Under Clear Skies

Bluethroat in hand - Stephen Tiller

It seems my birding passion has slowly rubbed off onto the rest of my family – next stop complete world domination?! I just got a very nice email from my mum and dad who are on holiday in France and found out that they spent two of their precious days hanging round in a marsh in Northern France watching a ringing (banding) crew doing a banding study on Aquatic Warbler (a rather pretty and cryptically colored old world warbler). Aquatic Warbler are few in number on the planet and seemingly were rapidly becoming fewer due to loss of habitat. They are also quite notable in that much of their breeding population was unknown until fairly recently and equally their wintering range has only just recently been uncovered (see story from 2007 here).

The pictures are of Olivier and his assistant Fabienne. My parents report that the team had caught 40 Aquatic Warblers over the month but that they weren’t lucky enough to get to see one themselves the days they were there. They did however get to see Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Willow Warbler, Wryneck, Blue Throat and Pied Flycatcher. It seems like the amazing Wryneck (a bizarre looking and amazing member of the woodpecker family which can turn it’s head almost 180 degrees) somewhat stole the show as far as they were concerned. Good to see the family out birding even without my pressurizing them! Even better, I note that my mum still manages to look chic (in her white coat) even whilst trudging round a marsh in France (note the same glamorous stylings in the photo that constitutes my banner).

In similar news my brother sent me a message on facebook asking to identify the cool birds that he is seeing down in Malaysia. At this rate birding is going to be turning into a family obsession – perhaps I need to start sharpening my skills so as to stay ahead of the Tiller pack!!!!

Sunrise Birding regular participant and good friend Tina Green will be giving a talk on becoming a birder at Sherwood Island Nature Center on Thursday September 3 (details here). Of course many of you will know Tina from Sherwood Island and her famous find of the first Western Meadowlark for the state, and to think I remember her first walk with Sunrise – talk about rapid development. I’m sure her talk will reflect her great passion for birding and her fun personality and I look forward to seeing a few of you there. With things exceptionally busy since my return from the Bird Fair and my participation at the Greenwich Hawkwatch as well as organising more successful Sunrise trips (Cape Cod report soon) I haven’t had much time for the blog – more regular service soon though I promise.

Possible Long-billed Dowitcher - Luke Tiller

Spent a delightful day out in Westport on Saturday searching for shorebirds with a nice group of folks who came from as far away as Florida, not specifically for my walk I might add – my reputation hasn’t reached that far…yet. First bird of the day was almost certainly the highlight as we picked up a Wilson’s Snipe sat out on the model airplane field at Sherwood, a somewhat surprising out of place bird that is quite rare at this time of year in Connecticut.

Although there was plenty to enjoy there wasn’t much in the way of rarities and when we got to Grace Salmon it appeared that the birds this year are concentrating much of their time up near Gorham’s Island (see my birding map), which isn’t the best site for viewing the birds if they are just roosting in or around the marsh there. It also seems to be that the reported late summer in much of the arctic has lead to a somewhat delayed return migration for a lot of these birds although I did finally see a juvenile Least Sandpiper on Saturday (a first for the year).

After the walk we popped up to Milford via Stratford Marina where I took the snap of this probable Long-billed Dowitcher (noted upright stance at rest, long legged look as well as plumage). Things seemed to be heating up a little there with nice numbers of peeps and a good mix of other more common species. Highlight were three stunning Red Knots in worn breeding plumage and a couple of White-rumped Sandpipers I was pleased to pick out of the throngs. One of the Knots was banded and had a couple of colored flags on its legs. At such distance the letters on the flags weren’t visible (in fact it was hard to even decide what the colors were in the harsh light).

I’ve stumbled on a few banded shorebirds before and they have always been from the Delaware Bay, less glamorous than one might hope. Anyway if you send in a report they generally get back to you with a nice thank you email and sometimes even a spiffy little certificate. Reports can be sent here.

EDIT: Just thought I’d throw up this interesting article on Dowitcher ID. It has some helpful pointers. From a few offline comments it seems that the majority are coming down on the side of Long-billed.

