This crazy time of year

Well….it’s that time of year again….final exams are here once again! Due to the fact that I missed quite a bit of school this year, the majority of my exams will be taken at the end of the summer, although I’ll be taking my Spanish final on time this week. Thus, much of my time during the past day has been spent indoors. However, because I only have one exam this week, I was able to spend an enjoyable half-day birding on both Saturday and Sunday, looking for my arch nemesis: Black-billed Cuckoo. Saturday saw me starting early at the Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area in Easton/Weston before moving up to Schaigticoke Road in Kent. On Sunday, I once again returned to gorgeous Kent, this time hitting River Road with Brendan Murtha and his dad, Sean.

Look for an upcoming post on what was a crazy weekend! Also, I have neglected to post about the Fairfield Big Day, again due to exam pressures, so stay tuned for that as well.

While songbird migration is dying down, shorebird migration is just heating up. Expect a post or two in the coming week about this week’s shorebirding. Just like I did last year, I’m planning on taking breaks every now and then from studying to hit the reef and Ash Creek. Still need Semipalmated Sandpiper for the year!

Looking past the exam, I have a few exciting things planned for the summer, which I’ll certainly detail in an upcoming post.

I know, I know continuing promises of posting. “Will he actually come through?” you might be asking. We shall see!

-AB

May Maddness: 5/14 – 5/20

With numbers of migrants dwindling across the state, I have begun looking ahead to the breeding season and past May. The bittersweet period of the last ten days of May has begun and with it the arrival of the last of the migrants: late warblers (like Mourning), flycatchers and thrushes such as Gray-cheeked. This bittersweet feeling has been especially heightened for me with the removal of a huge mental barrier: the Fairfield Big Day.

Yesterday, Dave Hursh and I conducted our second annual Fairfield Big Day, putting together a grand total of 116 species, seen over an eighteen hour period. Perhaps the usage of the word ‘barrier’ might seem negative to you, but in this case it simply means that I was too involved thinking about and planning for the big day (and thus migration) to focus on anything that was occurring after that momentous occasion. Thus, now that it is over, I’ve already begun turning my attention to breeders, versus migrants, although migration is far from over.

Due to the fact that the big day was such a major event, I will dedicate a single, special ‘May Madness’ post just to that special period and instead concentrate on just the last week.

In short, I did hardly any birding at all in this past week as compared to the past two weeks due to the big day. Wait – he did less birding because of the big day? While it seems counter-intuitive that I was able to do less birding in the week leading up to the big day, as opposed to the weeks before, there were a lot of pre-big day aspects that involved a large amount of non-fieldwork. In other words, much of my time was used spending hours on end putting together a solid plan for the big day and organizing the scouting information I collected, as well as info collected by others.

Nevertheless, I was still able to get out for one nice afternoon of scouting and birding along the shore, as well as having some nice sightings at school. From what I remember (which may not be correct), migrants, after being abundant the past week, sort of just petered out in abundance very quickly this week. Several nights showed good conditions, but the following mornings never seemed to produce as expected. However, some of the later species began showing up right on time in Connecticut, with multiple Gray-cheeked Thrushes and slews of Blackpoll Warblers being reported from across the state.

My birding week began with my FOY Blackpoll Warbler, singing at school on Monday, the 14th. I was unable to do any birding on Monday due to an afternoon hospital visit.

The story remained the same on Tuesday, with heavy rain this time being the culprit. However, I again had another Blackpoll Warbler singing at school. Possibly the same bird, possibly not.

Finally, on Wednesday, the 16th, things changed. The day began with a singing Wood Thrush and Blackpoll Warbler among the chorus of voices at school that morning. In the afternoon, I headed out for my first and only day of scouting for the Fairfield Big Day.

