Shorebirder

While at Hammonasset Beach State Park a few weeks ago, Phil Rusch and I saw the sporadically continuing adult hybrid Tricolored x Little Blue Heron. The bird (one of two or three) was first seen as a juvenile during the summer/fall of 2011. A couple prior photos of mine can be found HERE . hybrid Tricolored x Little Blue Heron Note the bill size and shape, yellow lores, pale thigh feathering, and white flecking on chin and throat (poor chin/throat view in this photo).  - NB

After seeing quite a bit of migration on the radar when I went to sleep last night, I got up early with expectations that Bluff Point in Groton, CT would produce a quality morning flight today. Boy was I wrong! Winds were essentially calm at Bluff at dawn, which resulted in a nearly non-existent flight. A flyby calling DICKCISSEL was the only highlight. After bailing from Bluff I headed to Old Lyme for some low tide shorebirding. The mudflats at Watch Rock held a juvenile BAIRD'S SANDPIPER and my first three WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS in CT for the season. Two GREEN-WINGED TEAL were also my first southbound of the fall, right about on time. Down to Griswold Point, which upon arrival had some shorebirds working the flats, most notably a juvenile RED KNOT, a flyby calling WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, and an impressive flock (for the time of year) of 21 juvenile "Eastern" WILLETS. An immature PEREGRINE FALCON strafed the flats a few times, causing most of the birds to leave and ...

Back on June 26th, while casually birding Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, CT on a beautiful afternoon, Carolyn Sedgwick and I observed the heron pictured below. When scoped from a great distance the bird resembled a Tricolored Heron, but a closer look revealed that a few things were 'off' for that species. It turned out that this was one of the "mystery herons" first noted LAST summer at this location. An abbreviated timeline of these birds is as follows: Summer/Fall 2011 - Two or three juvenile herons, superficially much like TRHE, were reported throughout this period. Abnormal for TRHE were white-edged feathers that would normally show rust in this species, plus bill structure intermediate between TRHE and LBHE. Mark Szantyr, who may have been the first person to point out that these birds were not typical TRHE, captured some great images . Mark raised the idea of hybridization as a possibility. Of note, most birders were happy to count these individual...