Red Admiral - Juliet Balian

Trout Brook Valley is really one of my favorite birding sites in Fairfield County. The site was saved from development 10 or so years ago now, and it really offers a fantastic opportunity to birders from spring through fall. A mix of habitats provides great birding with good migrant action in both directions and I have had a few memorable days and birds at the site.

Summer at the site can also be interesting with a good mix of interesting breeding birds including both cuckoos and Acadian Flycatchers and a nice variety of warblers. Summer highlights can also include rarities and my personal tallies have included singing Dickcissel and Mississippi Kite. Of course this year there famously was a very elusive Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

One of the highlights at Trout Brook during the year is when the blueberries are ripe in the orchard. It seems as if the blueberry patch suddenly becomes alive with a wealth of birds as they tuck into the veritable feast. The bounty draws in large numbers of orioles, woodpeckers, waxwings, flycatchers and others looking for an easy meal.

Saturday was no exception with Baltimore Orioles of all shades hitting the berries as well as at least four Orchard Orioles, a number of Cedar Waxwings, Scarlet Tanager, Great-crested Flycatcher and five Eastern Bluebirds all perched on the same crook to name a few. Other neat sightings included a number of brilliant blue Indigo Buntings, many Field Sparrows with young, Eastern Towhees and other scrub/edge specialists such as Blue-winged Warbler and House Wren.

It was nice to see a pair of American Kestrels on site but although I hopes they bred they might just have been wandering? Another possible wanderer was a female American Redstart that just seemed to give the feel of being a migrant. Down by the farmhouse there were two young Red-shouldered Hawks showing their distinctive primary crescents in flight and we also found a Solitary Sandpiper in one of the many puddles from the recent heavy rains to add to the two flyovers early in the day. A lovely warm day and although nothing incredibly rare to be seen it’s always a heartwarming trip out there to see these birds scoffing down blueberries, we even nabbed a few ourselves!

ps – The picture is of a Red Admiral using my arm as a salt lick – never had that happen before!

Trip List Birds:

Double-crested Cormorant, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Wild Turkey, Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper (3), Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Chimney Swift,  Northern Flicker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Great-crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Black-capped Cickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, House Wren, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Blue Jay, American Crow, Cedar Waxwing, Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, Blue-winged Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Scarlet Tanager, Northern Cardinal, Eastern Towhee, Indigo Bunting, American Goldfinch, House Finch, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard Oriole (4+), Baltimore Oriole, Brown-headed Cowbird, European Starling.

Some Butterflies: Monarch, Common Wood Nymph, Pearl Crescent, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Red Admiral, Cabbage White,

Mystery Gull - Juliet Balian

Hey gull fans here’s a few pictures for you to puzzle over. These digiscoped pictures were taken in Provincetown MA today of a gull found by Tina Green recently. This is one well and truly worn and beaten up gull (note lack of feathers on the nape and back of head.) So the bird itself seems a little less bulky in the field than a Herring gull, the deep pinkish legs, dark eye and head shape (what you can make of it) seem to point towards a possible first summer Kumlien’s Gull to my eye. Anyone else got any thoughts?

EDIT: The voting thus far seems to be two and two halves for leucistic Herring (a couple of people hedging bets?) and one and a half votes for Kumlien’s Gull. My vote for what it’s worth was that initially the previous pictures I was sent had me leaning towards a  Herring (as others pointed out the heavy feather wear is in line with leucistic feathers) but did wonder about the leg coloration and a bill and bird overall that apparently seemed smaller in the field to nearby Herrings. Perhaps noteworthy that no-one is being drawn into an online ID so I’m not naming names on how the voting went 😉 Any more thoughts appreciated. Man I hate gulls – especially ones that look like this one!!!!

EDIT 2: Nick of Shorebirder blog fame and king of rare gull finds in CT dug up some pictures from Rick Heil’s photstream from earlier in the month that has the bird tentatively ID’d as a Kumlien’s Gull (see more pics here).