Shorebirder

Sep 2 The remnants of Hurricane Ida wreaked havoc even in her weakened form here in the northeast USA as she dumped 4-8 inches of rain throughout Connecticut on September 1st. As the low pressure slowly pulled away on the 2nd, skies finally brightened late morning. Temperatures had fallen, humidity had dropped, and there was a solid wind from the north. Off from work for a few days, I figured I would head to Lighthouse Point in New Haven to see if anything was flying. Abby Sesselberg and Paul Cashman were already on watch but had not noted anything moving yet. Not long after my arrival the first migrant raptor of the day ripped through in the form of a MERLIN, soon joined by OSPREY, BALD EAGLE, and NORTHERN HARRIER. A small afternoon flight had developed. Swallows (five species) and swifts were also on the move in numbers. We heard a ROYAL TERN calling from the harbor and soon spotted it from the hawk watch. Before heading out, I drove down to the beach to scan the water and found seve...

Last autumn I began to explore Hammonasset Beach State Park's Willard's Island as a potential "morning flight" hotspot. Results were encouraging  over a handful of attempts. At the very least, the site seemed to be reliable for a modest flight given good migration conditions. Thanks to a busy work/life schedule, my opportunities to hit Willard's for morning flight are few are far between. When you're talking about a six-week peak window, there aren't many chances to begin with. So I jumped on the opportunity to spend the morning of the 15th standing at the north tip of the tiny island, staring southward in hopes of some warblers migrating early in the season. A cold front had cleared the previous evening, which should have triggered movement overnight. As I began the walk out at sunrise, there were a few audible American Redstarts and Yellow Warblers, so at least a few birds were on the move. I arrived at the morning flight site to find clear skies and a ...

After a very bird-centric 2019 and 2020, I really needed to take a break from the local birding scene to regain some much-needed balance in my life. That Connecticut Self-Found Big Year in 2019 was an endeavor, so I was looking forward to normalcy in 2020. Well, we all know how that went. Turns out, outdoor activities such as birding were the perfect antidote to lockdowns and quarantines, so it was back into the field for 2020! Don't get me wrong...I am eternally grateful to have had a hobby like birding to serve as an outlet during the height of the ongoing pandemic. But after two years of so much local field time, I badly needed a respite. One of the perks of working as a hospital-based Physician Assistant through the whole ordeal, other than keeping me sane with daily human interaction, was my immediate access to the COVID-19 vaccine. I received my second shot on January 5th. Two weeks later, I was good to go. Florida in January, Alaska in March, and Texas/Arizona in April. I re...

Back on January 3rd, while doing the Old Lyme Christmas Bird Count, I came across a lone Fox Sparrow on private property in Clinton that struck me as odd for our usual iliaca "Red" Fox Sparrows in that it had quite a bit of gray on the head and seemed to be lacking much in the way of rufous tones to the body. I did snap a few photos, but the encounter was rather brief and I really could not afford to spend much time with the bird if I wanted to complete my CBC territory. I decided I would come back for it another day. On the afternoon of the 5th I scattered seed on the ground beneath the bushes in which it was initially seen and returned to the site on the morning of the 6th to find that the local thicket birds had indeed already discovered the seed. Initially present were two Fox Sparrows. Both were standard Eastern fare. Then three. Then four. But nothing out of the ordinary. By this point I was beginning to question the initial sighting, wondering if lighting conditions ha...