The first location I hit was Southport Beach. I spent nearly forty-five minutes combing shore and offshore areas for birds, not finding as many waterfowl and shorebirds as I would’ve liked, a theme that would hold true for the rest of the day. However, there were still some great birds to enjoy including a few FOYs. Some of these were Common Loon, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper and Common Tern. (eBird Checklist)

I then headed over the intersection of Rose Hill and Harbor Roads in Southport to view the Fairfield Country Club (no public entry), across the harbor in Fairfield. Here I enjoyed my biggest highlight of the day, in the form of a female Boat-tailed Grackle, possibly the first record for Fairfield! I first noted this individual perched in the marshy grass in a wet area of the golf course. It sat up for about two minutes, in the meantime being harassed and dive-bombed by Red-winged Blackbirds! Perhaps because of pressure from the Red-wings, this bird flew a bit, before diving back and out of sight into some nearby grasses. It was a very exciting bird to see, one I was able to put a name to quickly due to all of the time I’ve spent in Florida.

Other highlights included Least Sandpiper and Common Tern. (eBird checklist – with more Boat-tailed info)

Moving on to Fairfield, I hit Sunken Island before moving on to my last stop, the Penfield Reef. I was quite surprised to find little in the way of lingering waterfowl, save a few Common Loons at each location. Shorebirds were also surprisingly absent from the reef, something I hoped wouldn’t translate over to the big day as well.

The highlight at Sunken Island for me came in the form of an American Oystercatcher, a species I don’t see all that much in Fairfield. Unfortunately not nesting in town, the reef and Sunken are definitely the two best locations to find foraging individuals at lower tides. Over twenty Common Terns perched on and foraging around the island was another highlight. (eBird checklist)

My last stop was the Penfield Reef, which was only partially exposed. A pair of American Black Ducks was a nice bird to get, as this bird can sometimes being annoying to find at this time of year in Fairfield. Also of note were four flyover Common Terns and two flyover Least Terns, my FOY.(eBird checklist)

Overall, it was a rather fun day of hitting the coast, although the lack of shorebirds and waterfowl became worrisome because of the big day (Stay tuned for an upcoming post highlighting that special day to see how this plays out).

The last two days of the school week, Thursday and Friday, combined no birding with a bucketful of big day work. A singing Blackpoll Warbler at school on Thursday and Wood Thrush on Friday were nice bonuses.

The Fairfield Big Day took place Saturday, May 19th. Due to the fact that the big day was such a major event, I will dedicate a single, special ‘May Madness’ post just to that special period and instead concentrate on just the last week.

And, well, today, remains quite quiet bird-wise for me. No warblers are singing from the yard, with no other migrants making themselves easily detectable. The late May blues have definitely set in for me. After what seemed like yesterday, May 1st and is almost three weeks away and many of the birds I enjoyed that day, are already well-established on their breeding grounds.

After another week or so, shorebirds will begin to dominate the radar well into the second week of June. Now that the big day is over, I’ve begun to think more and more about my summer plans, which I’ll highlight here soon.

Tomorrow will begin the fourth week of May, what is one of the saddest, but definitely not worst, birding weeks of the year for me.

Crazy how this month always goes by so fast!

-Alex

Note: I’ve tried something different with the eBird checklists this week. Instead of posting about the species total when I talk about every location, I’ve instead stuck the checklist in parentheses at the bottom, where it is clearly visible. I’ll also likely experiment with putting the checklists at the bottom the entire post as well, to see which format works best.

Also: I’ve replaced last week’s poll with a new one. The results of the previous poll will be posted soon!

Lastly: It’s not too late to support the Fairfield Big Day effort! More information can be found at the above page ‘Support the Fairfield Big Day’ or by contacting me directly.

May Madness: 5/7 – 5/13

At the time of the writing of this second ‘May Madness’ post, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve reached the peak of spring migration. Later migrants, like Blackpoll Warblers, have begun arriving en mass, while earlier migrants, like Nashville Warbler, can still be found with a little work. The week leading up to this peak was an exciting one at that, all culminating in a weekend where I was able to achieve one of the most coveted of all spring migration goals.

The week’s birding started bright and early on Monday, May 7th, with one of my first Red-eyed Vireos of the season singing outside the house. After school that afternoon, I again made my way to the Birdcraft Sanctuary, which had been absolutely fantastic the week before. It was a rather slow visit, with only 5 warbler species recorded including my first, and so far, only Prairie Warbler of the spring at Birdcraft. Other highlights included only my second Wilson’s Warbler of the year.

