Saturday Sebastian and I packed a picnic lunch while Jorge collected Max from a sleepover at Matt's house. When they returned home, Jorge collected birding equipment while the boys and I emptied the sap buckets and filled the bird feeders.
Snowy scene along I-84 in northeastern Connecticut
At 10:31am, with the van's mileage at 33986, we were on I-84 headed to Sherwood Island in Westport. Sebastian kept a list and tally of birds seen for the day.
Can we count the fuzzy duckling?
As usual, the bird list begins with crows, followed in short order by pigeons and our most common roadside hawk.
Sebastian's bird list, page 1
Passing through New Haven we saw a small kettle of large birds, vultures by the look, but you know when something isn't quite right... as we neared the group, we identified one Black Vulture amongst the Turkey Vultures! After an hour on the road, we took a short break at Long Wharf along New Haven Harbor, where we added many waterbirds to our list.
Exploring the shoreline along the harbor
Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, sunning, preening and drying out
Brant, Branta bernicla, winging along the shore
The same six Brant landing in front of a group of Mute Swans, Cygnus olor
Page two of Sebastian's bird list
Back on the road, we ate our sandwiches and anticipated the birds we were hoping to find at Sherwood Island State Park. Topping the list was a Saw Whet Owl, seen there in recent weeks.
Sherwood Forest
Just inside the entrance to the park on the right side of the road is a spruce plantation. While Jorge and I searched for the little owl, the boys played in the fresh snow in "Sherwood Forest". The sun was bright, the sky was blue and the sounds of dripping snow were audible.
Snow on spruce branches
After searching the little forest, we walked over to the coast to see what was there. A flock of Ruddy Turnstones and several gulls were actively feeding along the rocky shore. Most of the ducks were pretty far out, necessitating digiscoping efforts. There were more than a dozen Common Loons way out in the sound, about the same numbers of Horned Grebes, and big rafts of probably Greater Scaup - too far out to identify with certainty.
Herring Gull, Larus argentatus, with Slipper Shell, Crepidula fornicata
Flock of Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres
The same flock of over thirty birds well concealed against their Rockweed-covered perch.
Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres, showing striking dorsal pattern in flight
Sue scoping Long Island Sound for distant waterfowl
Max's sea treasures, a Green Sea Urchin and a fish skull bone
Leaving the park around 3:15 pm, we stopped at Sherwood Forest again, so Jorge could take just one more look around for the Saw Whet Owl. Half an hour later he returned with news that the Great Horned Owls were calling. A pair is known to have a nest here (which we never found) but as we listened, we heard two distinct voices calling -- who who-ooo whoo whoo.
Sebastian and I saw one of the owls fly from the top of a tall pine, and very shortly after that, the Blue Jays found it, so we were able to relocate it quickly. Jorge's photo below gives just a hint of how well a large bird can hide in a tree-top.
Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus in Norway Spruce
Great Horned Owl, same image, zoomed-in
Great Horned Owl
Page three of Sebastian's bird list - he had made the drawing earlier in the day, before we saw the owl, and ws excited that as the list continued, the first species for this page was the Great Horned Owl.
Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis, looks surprised at having been discovered.
Red-tail leaving the scene, flying off over the "Mill Pond" at Sherwood Island.
At 4:30 pm we left the park, headed for home, but with a few more stops along the way. We had often read about bird sightings at the Birdseye Street boat launch on the Housatonic River in Stratford. The location was not difficult to find, and we indeed saw a species that has been hanging around there all winter, the American Coot.
American Coot, Fulica americana, dabbling close to the boat launch, another individual joined these two for a total of three.
Seen on a harbor-front side-street in Stratford, we wondered at this Crazy House.
At a nearby stop right beside the Route One bridge over the Housatonic, we had a few Lesser Scaup.
Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis
Sebastian watching the Lesser Scaup
The last page of the day's bird list.
Final stop of the day was Silver Sands State Park, birding in the last light of a now cloudy, cold afternoon. The local herd of White-tailed Deer greeted us just inside the park entrance - someone had tossed out pieces of bread, so they were hanging out right near the road.
Young White-tailed Deer, Odocoileus virginianus
Dusk at the beach, with Charles Island barely connected by the causeway at low tide.
Boardwalk, Silver Sands S.P.
A pair of Mallards, Anas platyrhynchos, caught in the last light of the day
Today's birders: Sebastian, Maximiliano, Jorge and Sue
Today's birds, straight from Seba's list, with latin added for the blog
1. Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
2. Rock doves, Columba livia
3. Blackbird... (species never identified)
4. Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis
5. Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
6. G.B.B. Gull, Larus marinus
7. H. Gull, Larus argentatus
8. Turkey vulture, Cathartes aura
9. R.B. Gull, Larus delawarensis
10. Gull (species unidentified), Larus
11. Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus
12. Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos
13. Swans, Cygnus olor
14. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
15. R-t Loon, Gavia stellata
16. H. Grebe, Podiceps auritus
17. Cormorant (species unidentified), Phalacrocorax
18. Brant, Branta bernicla
19. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
20. Black Duck, Anas rubripes
21. Gadwall, Anas strepera
22. Greater Scaup, Aythya marila
23. L-t Duck, Clangula hyemalis
24. Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola
25. R-b Merg, Mergus serrator
26. Ruddy Duck, Oxyura jamaicensis
27. Chickadee, Poecile atricapillus
28. Junco, Junco hyemalis
29. W-t Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis
30. Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
31. Blue Jay, Cyanocitta cristata
32. W b Nut, Sitta carolinensis
33. Robin, Turdus migratorius
34. Gold-eye, Bucephala clangula
35. Common Loon, Gavia immer
36. Ruddy Turnstone, Arenaria interpres
37. Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus
38. H Merg, Lophodytes cucullatus
39. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
40. American Goldfinch, Carduelis tristis
41. Coot, Fulica americana
42. L. Scaup, Aythya affinis
43. Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia
There were three new species for Jorge's 2010 Connecticut list, bringing the year total to 84 species:
Black Vulture
Long-tailed Duck
American Coot
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