Under Clear Skies

Black & White Warbler - Luke Tiller

Due to a clash of commitments this weekend I had to move my weekend walk to the Saturday. Things looked a little dreary weather wise, and in the lack of birds at first with just a few migrant warbler putting on an appearance at New Canaan. Probably the highlight of the walk there was a group of four Bobolinks (2 males and 2 females) that appeared to be checking out the fields at New Canaan. It was cool to get such great looks at these great birds and to listen to the males wonderful ‘bobolink’ song (here).

Next we were on to Saugatuck Falls. Being just 10 minutes or so in the car from my house this is really one of my favorite spring and fall warbler spots. The mix of cedar fields, hemlocks, river edge, marsh, scrubby fields etc makes for a nice range of habitats in which to pick up warblers. Over the years good finds have included: Purple Martin, Yellow-breasted Chat and a wealth of migrants particularly northern specialties that seem to be attracted in, such as Philadelphia Vireo, Blackburnian, Bay-breasted and Cape May. In my humble opinion it is also probably one of the more reliable spots to find Olive-sided Flycatcher locally and perhaps in the state. I seem to get one a season there most years. The site is also fairly small (well the most birdy bits are) so it can be birded fairly quickly if you just have a spare hour or so.

Although numbers were again a little sparse the quality quickly made up for the quantity. On arrival at the school parking lot for John Read Middle School Joe ‘golden ears’ Bear, who had decided to join us for the day, picked up the song of what he believed to be a Yellow-throated Warbler (song here). Of course Yellow-throated is probably the rarest of the more regularly occurring species in the state so he didn’t want to jump on the call and we decided to go check it out imagining that maybe there was a more prosaic answer (a bird singing an off call or something?). Anyway as we got closer it seemed fairly obvious that this was going to be something exciting and within a few minutes the Yellow-throated Warbler had revealed itself to us as it sang from the tippy-tops of an oak woodland behind the school (all good birders should know that in spring especially, where there are oaks there are almost certainly migrant warblers – they love the things). An unbelievable find! The bird eventually revealed itself to us and although it was staying near the canopy of the trees we all managed to get fine looks at this cracking bird, a lifer or state bird for many involved.

With that kind of start it was going to be a tough act to follow. In general there wasn’t too much to be found although we did add a few year birds to a few lists, in the shape of an accommodating Veery, a Yellow-throated Vireo and a cheeky little Ruby-throated Hummingbird. The lesson bird of the day was a nice Northern Waterthrush, which gave us nice obliging views, a good comparison for those that had such good looks at Louisiana the previous week. It’s hard to have a bad day out in Mid-May but a great day like this one are few and far between. Funnily enough at the start of the morning Wendy (one of the Sunrise regulars) had asked me what i’d like to find today. I had jokingly replied Yellow-throated Warbler – next time I am wishing for Eskimo Curlew!

Trip List:

Canada Goose, Mallard, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Great-crested Flycatcher,Eastern Kingbird, American Robin, Wood Thrush, Veery, Eastern Bluebid, Gray Catbird, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, House Wren,  Yellow-throated Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Warblers: YELLOW-THROATED, Pine, Yellow, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-and-white, Magnolia, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat and American Redstart.  Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Common Grackle, Baltimore Oriole, Song Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Hose Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow, European Starling.

Nashville Warbler - Luke Tiller

A little happier with this one shot later in the day!

Least Flycatcher - Luke Tiller

After a great trip to Colorado it was nice to touch down in Connecticut and to touch base with a number of the Connecticut regulars on the first weekend walk I had been around for for a couple of weekends. It was the first time that I had been out with some Eastern Migrants for a little while as well and it was good to see so many coming through. Trout Brook Valley is a really fine birding spot in Fairfield County and thank heavens that the plan to turn it into a mall and a golf course (or whatever the initial plan was) never quite transpired (thanks to the hard work of many local conservation groups and individuals). With a mixture of wetlands, trout streams, coniferous and deciduous habitats as well as grasslands and orchard, it is a spot that hosts a wealth of breeding bird species. It is also a fine spot to look for migrants and over the years it has provided me with some cracking birds including all of the regularly occurring migrant warblers including Connecticut and Mourning, Yellow Bellied Flycatcher, Dickcissel and Mississippi Kite.

I won’t bother with a grand explanation to the birding there as this will be covered in Frank Gallo’s forthcoming book but suffice to say an early morning hike of the Green/White main trail from the Bradley Rd parking lot through to the Purple Trail and back to the parking lot at any time in May should provide you with a wealth of good breeding and migrant birds. Paying attention to the clearings makes the birding easier but there is much to find all along the trails. Highlight breeding birds include both Cuckoos, Acadian Fly, Winter Wren, BT Green, Worm-eating, Louisiana Waterthrush etc.

The day itself was somewhat overcast, but apart from a spot of drizzle it was nice and dry. We were rewarded with a nice mix of warblers including cracking looks at a Worm-eating Warbler, whose subtle yet beautiful markings won over the group, even those who had initially as one of the less interesting warblers. Personally I have a real soft spot for this species, especially when it nested for a couple of years in the slope next to my house, it didn’t reappear last year but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for this one. We then tracked down a few more warblers in a nice clearing including eventual good looks at a Nashville Warbler, a somewhat bogey bird for at least one of the participants. I had a brief view of a Tennessee but I’m not sure anyone else got on it apart from maybe Katie. The numbers of Black and Whites were quite astounding as were high numbers of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and as many Blue-gray Gnatcatchers as I have seen in one wave of migrants.

We finished off the day with a hike down the purple trail where we managed to get outstanding views of three Louisiana Waterthrushes as they squabbled over territory seemingly oblivious to the watching group. This was a nice opportunity to discuss identifying characteristics for one of the harder to identify spring warblers. The close views however allowed the group to study the large bill, salmon pink washed flanks, bubblegum pink legs and to study the supercilium shape in close detail, the ony thing that might have perfected the experience would have been to have a Northern Waterthrush come and land nearby. The other highlight was the number of singing Winter Wrens. Last year was an off year for them at Trout Brook but they seem to have come back in force in 2009 with 3 separate birds singing from the wet, scree covered hillsides.  I know I have linked the Winter Wrens song before on the blog but I think it worth doing so again. It is after all such a treat to hear these amazingly diminutive songsters in action (here).

Although we didn’t get one on the walk, I thought I’d stick up my shot of a Least Flycatcher (which was kind enough to confirm my ID by calling) which I snapped midweek whilst out with AJ Hand. He kindly has loaned me his old camera and a decent lens. Anyway the picture came out fairly nice and sharp but it is proof positive that there is more to the amazing work of photographers like AJ than a big lens and a good camera. I think I need to work on my composition!!!

Trip Species List

Double-crested Cormorant, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Eastern Phoebe, Great-crested Flycatcher, American Robin, Wood Thrush, Gray Catbird, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Winter Wren, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue Headed Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Warblers: Yellow, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Blue-winged, Nashville, Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, Prairie, Ovenbird, Louisisana Waterthrush, Worm-eating, Common Yellowthroat and American Redstart. Scarlet Tanager, Red-winged Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Baltimore Oriole, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Rose Breasted Grosbeak