Wilson’s Warbler

A singing Rose-breasted Grosbeak at school made for a nice start to the morning of Tuesday, May 8. Other than noting the singing grosbeak, I really didn’t do any other birding on Tuesday. I suppose it was partly due to the fact that I just needed a break after an exhausting weekend!

I was back into the swing of things on Wednesday, May 9th, however. A nice little movement of birds the night before, coupled with showers, made for the possibility of fallout conditions. And although I had no such luck, I was still able to encounter a nice variety of birds.

The first goodie of the day, and arguably one of (if not the best) birds of the day was a singing Cape May Warbler at school. Because it was Wednesday, we were let out early from school, and upon arriving home I headed off to Sherman (namely the ornamentals and town green) to see what I could find. Although Sherman didn’t produce completely in the way I would’ve hoped, I was nevertheless able to procure a total of no less than 48 species, with many highlights.

These included 10 species of wood-warbler including Ovenbird, Magnolia, Wilson’s and Prairie (possibly one of the individuals from last week?). Other good birds included Solitary Sandpiper, Least Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Swainson’s Thrush, half a million Gray Catbirds, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Savannah and Swamp Sparrows. A flyover Belted Kingfisher provided a first record for this species at Sherman!

Prairie Warbler

Another look at the Prairie

Magnolia Warbler

Swainson’s Thrush

Swamp Sparrow

Warbling Vireo

Least Flycatcher

After covering the entire Sherman area for the second time in two weeks, I headed through the now thick fog to the scrub behind the ball field at Pine Creek. Although the fog prevented me from looking over the marsh, my main targets were close enough to not be obstructed by the soup. My 34 species total included 6 wood-warbler species. Among them were Black-throated Blue, a couple of pretty tame Magnolias, and Ovenbird. Other highlights and surprises during my visit included a calling Ring-necked Pheasant (only called once; took me completely off guard!), Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher and Wood Thrush.

Greater Yellowlegs

Magnolia Warbler

The next morning, I arrived at school to the robin-like, throaty song of a Scarlet Tanager. That afternoon, I once again made my way to the Birdcraft Sanctuary, where Tina Green had found a Yellow-breasted Chat that morning. I admittedly didn’t look too hard for the chat and ended up missing it. Although I managed 34 species overall including 10 wood-warblers, I found the birding at the sanctuary to be rather slow, at least as compared to last week.

Highlights included Swainson’s Thrush, Warbling Vireo, Scarlet Tanager and Gray Catbird. The 10 wood-warbler species included Wilson’s Warbler and two very nice male Black-throated Blues.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-and-white Warbler

Fast forward to the afternoon of Friday May 11th, and a scouting trip to Sasco Pond Open Space, mainly to look for White-eyed Vireo. It was my first visit to the area and I dipped on my target, finding the entire area rather unbirdy. I hoped the large gusts of wind had something to do with it, as the spot really did contain some very nice habitat, including a rather extensive wetland.

My 20 recorded species included highlights such as Least Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing, Baltimore Oriole and Gray Catbird. Common Yellowthroat was the only wood-warbler recorded.

The scouting trip proved to be quite successful in the end, when a stop at the Harbor Road Bridge between Southport and Fairfield yielded 6 Purple Martins, no doubt nesting in the nearby boxes as I saw several individuals perched there from time to time. The swallow show at the bridge was quite good, with Tree, Barn and Northern Rough-winged Swallows also well-represented.

As far as I know, this is the only nesting location of Purple Martins in Fairfield, although there are several vacant boxes (and plenty of suitable habitat) a ways down Fairfield Beach Road. Perhaps these ‘condos’ are being used by something other than House Sparrows and European Starlings this year?

The Purple Martins at the bridge were certainly the beginning of a very memorable weekend.

I awoke on the morning of Saturday, May 12th feeling quite exhausted after a long week of school and birding. Instead of running out at 5:30, I hung around the yard, pulling together a nice list of species. Highlights included the only Prairie and Nashville Warblers on the day, as well as a nice singing Scarlet Tanager.

