Shorebirder

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