Shorebirder

I awoke early on Monday morning to the sound of falling rain. A quick call into the puffin captain confirmed that the day's trip to Machias Seal Island had been canceled. It seemed the rain would last through the morning at least. I decided to get more sleep, finally leaving the motel around 9am. The rain was still falling, fog was rolling in and out, and there were even rumbles of thunder here and there. not pretty weather I headed toward the Boot Head Trail in Lubec, a well-known location for Spruce Grouse. I don't know whether it was the weather or the time of day, but I dipped on the grouse. I figure any self-respecting Spruce Grouse would probably be taking cover, whether on the wet ground or in a dense conifer. Other birds keeping me entertained were Palm Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, and 2 Boreal Chickadees. After a few hours, soaking wet at this point, I cut my losses and decided to drive to Caribou. scenery on the drive through Aroostook County Driving north took a f...

I began my ride north Saturday afternoon following the disappointing USA-Ghana match. The good news was that Sunday's boat trip to Seal Island had filled and the weather looked perfect. We awoke in Belfast, ME to a waterfront view and the sounds of yodeling Common Loons. A 75-min drive to the dock in Stonington, where we found more birders waiting. In all, 8 of the 10 passengers were birders...a nice ratio. Our captain was incredibly friendly and was willing to do whatever he could to put us in position to see the Red-billed Tropicbird that was again summering in the area. We left the dock and meandered between several inshore spruce/fir-laden islands (not much of a botanist...) including Isle au Haut. Black Guillemots and Common Eider were common, as were Harbor Seals. offshore rocks with Harbor Seals As we approached Seal Island, Wilson's Storm-petrels became more common and two Manx Shearwaters were spotted. At the island itself, we were treated to Atlantic Puffins, Razorbil...

On Saturday afternoon I'll start driving north toward Maine, kicking off 4-5 days of birding the largest New England state. My boreal birding has been nearly non-existent, which is a bit surprising given my location in southern New England. My big targets are Spruce Grouse, 3-toed Woodpecker, Gray Jay (yep, still need it!) and Red-billed Tropicbird (would be a nice bonus). Black Rail was formerly part of the itinerary but the Plum Island, MA birds may have gone silent if recent reports are any indication. I'll start with a boat trip to Seal Island in search of the tropicbird, then another boat further downeast to Machias Seal Island for nesting puffins, etc. From there I'll check a few Lubec spots if I have time before heading wayy up north past Caribou. I plan on birding Baxter State Park as I work my way back south. Then it's back home to CT. I will be sure to post my results here, which hopefully will contain a few pictures of Moose and some fine boreal birds! - NB

Yesterday I received Canon's Conversion Lens Adapter for my A590IS. I planned on lengthening the tube with some homemade supplies, to make a hands-free tube adapter, as recommended by local Kowa digiscoper Don Morgan. While I still plan on doing this, I noticed that when I fasten the adapter to the camera, I can hand-hold the camera+adapter firmly against the scope's rubber eyecup, which happens to place the camera lens at just the right distance from the eyepiece for digiscoping! I headed out to Sandy Pt this afternoon in hopes of testing this out in the field. Sure enough, I was able to produce a vignette-free image without having to max out the camera's zoom. This is still a form of hand-holding, so getting crystal-clear photos will be a challenge, if not impossible, due to the shake produced by holding the camera in your hands and pressing the shutter-release. The following photos are unaltered (uncropped, unsharpened) except for being compressed, and show that d...

Today I made a productive low tide visit to Sandy Point in West Haven, CT. Wind was blowing at 15+mph from the SSW ahead of a cold front that would bring strong thunderstorms later in the afternoon. The lagoon mudflats were holding many migrant shorebirds, most notably 9 RED KNOTS and 100+ Semipalmated Sandpipers. A single Dunlin was also in the mix. part of a flock of 9 Red Knots Further out the point, beyond the tern colony, a few more shorebirds and gulls were foraging along the water's edge. These included 2 Short-billed Dowitchers and a handful of Black-bellied Plovers. Black-bellied Plover Short-billed Dowitchers While out there I ran into a grad student from U of New Haven who was taking soil samples for analysis of invertebrates, sediment pollution, etc. He said now that much of Sandy Pt is now breached at high tide but Morse Pt is not, the water source for the lagoon is now largely from the harbor side. The harbor itself is more polluted than the open sound. Over the pas...

Yesterday I joined about a dozen birders aboard the 'Snappa' out of Galilee, Rhode Island for a pelagic trip to Cox's Ledge. Visibility on arrival at the dock was awful! Once we got a bit offshore the fog began to burn off. While we had to wait a long time to see sun, we could see far enough to identify most birds. When we got to an area called the Mud Hole, we came across a few trawlers and some birds: gulls, gannets, storm-petrels, and a few shearwaters. The best bird of the trip came while we were moving along at a good clip...someone spotted a jaeger harassing a few gulls. It turned out to be an adult Parasitic...views were decent but brief. Otherwise, we had only common species. Greater Shearwater Northern Gannet Birders aboard the Snappa We stopped to chum at a few spots here and there, some more active than others. At one of the slower spots, a couple of us grabbed fishing poles and tried our hands at jigging at Cox's Ledg...

Yesterday evening's obligations brought me to the Milford area, so I spent a few hours birding various shoreline spots from Stratford to Milford to West Haven, CT. Weather was hot and humid, with a 15-minute strong t-storm that blew through the region. Shorebird numbers were quite good overall; 14 species were tallied. Stratford Point held a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER in bright alternate plumage among a feeding flock of 26 Semipalmated Sandpipers. White-rumped Sandpiper White-rumped Sandpiper (with Semipalmated Sandpiper) Milford Point had very good numbers of some species...600 Semipalmated Sandpipers was a nice tally. Here were 4 more WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERS, but the real highlight was a small flock of 6 RED KNOT. Six Red Knot, two Ruddy Turnstones, and an Eastern Willet in the foreground Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone, Eastern Willet As the tide came in, the roosting birds were forced to retreat. Here a Red Knot raises its wings as it hops from one stone to another. Later, at Sandy Pt in...