Shorebirder

Swainson's Hawk, nemesis no longer. To say that I've wanted to see a Swainson's Hawk in Connecticut for a long time is one way to put it. But that does not tell the whole story. There are nemesis birds and there are nemesis birds . This was unequivocally the latter. Over the past 25 years, most of which I have spent as a resident of Connecticut, I shudder to think about how many hours I have spent watching the local skies for raptors during fall migration. Though at first glance hawkwatching appears to be perhaps the most passive form of birding, it is actually a grind of constant sky-scanning, often against bright blue skies that cloak high-flying birds shockingly well. Even when a group of observers are present, with folks looking in all directions, it is easy to miss birds if you aren't paying close attention. Great focus is required. This energy can be difficult to maintain in practice, especially when the wind chill is frigid or if you are trying not to be rude in ...

Yesterday morning while enjoying some fantastic fishing at the mouth of the Housatonic River, a first summer BLACK-HEADED GULL dropped into the fray for a bit. Luckily had the camera with me and snapped off a few shots. Of course it was a nice surprise to spot this presumed Bonaparte's Gull naked eye before taking a closer look and realizing it was something better. Other than the classic blackish underside to the primaries, the outer upperwing appears whiter in Black-headed Gull due primarily to less dark markings in the primary coverts as compared to Bonaparte's. The secondaries are also more extensively dark. Also I'm not positive but I believe the fully-hooded look occurs more regularly in Black-headed Gull than in Bonaparte's at this age. Black-headed Gull -NB

I did not realize this until very recently, but you can create a Trip Report in eBird BEFORE your trip, and the report will automatically update as you submit checklists within those dates set by you. In that way it functions as a "live" report. I've never been one to blog during a trip, as I just don't have the time. Heck, lately I don't even have time to post every trip once I'm home! But I am currently at the start of a two-week solo journey through Bulgaria, and I'm trying this report format for the first time. For anyone curious as to what I'm seeing as I go, see the link below. Off to a pretty spectacular start between nailing a couple tough boreal targets and witnessing some fantastic viz-mig this afternoon, though the itinerary has already been adjusted due to weather :). Bulgaria - eBird Trip Report  - Nick

If you scrolled back through this space's March and April posts over the years, you'd find a significant number of entries devoted to gulls. Specifically, gulls tied to an annual phenomenon that we have referred to as "plankton feeding." Each late winter/early spring, Long Island Sound is home to mats of floating plankton that have been proven to mostly consist of barnacle larvae. These gazillions of larvae provide an irresistible food source to staging and migrating gulls and waterfowl. Typical scene off Stratford during the plankton event Towing for plankton, most of which are barnacle larvae At various sites along the coast, numbers routinely exceed a thousand birds in a single scan, with exceptional reports on peak days of 10k-plus birds. Migrant Ring-billeds dominate, followed by Herring and Bonaparte's. Rarer species are regularly found among the flocks either actively feeding offshore or at coastal roosts. CT's first Short-billed Gull indulging in the f...