Shorebirder

The 'Helen H' departed Hyannis, MA at 4am on Saturday morning with 75+ eager birders and naturalists aboard. The marine forecast had called for dicey conditions, but the captain predicted a smooth ride. This was a bit of an experimental trip for the BBC. The waters at the edge of the continental shelf have rarely been explored at this time of summer. Birders search for the first seabirds of the day Early morning at sea The hazy morning began with a few scattered Greater and Cory's Shearwaters. Soon we hit the cool waters between Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard where we were smothered by a couple hours of dense fog. As we worked our way south, the water slowly warmed and the pea soup turned into a bright and sunny morning. Beforehand the leaders decided to head for Atlantis Canyon, which is further west than the usual route. Sea surface temperature maps had revealed warm water there. Before we reached the canyon we encountered our first large flocks of seabirds, with sev

Allow me to turn this into a wanted ad for a second: My car died yesterday, and it's looking very likely that the cost will be too much for a 1992 Accord with 250,000 miles on it. If anybody knows of anyone upgrading their old car and looking to sell, please let me know! - Nick

Bird reports really drop off once June 1 rolls around, and they don't really pick up until the first uncommon/rare shorebird is found in late July/early August. Birders call this period the "summer doldrums." As we've seen this year, June is a fun time to be birding because it can be a great month for rarities. Summer actually happens to be my favorite time of year to bird southern New England. For starters, migration virtually never ends. Northbound shorebird migration fades in mid-June while southbound migration has begun by the 4th of July. Mid-July is prime time for rare Eurasian shorebirds, particularly the stints. Common Terns are beginning to stage at this point, gathering less common species along the way. Right now I'm looking forward to this summer's pelagic trips more than anything. I've signed up for four out-of-state pelagics between now and Labor Day. Since my schedule changes quite often, I might not be able to make it on all 4 boats, but I&

This morning I joined Lee Schlesinger on his portion of the New Haven Summer Bird Count. His area covers most of Orange and a portion of Eisenhower Park in Milford. There were many highlights; may as well start with the most interesting bird. One of our earlier stops was a small-ish cattail marsh along Meetinghouse Lane, where we had a bird giving a good Alder Flycatcher song at 7:15am. When we returned at 9:05am, the bird was giving the same dead-on Alder song. There was nothing abnormal or Willow-like about this bird's song. I'm thinking that this is probably a late migrant Alder. If it sticks around, I'll try to record and analyze its song...hopefully to confirm that it isn't a Willow singing an Alder-like variation. Hopefully I'll have more to report on this bird... Overall I think I added five birds to my Orange list, so I was thrilled. They were: Alder Fly, Willow Fly, Orchard Oriole, Brown Thrasher (multiple), and Green Heron (two). My birding so often takes

The spring shorebird migration is definitely winding down now. Numbers are much reduced from 10 days ago, but there is still good variety to be had. I spent the afternoon sweating at Sandy Pt and Milford Pt, tallying 14 shorebird species including a Whimbrel at Milford Pt. Sandy Point held a first-summer Common Tern, my first in this plumage this year. Birders have noted a few hundred Laughing Gulls at Milford and Stratford, but there are literally just a handful at Sandy Point. I wish the Mets didn't suck. This team has about as much life as a Tom Glavine fastball. There were only 5 skimmers at Sandy Pt today, down from 16 a few days prior. Time will tell if any remain in the area to nest. Our great run of southern and western rarities continues. Today Rollin Tebbetts found a Scissor-tailed Flycather along the perimeter fence at Bradley Airport. This is the first one in CT in several years. I guess I won't be attending my early classes tomorrow.... Nick

Best full species of the day was a Royal Tern at Milford Pt, seen roosting and feeding around the mouth of the river. No photos of that bird; too distant and too brief. 15 Black Skimmers at Sandy Point, several of which were paired off and investigating sites around the tern colony. Hopefully they settle in here for the summer. Most interesting sighting of the day was of a ratty first-summer Willet at Sandy Point I am calling a "Western" Willet. Structurally the bird looks fine to me for Western. It is overall long and lanky (Eastern is more compact). Bill is long and thin throughout (Eastern bill averages shorter and thicker). If anyone has any thoughts on this bird, please leave a comment below (comments are always welcome on any post, by the way). "Western" Willet at Sandy Point NB

We've reached the first week of June, and right on cue the number of bird reports are dwindling. But as far as I'm concerned, we're still in the middle of the best part of spring migration - shorebirds and terns. Right now certain coastal hotspots are teeming with these birds. This afternoon I walked out Sandy Point near low tide and quickly found a breeding plumaged Black Tern that was loafing around with many Leasts and a few Common Terns. I was able to get reasonably close...close enough to land a few quality photos. Also present were 4 White-rumped Sandpipers. Black Tern at Sandy Point (several photos throughout this blog can be clicked to see a larger version) Earlier in the day I stopped into the RR trail in Stratford just after high tide. The marsh was mostly flooded, so birds were scarce, but there was a late Pectoral Sandpiper among a dozen commoners. In another couple weeks we will be calling such birds early fall migrants. Pec Sand in Stratford I've now had t