Dave Hursh, my trusty companion for the Fairfield Big Day, arrived to begin the scouting for that special event. Our first stop was the Larsen Sanctuary, where we enjoyed one of my best visits ever to this location. We covered much of the sanctuary, well over two miles, during our 4+ hour-long visit. 61 species were totaled with many surprises and highlights.

13 wood-warbler species were encountered including breeding Ovenbird, Blue-winged, Yellow, American Redstart and Common Yellowthroat. Probably one of the biggest highlights of the day was finding no less than 4 Louisiana Waterthrushes on territory and singing! It was quite interesting to hear both Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes singing within earshot of each other. Other warbler highlights included Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers.

The highlights didn’t end with warblers, though. Just a few of the many fun birds we enjoyed that day included two calling Yellow-billed Cuckoos (!), Yellow-throated Vireo, Orchard Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, Swamp Sparrow (two birds acting very much like a pair on territory),Veery, Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes as well as many more.

It was a terrific visit, and scouting-wise was quite successful, as we were able to nail down a couple of difficult-to-find species (namely the cuckoo, waterthrushes and Red-shouldered Hawk) that will be crucial to surpassing last year’s big year total. A recording of one of the singing LA Waterthrushes, is below.

Veeries

Black-capped Chickadee

Chipping Sparrow

Eastern Garter Snake

In the interest of focusing on scouting as much as possible, I ended up leaving the camera behind for the rest of the day, thus the absence of photos from the rest of the stops.

Our next stop was the Hemlock Reservoir area, where we again enjoyed more scouting success, nailing nesting Cliff Swallow as well as a Chestnut-sided Warbler on territory. Other highlights included Wild Turkey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Pine Warbler (a number singing and on territory) and Swamp Sparrow.

Our next location after Hemlock was Lake Mohegan, where we only covered a small portion of this fantastic open space area, namely the hillside in the vicinity of the old Lake Residence. Once again, it was another successful scouting trip, as we were able to pin down White-eyed Vireo on territory here for the second year in a row. Other highlights included Cooper’s Hawk, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-winged and Blackburnian Warblers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and drop-dead looks at Baltimore Oriole.

In just an hour of birding this very small portion of the open space area, we managed a startling 39 species. Due to its diverse habitats, wealth of species and thus fantastic birding, Lake Mohegan might just once again be slated as the first day stop on this year’s big day.

Following Lake Mohegan, we moved on to a new location, Oak Lawn Cemetary, where we again enjoyed some fantastic birding and scouting. Probably the highlight of our scouting was two Green Herons (an uncommon species at Fairfield) at a nearby wetland. Other good birds included Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Swainson’s Thrush, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Baltimore Oriole.

Following Oak Lawn, we made a quick stop at Perry’s Mill Ponds as we descended into Lower Fairfield. Our total of 24 species included Black-crowned Night-Heron, Wood Thrush and Baltimore Oriole, among others.

Our last stop of the day was at the olde reliable Birdcraft Sanctuary, which continued to produce. We ran up a count of 43 species included 13 species of wood-warbler including Worm-eating, Canada, an absolutely breathtaking Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Green. Other highlights included Black-crowned Night Heron, Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes.

Overall, Saturday was probably the most successful and most exciting day of birding I enjoyed so far this month. A final count at dinner yielded a total of 87 species on the day. The addition of 20 easy coastal species would’ve allowed us to surpass last year’s Fairfield Big Day total, but hopefully we’ll still able to set a new Fairfield record this weekend.

That final count also revealed a total of 20 wood-warbler species on the day, the first time I’ve ever reached this coveted mark in one day in Fairfield! It was also the first time for me since 2010 that I’d reached this awesome total during one day of birding. As I mentioned in the previous May Madness Post, Parulidae is my no-doubt favorite family of birds, and reaching 20 species in one day is one of my favorite birding challenges and one of the most exciting to overcome.

But the weekend wasn’t over. The next morning, I spent a little over an hour at the Birdcraft Sanctuary. Although not as productive warbler-wise as I’d thought after watching the radar the night before, I nevertheless was able to record over 40 species including 11 wood-warbler species. The three highlights for me were three stunning parulids in the form of Blackburnian, Canada and Chestnut-sided Warblers. Other good birds on the day included Veery, Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes and Baltimore Oriole.

