Bridgeport, CT migrant traps

The city of Bridgeport, Connecticut is not exactly known for top-notch birding. Urban environments are often lacking in quality (and quantity of) habitat. But like many cities, Bridgeport boasts wooded parks that serve as oases amidst a starkly less hospitable landscape marred by human development. Over the last few spring seasons I have explored a few interesting locations for passerine migration, and each has proven to produce as a migrant trap in its own way. Of the three places I'm writing about today, only one receives any sort of regular coverage by birders.

Elton Rogers Woodland Park

I'll start with my favorite of the three, Elton Rogers Park. Over my small sample size of visits, this seems to be the most productive of the bunch. I've recorded 22 species of warbler here and many other migrants including a SUMMER TANAGER this year.

The town does not seem to have a webpage for this park, but an online search result claims it is 74 acres. I have no idea if this is correct or not. The Maps.me app has the trails marked fairly accurately as far as I can tell.

female Summer Tanager

Elton Rogers Woodland Park

There is a small parking area along Frenchtown Road on the east side of the park. The woods at the parking area/trailhead can be one of the most productive areas of the park. That whole southeast corner tends to be the best, actually. This might be because those trees are the first to receive direct sunlight in the morning. There are no trails in that southeast corner, so you often have to go off-trail to reach the bulk of the birds. The understory is not very dense here, probably thanks to the White-tailed Deer that you will undoubtedly encounter during your hike. 

As you traverse the trails, you'll find that the place is dominated by mixed hardwoods. There are several small wetlands of varied composition...from open wooded swamp, to dense shrubs, to skunk cabbage, and phragmites. The place looks decent enough for such southern warblers as Prothonotary, Swainson's and Kentucky, though none of those have been recorded yet to my knowledge, at least in the eBird era. Northern Waterthrush is a regular migrant, and there is a territorial Louisiana Waterthrush this year. So the water is extensive enough to hold some birds.

The park lacks productive open habitat. There is a powerline cut that in its current state doesn't hold much veg outside of a phragmites-laden wet patch. So warblers such as Prairie and Blue-winged seem scarce there, and the cut itself rarely holds anything interesting. Perhaps it will someday fill in with thickets or shrubs.

Veterans Memorial Park (AKA Ninety Acres Park)

I actually have a bit of history with this place. I went to high school just down the road, and every so often during migration I would have enough time to spend a few minutes birding before school. I never really got to delve into it, though. Since then, a baseball field has been added, which unfortunately cut into some of the more productive habitat. If I recall, local birder Dennis Varza used to bird here back then. I wonder what his field notes would reveal about the place.

Despite the degradation of habitat, this park still holds some birds. On a good day, it can take a few hours to bird thoroughly. Taking the old name of the park as a hint, I'd wager that the park is approximately 90 acres, though the birdable habitat is likely far less than that now.

I've recorded 25 species of warbler here (which includes those visits from some 20 years ago when the habitat was better), and the park is surprisingly good for thrushes to this day. I've had Gray-cheeked Thrush here recently.

Veterans Memorial Park (90 Acres Park)

I usually park along Park Ave right at the powerlines. In my experience, the best areas for migrants tend to be the eastern edge south of the ballfield, and the northernmost patch that is north of the powerline cut. The habitat makeup is similar to that of Elton Rogers, as far as being a mixed hardwood forest with some wetland. It holds a small stream that runs north to south and is lined with skunk cabbage for much of it. There is also some standing water along the east edge of the park. The powerline itself is more disturbed and less productive than it used to be, but still birdier than the one at Elton Rogers.

This park is used for plenty of recreation, and a frisbee golf course is now scattered throughout the woods, which creates some extra disturbance (but a nice trail network).

While it is disappointing to think what this place could have been if it was better managed for birds, it can still be quite productive on the right day.

Mountain Grove Cemetery

The third spot, and the one I visit least often, is a well-landscaped, park-like cemetery that is much closer to the coast than the two spots we've already covered. The habitat is quite different than our two North End parks above, which usually results in a different mix of birds. It had been on my radar as a migrant trap for a while, but friend Kate Wong rekindled my interest in birding here by sharing her recent success during spring migration.

The cemetery itself consists mostly of large shade trees scattered through the lawns and gravestones. On the west side of the cemetery are a few groves of trees that tend to concentrate migrants, especially those atop a small ridgeline. The cemetery is bordered on the west and south by the Rooster River and Ash Creek, respectively. The trees that border these waterways tend to have the most birds in my limited experience here. There are a few clusters of tall spruces that predictably hold Cape May Warblers. The two small ponds sometimes host a Solitary Sandpiper or two along their muddy edges.

Warbler numbers, so far, seem to be lower here than at the wooded parks above. But this spot is much more heavily birded than the other two. In eBird, the cemetery's 250 checklists far outnumber the combined 64 checklists between the two inland parks. Among all observers, 24 warbler species have been recorded in eBird.  The mostly open park-like habitat probably limits the diversity ceiling on a given day versus the other two parks, but I would assume it is quite reliable for those tall shade tree-loving species like Cape May, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Northern Parula, etc.

A quick note about safety. Like other cities in the state, Bridgeport's crime rate is higher than its suburbs and rural towns. While I have never felt unsafe in any of these places, I have seen a few scattered remnants of tents and clothes in the woods at Elton Rogers and Ninety Acres. Ninety Acres is pretty heavily used these days by dog walkers and frisbee golfers. Elton Rogers, not so much. It's pretty quiet in there. I occasionally see a presumed local walking solo or with a dog in there, but most visits I don't see anyone else. Be sure to use common sense and awareness when birding anywhere, but I assume that urban parks may be riskier places than your standard CT birding hotspots.

bird's eye view of the city with the three parks labeled

Perhaps this will shed some light on a few under-birded locations in an otherwise heavily-birded Fairfield County. 

Oh, and if you look at the city map above and see that big green patch towards the upper right...that is Success Lake (AKA Remington Woods). It is under remediation and is closed to the public. The plans as of now are to finish the cleanup and open the area as a park. If that ever comes to fruition, my guess is that it will immediately become one of the best migrant traps in the state. Hopefully we'll someday be able to test that theory!

 - Nick