Shorebirder

Well that's not a blog title I thought I'd ever write! COVID-19 has abruptly changed everyday life across the entire planet, altering the way we interact with others, at least for the time being. We are currently in the disease’s exponential growth phase here in Connecticut. I am a Physician Assistant who has practiced in Orthopedic Surgery for the entirety of my ten years as a PA; I work in a hospital. At this point I have not yet been called to the front lines of this battle. I expect that to change at some point late next week or the week after that, as we approach All-Hands-On-Deck mode in the Waterbury area. Since my own chance of infection will likely increase soon, I am trying to take advantage of safe outdoor activities while I can. COVID-19 infection would mean strict self-quarantine for [at least] 14 days. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, stocking up on some fresh air instead of toilet paper would do quite a bit for my sanity! The local birding ...

I am recently back from co-leading a wonderful two week "Birding Safari" to southern Africa with the Connecticut Audubon Society, in tandem with Nature Travel Namibia. I'll follow with a trip report sometime soon. After the group departed I spent two days on my own in Walvis Bay, Namibia, which is without a doubt one of the top coastal birding locations I have ever seen. ============================================= When you think of the desert, chances are that jaegers are not the first birds that come to mind. Nor would you expect thousands of shorebirds, terns, or flamingoes. How about fur seals and range-restricted dolphins? The iconic Namib Desert is the oldest in the world. Its dramatically tall sand dunes stretch as far as the eye can see. It may come as a surprise that much of this desert is coastline, spanning the entire coast of Namibia (and a bit into Angola and South Africa), where it meets the South Atlantic Ocean. I am fascinated by the obvious contras...

Phil Rusch found this THICK-BILLED MURRE at Stonington Point, CT this morning. The bird soon flew north into the harbor and was later relocated in a more sheltered cove. Sadly, it was refound dead, floating in the water, a couple hours later, without signs of predation. Thick-billed Murre  - NB

Back on December 18, 2019, while helping a friend chase her life Pink-footed Goose in neighboring Rhode Island, we spotted two Cackling Geese that had been reported in the flock. Those two birds were pretty much attached at the hip. One was a bog standard Richardson's, being frosty-backed with a squared-off head and tiny bill. The bird next to it, which admittedly I didn't study for long, was certainly darker-backed and didn't have quite the same squared off head. Still, it was likely another Richardson's, but we were distracted at the time by the Pink-footed and a third Cackling Goose that proved to be much more interesting. Cackling Goose #3 was on a different end of the flock and really stood out in that it didn't really stand out. Yes, it was smaller-bodied with a short bill. It was clearly a Cackling Goose. But it did a much better job of blending in with the flock than a Richardson's CACG would have. While switching between scope and camera I would ofte...

Happy New Year to everyone out there! 2019 was a fun one, as my birding was highlighted by a Self-Found Big Year in CT. Per the set of rules I ended up deciding on, I finished with 276 species for the year, amazingly close to the guesstimate of 275 I made at the beginning. Not sure if I'll be putting the year into blog form after the fact (I had little time to blog about it as I went), but I will be speaking about it at some local clubs in addition to writing something for the ABA Birder's Guide, so stay tuned for those. 2020 should see a return to less local birding and much more of the non-birding aspects of my life that I love, though I will be traveling much more than I did last year, with trips to southern Africa (as CAS trip leader), Madeira (private trip with friends), and south Texas (for work, but I'll have some daylight to explore a bit) already on the books. In other words, 2020 will be a much more normal year for me. All the best for a Happy and Healthy ...

Well, this year's southbound migration has been pretty rough to this point! Here in Connecticut bird numbers have been remarkably low throughout the second half of the year. Shorebirds, warblers, hawks and sparrows were all pretty weak overall. Much of this is probably just luck of the draw. Still, on the occasions when weather conditions have set up for classic migration days, most have been disappointing. In these instances, the appearance of rarities can spice things up, but we've been largely left out of that game too. The rares have been in the region (Massachusetts cleaning up per usual), but we're in a rut here. Here's hoping for a change in luck as we get into waterfowl and CBC season. November especially is known for its rarities, though we are in the midst of back-to-back early deep freezes, which should effectively push out or kill any non-hardy vagrant insectivores. This first freeze of the season has really brought the geese in full force. Here is an i...

When you spend time in a weedy field in early October, brown isn't the only color you'll be seeing. There are all sorts of little yellowish jobs kicking around. Yesterday morning I had a nice array of late warblers and a Dickcissel, each sporting a bit of yellow. Dickcissel Nashville Warbler Common Yellowthroat Palm Warbler Connecticut Warbler - did not want to cooperate!  - NB