Eager to join my mom for what would turn out to be a beautiful mother’s day, I departed the Birdcraft sooner than usual, ending an awesome weekend and another fantastic week of birding.

-Alex

Note: each eBird checklist for every spot is attached to the species total. Simply click on where I mention the total number of species or the location name to view the checklist. I don’t mean to create the illusion that the species total per location means so much to me. It’s merely away to attach the eBird checklist to the paragraph besides sticking it in an awkward place at the end.

Also: I’ve replaced last week’s poll with a new one. The results of the previous poll will be posted soon!

Additionally: additional photos from the previous week will be posted on my flickr page in the coming days. Check back soon!

Lastly: Please support the Fairfield Big Day effort! More information can be found by visiting the above page: ‘Support the Fairfield Big Day!’ or by contacting me directly.

May Madness: 5/1 – 5/6

Between general birding, scouting for the Fairfield Big Day, and the crazy period during school before the final exams, May sure is a busy month. With most of my time dedicated to school work and being out in the field, there’s hardly time for anything else. That includes blog posts. Thus, I’ve decided to post a weekly summary of the past week’s events for every week during May. That way, I’ll be able to keep up with the birds and the school work while still keeping the readers updated. So for the first May Madness post, we begin, most fittingly, on Tuesday, May 1st.

To recap for those who don’t remember, Connecticut had experienced a pretty decent nocturnal migration the night of April 29th into May 1st. During the later half of the night, showers had pushed into the moving cloud of birds, and southern New England looked poised to take advantage of fallout conditions with our first major warbler movement of the season.

Despite having returned home late from a party the night before, I still planned to be out early on Tuesday morning to hopefully see some of my first neotropical migrants. However, when I awoke Tuesday morning, I found heavy showers falling on the yard. The rain was just too much for me to have an effective outing, and thus I decided to head off to school and work the Birdcraft when I returned home.

My high hopes for a good afternoon at the sanctuary were dashed after I was only able to come up with 18 species, none of which were wood-warblers. In what one would consider a cruel twist, most birders in Connecticut had the same experience as me. Only a few isolated pockets of wood-warblers were reported, and most wound up having less than what was hoped for to show for their outings, save quite a few catbirds.

On the night of May 1st into May 2nd, Connecticut birders watched another modest flight take place. Far from discouraged, I planned on once again giving the Birdcraft a go that afternoon after school. While at school that day, I picked up my FOY Nashville Warbler and CT FOY Common Yellowthroat, both in full song on the school grounds.

And although my visit to the Birdcraft that afternoon started out quite slow, it ended with a bang, and I was able to come up with just over 30 species in under two and a half hours. The thirty-one species total included 5 species of wood-warbler including Black-and-white, Yellow, my FOY Black-throated Green, Northern Waterthrush, and Northern Parula. Other highlights or FOYs included Great Crested Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Veery, Warbling Vireo and Eastern Phoebe.

Black-and-white Warbler

Northern Waterthrush

Veery

But my introduction to full-scale Neotropical Migration 2012 didn’t end there. Upon returning home, the day just got better when I was able to throw together a nice little yard total of 21 species that included Veery, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Chimney Swift, American Redstart, Magnolia Warbler, and Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Although the next day, May 3rd, was mostly an off-day due to an afternoon hospital visit, I was nevertheless still getting warblers, this time in the form of four heard-only species at school that morning: Nashville, Magnolia, Pine and Common Yellowthroat.

Even though the winds were predicted to be less than ideal for large-scale migration during the night of May 3rd, frequent checks of the radar showed a steady and strong flight occurring, with many of the migrants to our south! The next morning at school seemed to reflect this, as I picked up both Yellow Warbler and American Redstart singing on the campus.

With terrific reports pouring in from across the state (including 20 warbler species at East Rock Park), I was eager to get to the Birdcraft that afternoon. And I was not disappointed! In what might have been my single best afternoon visit to the Birdcraft ever, I racked up no less than 52 species including 15 wood-warblers! My eBird checklist (click on ’52 species’) provides many of the locations where I had these birds, so I’ll stick to the highlights and some photos here.

