Shorebirder

Well, there's no denying that relative to other years in memory, 2020 was mostly a bag of shit. But there is hope for a much better 2021, despite what is guaranteed to be a rough start. The vaccine rollout signifies what is very likely the beginning of the end of this pandemic. Also, here in the U.S. we will be welcoming a President that will almost certainly make our country and our world better off in many ways. So let's drink to that tonight! On the local bird front, I have ended the year with a goose search, one more northwest finch tour, and a couple CBCs (one more to go). As I have been focusing some on my state Self-Found list, the "rare goose" section shows a pretty massive gap. I have yet to find my own Barnacle, Pink-footed, or Ross's in Connecticut. My own town of Wallingford was formerly a bit of a mecca for rare geese, but that all changed about the time I moved here some 11 years ago. My theory is that it has something to do with the declining role o

When seen in Connecticut, Mew Gulls are pretty much always seen in the company of Ring-billed Gulls. So I was not expecting to find one at a tiny beach near the mouth of the Thames River where a whopping six Herring Gulls were resting. And yet that's exactly what flew in soon after I hopped out of the car for a quick scan of the river. Coming right at me, I picked up on a medium-sized gull and stayed on it until it banked slightly, revealing an upperwing that was very low-contrast for a Ring-billed and a starkly black-and-white tail. Hmmmm. The bird landed in the water not far from the beach and had an obviously tiny, round head with an even tinier bill. It was a slam-dunk Mew Gull of the European subspecies canus . No trouble determining the subspecies of this one! I had been keen on finding a first cycle Mew Gull locally, as all prior records were of adults or nearly so. So I was pumped about this one. Luckily it stuck around long enough for me to grab the camera and get some sho