BROWN PELICAN, Stratford/Milford
The mouth of the Housatonic River is on a roll! I received a call at 7pm from Scott Kruitbosch saying that he had spotted an immature BROWN PELICAN flying past Stratford Pt and into Milford waters. I ran out the door as quickly as possible in hopes of catching up with this very difficult-to-chase species in CT. When they're around, they rarely stay in one place for very long.
I set record time from Wallingford to Milford. Frank Gallo gave me updates via phone as I got closer. As I was pulling into the Walnut Beach parking lot, he called to say the bird was on the move to the east, so I dropped the phone, grabbed the bins, and ran onto the beach in time to view the pelican flying toward Milford Harbor and eventually out of sight as it was likely in search of a roost at this point. Phew, it's a good thing they fly so damn slowly. Huge thanks to Scott and Frank. I don't even know how I made it down there in time...
I doubt it got much further east than the Gulf Beach area, though one never knows. If I was a betting man, I would guess that would continue to work its way east tomorrow morning. Though Frank reported it was fishing with much success off the Milford coast, so perhaps that could keep it in the area for a bit longer.
For Scott's photo and story, check out the CAS blog.
This is reminiscent of the flock of 8 American White Pelicans that flew down the CT coast in the opposite direction last autumn.
- NB
I set record time from Wallingford to Milford. Frank Gallo gave me updates via phone as I got closer. As I was pulling into the Walnut Beach parking lot, he called to say the bird was on the move to the east, so I dropped the phone, grabbed the bins, and ran onto the beach in time to view the pelican flying toward Milford Harbor and eventually out of sight as it was likely in search of a roost at this point. Phew, it's a good thing they fly so damn slowly. Huge thanks to Scott and Frank. I don't even know how I made it down there in time...
I doubt it got much further east than the Gulf Beach area, though one never knows. If I was a betting man, I would guess that would continue to work its way east tomorrow morning. Though Frank reported it was fishing with much success off the Milford coast, so perhaps that could keep it in the area for a bit longer.
For Scott's photo and story, check out the CAS blog.
This is reminiscent of the flock of 8 American White Pelicans that flew down the CT coast in the opposite direction last autumn.
- NB
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