In terms of highlights, they were abundant. Some of the more notable included 15 wood-warbler species: Ovenbird, Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Nashville, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Northern Parula, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart and Northern Waterthrush.

But why stop with warblers? I also enjoyed a ton more awesome non-wood-warblers that included Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-throated, Blue-headed and Warbling Vireos, Veery, Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes, my first Savannah Sparrow ever at Birdcraft and absolutely breathtaking Scarlet Tanagers and Baltimore Orioles.

Ovenbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Veery starin’ me down!

Swainson’s Thrush

Savannah Sparrow – my first for the Birdcraft!

An absolute stunner, Scarlet Tanager

It truly was an incredible afternoon, far surpassing my expectations. It was the first stop on a wild ride of a weekend, and what a stop it was!

Another substantial flight took place on the night of May 4th into May 5th and, with work and school out-of-the-way, the full might of the Connecticut Birding Community prepared to take to the field in force Saturday morning.

While others started out at hotspots such as East Rock Park, I again chose the humble Birdcraft Sanctuary as my spot of choice, and again the Birdcraft produced, far exceeding my expectations for the second time in two days.

In short Saturday morning was &^@*#$% RIDICULOUS. It confirmed again for me just why this is my favorite time of year and just why wood-warblers are my no-doubt favorite family of birds. Over the course of four hours, I threw together a total of nearly 60 species, once again picking up 15 species of wood-warbler, although in much larger numbers than the day before.

The sanctuary was absolutely flooded with migrants. With every step, two of my senses, visual and auditory, were absolutely overwhelmed with the sound and sight of so many birds. I wasn’t sure where to turn, what to focus my attention on. It was simply incredible. It was what I had spent my last two years only birding in Fairfield for. It was a proud moment, a very proud moment. My town had done it: bird local, think global was truly the way to go!

The highlights came fast and furious. I’ll start with the 15 wood-warbler species: Ovenbird, Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Nashville, Magnolia Blackburnian (STUNNING), Yellow, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Yellow-rumped, Wilson’s, Northern Parula, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat and Northern Waterthrush.

And lets not forget the others: Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, four vireo species (Yellow-throated, Blue-headed, Warbling and Red-eyed), Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wood Thrush, Veery, Scarlet Tanager, and 5 gorgeous Baltimore Orioles all foraging together in the same oak.

Black-and-white Warbler

Northern Parula

Despite all the effort, this is the best I did with regards to this Blackburnian Warbler, who (as is often the case with this species) stubbornly refused to remove himself from the treetops!

Can you see the insect in the REVI’s bill?

Gray Catbird

Eastern Towhee

It truly was an incredible morning, but the day was just heating up!

I then returned home, hoping to take a break for a couple of hours for lunch and a nap before heading back out. However, just when I was beginning to doze off I heard a loud pit-see! and ran out into the yard to find an Acadian Flycatcher briefly sitting in plain view before flying off. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I’d spent an hour out there, recording 37 species, including 9 wood-warblers, two of which I hadn’t had that morning, putting my day total at 17 and my weekend total at 18! The newbies on the list were Black-throated Green and Prairie Warblers, while the others were Ovenbird, Nashville, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart and Northern Parula.

Other fun birds in the yard during that terrific hour-long period included Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling and Red-eyed Vireos, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Wood Thrush.

Maggie in the yard!

With some time to kill before I wanted to head to Pine Creek, I thought I’d take a quick walk over to Sherman to see what was happening there. What was supposed to be a quick half-hour jaunt through the place turned into an almost three hour long trek in which I covered almost every piece of the area, from the Sherman Fields, to the Old Burying Ground to the town green.

I threw together a list of 43 species and just kept piling on the highlights. I was especially surprised with how productive the town green and ornamental plantings were, and are definitely something I have to check back into as those in flower stand a serious chance of attracting a Cape May or other uncommon warbler. Overall, the place was just darn birdy, something that isn’t always the case at Sherman. It seemed like the magic of the day couldn’t be contained, and I once again enjoyed another terrific stop.

