Laurel Marsh Walk - Manchester

On a warm Sunday afternoon we had some choices... go chase a few birds in the sewage ponds near Hartford or walk the loop trail around Manchester's Hockanum River. We set out to do both - doing the trail first - but finished up at nightfall, so that was that.

Karen and Jorge watching for Pine Warbler in a nearly dry swamp - nice habitat though.


David Sibley's Pine Warblers, immature above and female below, the birds we saw were halfway in between in markings.


On the west and south sides of the marsh, the trail passes so close to the highways that birding by ear was nearly impossible. Here the hardwood forest slopes down to Phragmites marsh.


I took a variety of photos in different light to experiment with the capabilities of my new Canon point-and-shoot. Not sure I got enough field marks to be able to identify this Solidago species.


Orange-blaze points the way... Many sections of the trail have great boardwalks and bridges crossing the marshy areas, but this summer has been so dry, they were all but unnecessary today.


A tiny spot of purple against the reeds is Purple Loosestrife. One invasive plant highlighted against another. Lythrum salicaria, family Lythraceae, order Myrtales.


Purple Loosestrife detail, not bad considering the wind was blowing strongly enough that I had to hold the flower stem to make the photo.


A mixed flock of blackbirds settling in for the night. Mostly Brown-headed Cowbirds and Starlings, with many Common Grackles and a few Red-winged Blackbirds.


Trying out the camera's low-light setting for this subtly dramatic evening sky.

The three of us worked pretty hard to get 28 species in the span of 2 1/2 hours.
Today's birders: Jorge, Sue and Karen
Today's birds:

Green Heron
Mallard
Wood Duck
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier - fantastic views of a beautifully colored immature
Cooper's Hawk - immature, posed quietly at the top of a nearly leafless sycamore
Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Pine Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird

So to wrap up, that was Sunday, September 26th, from 4:30 to 7pm, in Manchester, Connecticut, on the Laurel Marsh Trail along the Hockanum River. An okay walk, but not great for birding due to the highway noise. This is a place to come back to in winter to check for gulls and raptors near the Manchester Landfill - accessible from the south east corner of the park.
okay
ciao, Sue