Stratford-Milford CBC

This past Saturday, Dec 22, Carolyn and I teamed up to cover Area B on the Stratford-Milford CBC. This area includes hotspot Milford Point and some area to the north and east. Conditions were cold and very windy, tough for birding. Our first bird getting out of the car at Milford Pt in the morning was a COMMON REDPOLL, a life bird for Carolyn, and the only ones recorded on the count.

Common Redpolls

We had 55 species in all. Here were our highlights:
101 American Wigeon (most of these on the small pond behind Jonathan Law HS)
139 American Black Duck (easily counted on the LIS side of Milford Point thanks to constant hunter activity in the marsh all day)
1 Black Scoter (female at Milford Pt)
53 Horned Grebe (a fantastic count, especially given the VERY windy conditions during which they can be difficult to count on choppy water)
3 Northern Gannet (adults working offshore)
5 Great Cormorant (one in our area, the other 4 roosting on channel marker on Stratford side of river mouth)
1 Black-bellied Plover (Milford Pt)
2 Purple Sandpiper (with Dunlin and Sanderling on breakwater)
1 Razorbill (immature bird flying and landing on Milford side of the breakwater)
29 Monk Parakeet (one flock at Milford Pt)
1 Barred Owl (seen during daylight along coast, obviously away from breeding areas)
2 Common Raven (Milford Pt)
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Walnut Beach)
1 Swamp Sparrow (Court Street boat ramp)
3 Common Redpoll (hanging around the parking lot at Milford Pt for most of the day)

Barred Owl

Monk Parakeets (photo by CS)

Sunset (photo by CS)

  - NB