Milford Pt and tonight's migration

Kim and I spent a couple of hours at Milford Pt this morning around the high tide. While we were there, the volunteer Piping Plover monitors found a new piper nest that was outside of the roped-off area. Kim and I helped them put up new stakes and rope to protect this Piper and her eggs:


On eggs.


Two laid, probably more to come.

Shorebird numbers were not too impressive today, but there were still birds to look through. Several Least and a few Common terns were about. Best bird was probably a Merlin hanging out near the coastal center.

A nice southwest breeze is in place for this afternoon, which will extend overnight and into tomorrow. Tomorrow (Sun) and Monday will be good days to check for southern overshoots. Some species that come to mind for this time of year are Kentucky Warbler, Black-necked Stilt, Wilson's Plover, and Mississippi Kite.

If we get any rain tonight, that could help concentrate birds wherever that rain is falling.

NB

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2008 at 9:59 PM

    Might as well get a little crazy and note, with past Mass. event in mind, that Red-footed Falcons seem to be all over UK and western Europe right now

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nick BonomoMay 18, 2008 at 9:26 PM

    Good point Greg.

    Also of note is a mini-invasion of Greenland/Iceland birds to Newfoundland. When we had those NE winds blowing on Monday, they were also blowing from Greenland to the Atlantic provinces and New England states. In Newfoundland they've just had a couple Euro Golden Plovers, a Eurasian Whimbrel, and many Northern Wheatears.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Warblers in Flight: A Photographic Collection

While active migration has always been my favorite bird behavior to observe, my interest in the phenomenon called “morning flight” of nocturnal migrants had been minimal due to the unfortunate reality that I lived well over an hour’s drive from the nearest known reliable observation site, Bluff Point State Park in Groton, CT. In autumn 2020, thanks to improved public access to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, CT, I began to explore the northern tip of Willard’s Island as a morning flight viewpoint and was pleased to find that under the right conditions a reliable flight could be observed there. The volume of birds passing through is not large (a small fraction of what passes through Bluff Point), but the flight line is consistent and can be observed under good lighting conditions. Between autumns 2020-22 I visited the site 20 times in total and recorded 27 warbler species in morning flight. All but a few of these have been photographed, often poorly! I immediately found mysel
Read more

Last winter's gull review

Today's cooler, blustery conditions combined with the appearance of an Ivory Gull in Cape May got me thinking more about the upcoming gull season and reflecting on last year's. The 2008-09 gulling in the northeast was pretty damn good and included a few really exciting birds. The season started out with a bang exactly one year ago today with CT's first Slaty-backed Gull . On 12/12 an adult Thayer's Gull put in a brief appearance at the Windsor-Bloomfield Landfill, CT's premier gull hotspot, followed by a first-winter bird on 12/23. A Black-headed Gull spent the winter in New Haven Harbor. Perhaps 'gull of the year' was a subadult Glaucous-winged Gull in Rochester, NH, found by Scott Young...a first record for New England. Meanwhile Gloucester, MA was once again the gull capital of New England. I happened to already be up in Boston when news of an adult Ivory Gull broke on 1/17. I still get chills thinking about that weekend. Of course there were plenty
Read more

Iceland in April

Image
April is an exciting time for the nature enthusiast to visit Iceland. While the weather can still be quite cold and snowy, winter's grip is loosening and signs of spring abound. Several minutes of daylight are gained each day, but there is still enough nighttime darkness to observe the aurora borealis through at least mid-month. It turns out that early spring is also an excellent time for whale watching, particularly if you are keen to find Orcas. Spring migrants are beginning to arrive, including flocks of European Golden Plovers and the first Atlantic Puffins of the year. Given all that, it made sense to consider a long weekend visit to Iceland in mid-April, especially since it is a direct 5-6 hour flight from the northeast USA. Known appropriately as an expensive destination to visit, costs can be considerably reduced by hiring a campervan. Being a super popular mode of transport + lodging in Iceland, there are plenty of companies to choose from. During this shoulder season, I r
Read more