Shorebirder

On a whim Sunday morning I headed out for just a couple hours of local coastal birding. I wanted to check the east side of New Haven Harbor. Close to home and guaranteed to see SOME birds, even if just the common wintering waterfowl. I pulled first into Nathan Hale Park, and one of the first birds I saw was an EARED GREBE diving close to shore. The bird was hanging close enough to be photographed, so I took advantage of this locally rare opportunity. Eared Grebe is a rare bird in Connecticut, currently an ARCC review species. So it is likely that this is the same individual that had been hanging out in Stratford a week or so prior. In fact, another CT birder emailed me later on Sunday to tell me that she had apparently seen this grebe at Nathan Hale a few days prior but was not sure of the identification, so it had been around for a bit before I stumbled across it.  - NB

On my way home from the Ross's Gull yesterday I stopped at Sabattis Bog, thanks to info from Joan Collins. Despite a heavy snow squall and driving winds, the local GRAY JAYS were friendly and confiding.  - NB

Ross's Gull had been my #1 North American bird to see for a while now...one of the few birds I would drive many hours to experience if I had to. Imagine my surprise when I woke up on Thursday morning to an emailed photo of a first cycle ROSS'S GULL. Awesome. Just one tiny problem...I had no idea where and when it was taken. The information began to trickle in piece by piece. I was ready to bail from work at any time if the report was local and recent. "Local" has a mildly expanded meaning when it comes to a Ross's Gull. As we would come to find out the bird was photographed just the day before near the Adirondack, NY town of Tupper Lake. I had a decision to make once the details came through - drop everything and run, or calm the $#&% down and wait until the next morning. I decided to pack what I could, get in the car, and make my way in that direction. I could always turn around if I changed my mind or received news that the bird was not chase-able. Traffic...

A first cycle Ross's Gull was photographed and video'd somewhere in Tupper Lake, NY. This was a cell phone photo that was forwarded a few times and eventually got around to friend John Marshall. Unsure of exact date, but perhaps that can be pulled from photo data. Figured it was best to get this out with incomplete info anyway. I will post more if I hear it. Hopefully locals can check it out. Here is the photo:  - NB

When I travel internationally, one of the perks I miss most is the ability to sit back and drive while my phone's GPS navigation tells me where to go. While I do sometimes wistfully long for the charm of map reading, I've honestly been completely spoiled by the ease of phone navigation. There's no going back now. Cell phone coverage in the United States is so good these days that I am rarely out of range for very long, especially here in the northeast, so I can pull up a map and navigate anywhere at pretty much any time. However since I do not have an international cell phone data plan, I lose this ability while abroad. Recently a few iOS mapping apps have offered users a chance to work around this, and here's how you can do it. We will use two apps: Google Maps and MAPS.ME. First, make a custom map using Google Maps on your home computer/laptop (there does not yet seem to be a way to make a custom Google map in the iPhone app). As an example I'll use the map I ma...

UPDATE: John Oshlick worked hard to find a BLACK GUILLEMOT at Stonington Point, near the RI line. Unfortunately it was not chase-able. ORIGINAL POST: I posted the following note to the CTBirds listserv earlier today. "The strength and duration of the impending nor'easter may force some locally rare alcids into Long Island Sound. Winds will be sustained NE-ENE at 25mph+ for several hours Monday and Monday evening. It would be worth checking the coast [safely] during and after the storm for species such as Thick-billed Murre and Dovekie, which are especially prone to displacement during storms. Birds could turn up anywhere along the coast (or even, rarely, on an inland body of water), though your best bets are probably points of land that jut into LIS for birds that are actively moving/flying or sheltered coves/harbors for those that were exhausted by the storm. Even after the storm passes, on Tuesday and even Wednesday, birders should be on the lookout. These pelagic bird...

Last month my girlfriend and I spent a week on the island of Aruba, which lies less than 20 miles from Venezuela. It was our first visit to the island, a place known much more for its beaches than its birds. However we managed to squeeze in some quality birding. I don't think I spent enough time to merit writing any sort of site guides or detailed trip report, but if you are interested in birding on Aruba, please email me privately and I'll share what I learned. In short, there are no Aruban endemics. Some South American species spill over from the mainland, but not many. Still, there are birds to be seen in some nice pockets of habitat, and being an island, there is always rarity potential. Our best find was probably the juvenile LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL we stumbled across while jet-skiing. We ended up with 67 species while casually birding in bits and pieces - not bad I'd say. I picked up the following life birds: "Cayenne" form of Sandwich Tern, Bare-eyed Pig...

On January 3rd Frank Gallo and I stopped by East Providence, RI on our way back from Nantucket to look for the previously reported Graylag Goose. This bird was initially reported...well...I have no idea when it was initially reported because the Rhode Island bird reporting system is a $%&*ing joke and these pieces of information are difficult to track down unless you are a part of one of the mysterious RI birding factions that treat bird information like classified information that you need a goddamned Russian hacker to extract (how can such a tiny state be this divided anyway?!?). But I digress. Anyway, let's just say that the bird has been around for...several days. So Frank and I arrived to driving wind and rain. It was pretty miserable weather, but we were able to find the goose rather quickly on the golf course adjacent to Watchemoket Cove. We watched it feed with Canadas for a few minutes before getting soaked and leaving (us, not the bird). We had both seen (and vote...