Shorebirder

Phil Rusch found this THICK-BILLED MURRE at Stonington Point, CT this morning. The bird soon flew north into the harbor and was later relocated in a more sheltered cove. Sadly, it was refound dead, floating in the water, a couple hours later, without signs of predation. Thick-billed Murre  - NB

Back on December 18, 2019, while helping a friend chase her life Pink-footed Goose in neighboring Rhode Island, we spotted two Cackling Geese that had been reported in the flock. Those two birds were pretty much attached at the hip. One was a bog standard Richardson's, being frosty-backed with a squared-off head and tiny bill. The bird next to it, which admittedly I didn't study for long, was certainly darker-backed and didn't have quite the same squared off head. Still, it was likely another Richardson's, but we were distracted at the time by the Pink-footed and a third Cackling Goose that proved to be much more interesting. Cackling Goose #3 was on a different end of the flock and really stood out in that it didn't really stand out. Yes, it was smaller-bodied with a short bill. It was clearly a Cackling Goose. But it did a much better job of blending in with the flock than a Richardson's CACG would have. While switching between scope and camera I would ofte

Happy New Year to everyone out there! 2019 was a fun one, as my birding was highlighted by a Self-Found Big Year in CT. Per the set of rules I ended up deciding on, I finished with 276 species for the year, amazingly close to the guesstimate of 275 I made at the beginning. Not sure if I'll be putting the year into blog form after the fact (I had little time to blog about it as I went), but I will be speaking about it at some local clubs in addition to writing something for the ABA Birder's Guide, so stay tuned for those. 2020 should see a return to less local birding and much more of the non-birding aspects of my life that I love, though I will be traveling much more than I did last year, with trips to southern Africa (as CAS trip leader), Madeira (private trip with friends), and south Texas (for work, but I'll have some daylight to explore a bit) already on the books. In other words, 2020 will be a much more normal year for me. All the best for a Happy and Healthy