11/16 - Cave Swallow central

This Cave Swallow phenomenon continues to amaze me; the novelty has not worn off on this birder! This has been the largest [geographical] invasion yet, with birds reaching as far northeast as Newfoundland. Five years ago this was a major rarity in Connecticut. Now, the question is not 'will there be Caves this year?', but 'how many will there be?' Simply amazing. I'm not quite sure how this sort of explosion can happen so rapidly....heck, it wasn't even long ago that Cave Swallow was still considered rare at Cape May.

The prospect of seeing a Cave Swallow in CT still gets my blood pumping. Despite fully expecting to see one (or more) today, I could not help but yell out "CAVE SWALLOW!" in nervous excitement when the first one passed through Lighthouse Point this morning.

So, I started at Lighthouse Point with two goals: 1) see Cave Swallow, 2) photograph Cave Swallow. In a matter of minutes two Caves raced through the park at a distance. Objective #1...check! I got on a third Cave Swallow, also at a distance, which I was able to photograph in the form of a blurry silhouette. But that wasn't good enough for a photo and I was still looking for a decent view. Several minutes passed without another swallow when Mark Aaronson strolled up to the hawkwatch, casually mentioning that there were a couple dozen (!) Cave Swallows feeding at East Shore Park! I was on my way.

Just five minutes later I was looking at a swarm of Caves feeding low over the sewage treatment plant adjacent to the park. I stood there in awe for a few seconds, just letting it sink in that I was watching a large flock of Cave Swallows in Connecticut. Several other birders arrived and we estimated the flock at ~20 birds; three Barn Swallows were also taking advantage of the buggy sewage ponds. No sign of other swallow species.

At about noon the flock all of a sudden vanished, leaving only the 3 Barn Swallows behind. After a few minutes of waiting, a single Cave Swallow returned (or maybe it was a new bird arriving...no doubt there were dozens of Cave Swallows in Connecticut today).






Five at once.








One Cave flanked on each side by a Barn Swallow.


Barn and Cave Swallows.

- Nick

Comments

  1. Luke TillerNovember 16, 2008 at 8:49 PM

    Cool Pic's of the Swallows - we had a good number today but not a single picture to show for it. Would be interested on your thoughts on the possible 'gambelii' when I post the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. EdwardNovember 17, 2008 at 6:26 PM

    Tnext question is when will they be taken off the CT review list?

    ReplyDelete
  3. EdwardNovember 17, 2008 at 6:27 PM

    LA is thinking about it. I think they are now more abundant annually in cT than in LA eventhough they may breed and have bred down here.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CAPE VERDE SHEARWATER off Cape Cod, MA - August 12, 2022

Image
For the past couple months, Ian Davies and I had been eyeing this week for a little summer Cape Cod birding adventure. The feasibility of this plan would depend largely on the weather, as I wanted to trailer the boat to the Cape for access to pelagic waters and Monomoy NWR. After a rather uncertain and oft-changing forecast thanks to a stationary front passage, a brief weather window opened for the second half of the week. Julian Hough was free to join me for the mini vacation, so we left CT on Tuesday evening. Wednesday was spent shorebirding; Ian had to work that day, but Pete Trimble and Phil Rusch filled out the boat. Thursday found us rained out, but we regrouped for a full Friday on the water. At sunrise on Friday the 12th, Ian, Julian, and Pete & Jeremiah Trimble and I left the harbor and headed around the tip of Monomoy to the productive waters east of Chatham. I had been out there a handful of times prior between my boat and a friend's, and there has always been at lea
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

CURLEW SANDPIPER - Stratford, CT

Image
Frank Mantlik struck again yesterday by finding a bright adult CURLEW SANDPIPER in a small golf course pond along the Stratford, CT coast. This was the first chaseable Curlew Sand in the state in over 20 years, thus unblocking this species for an entire generation of birders. Out of town and unable to partake in the twitch, I was hoping the bird would stick another day. This morning's negative reports were discouraging. The only reasonable play was to wait for the afternoon high tide and hit the local roosts. I started on the rising tide at Milford Point, where some 150 birds came to roost but could not settle thanks to foot traffic. Even with more tide to come, this felt like a lost cause, so I drove across the estuary to Stratford Point. The roost here held ~500 birds, and the Curlew Sand was smack in the middle. Better late than never! Thanks, Frank! (click image for higher res viewing)  - NB
Read more