postponement of the Christmas Bird Count to the next weekend - the first time it has been changed due to weather). She did not know what it was but found it in the Sibley bird guide - it kind of looks like a miniature penguin, and its wings are well suited to flying under water where it feeds on small crustaceans, etc. Anne and her husband Sergio watched it that day and tried to feed it, even cutting up some salmon, etc. It was wary and ran away but stayed overnight. The next day unfortunately, the bird died, exhausted and far away from its North Atlantic home. Anne kept the bird in a bag in her freezer and it was of great interest to the birders assembled the next Sunday for the Christmas count, most of whom had never seen such a bird. Mass Audubon was queried and put out the word. The tiny bird (about the size of a starling) will not have died in vain, as there was interest from the Harvard Museum of Natural History for its collection |