The highlights included 11 species of wood-warbler, including another new species (Pine), putting the day total at 18 and the weekend total at 19 wood-warbler species! The other 10 warbs were: Black-and-white, Nashville, Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Prairie, Black-throated Green, Northern Waterthrush, American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat and Northern Parula.

But again, many other birds competed with the wood-warblers for my attention. These included: Solitary Sandpiper (my second record for Sherman!), Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a fun group of Cedar Waxwings, Field and Savannah Sparrows and Baltimore Oriole.

Common Yellowthroat – the masked bandit!

A partially obscured Prairie Warbler

Killdeer at the Sherman Fields

Only the second Solitary Sand for Sherman!

Gray Catbirds

Cedar Waxwing!

Another look at this common but stunning species.

It was one of my best visits to Sherman ever, and capped off what was an incredible run of birds that day. I never did make it out to Pine Creek, but I was able to sneak out one more time that evening, heading to Stratford Point with Brendan Murtha and his dad, Sean, to look for the previously reported Chuck-will’s-widow. Although we didn’t have any luck with the Chuck, I did enjoy my FOY Common Tern and a beautiful evening on the water as well as a few laughs with some good birding friends.

The recent ‘Supermoon’ at Stratford Point

The flight during the night of May 5th into May 6th was less productive for CT, with many birds making their way out of the state with few new arrivals replacing them.

I again woke early, heading to the Birdcraft for a third-straight day, to join my fellow young birders on our May CTYBC trip to watch the resident banders work their magic. Although we found far fewer migrants than the torrential amount I had the previous morning, we still recorded 35 species including 8 wood-warblers and banded some pretty special birds as well.

Overall, it was a great morning and seeing those stunning warbs at close range is always a treat. The highlights included: Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Veery (banded), Scarlet Tanager and of course the wood-warblers: Black-and-white, Magnolia (banded), Yellow, Palm (banded), Yellow-rumped (banded), Wilson‘s (banded), Northern Waterthrush and Northern Parula.

Look for a post on the CTYBC website by James Purcell with more results and photos.

After the Birdcraft, a few of us moved over to the Ash Creek Open Space area in search of a few local specialties. It was a very productive stop, in which we netted 48 species. The trip also served as a productive scouting effort for the Fairfield Big Day, as we were able to pick up a number of species that are often difficult to pin down (specifically Green Heron, Brown Thrasher and Orchard Oriole).

Other highlights at Ash Creek included: Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Black-bellied Plover, Greater Yellowlegs, Eastern Kingbird, Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warbler (abundant!) and Baltimore Oriole.

Yellow-crowned Night-Herons

A few of the many Greater Yellowlegs at Ash Creek

After Ash Creek I headed home, where I relaxed and finished up on some homework for the rest of the afternoon while reflecting on an incredible weekend and what was ultimately an amazing week and a terrific start to the month of May!

I wonder where we’ll be come next week’s post?!

-Alex

Note: each eBird checklist for every spot is attached to the species total. Simply click on where I mention the total number of species to view the checklist.

Also: I’ve posted a new poll on favorite warblers on the side. Vote if you’re interested! I’m planning on switching it up next week!

Additionally: additional photos from the previous week will be posted on my flickr page in the coming days. Check back soon!

Lastly: Please support the Fairfield Big Day effort! More information can be found by visiting the above page: ‘Support the Fairfield Big Day!’ or by contacting me directly.

4/28 – Lake Mohegan

I spent a really enjoyable morning at Lake Mohegan on Saturday, covering a good amount of the property. Although the morning started out quite cool at a balmy 35 degrees, I ended up recording 41 species including 6 wood-warblers. It was truly fantastic to be birding this location in the spring again, the first stop on last year’s Fairfield Big Day.

In terms of highlights, several local breeders including Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Warbling Vireo, Eastern Towhee, House Wren and Gray Catbird were in evidence, albeit in much lower numbers than they will be in the coming weeks. A number of locals like Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles have yet to arrive on location.

Recording six warbler species was definitely one of the main highlights on my visit. They were: Yellow-rumped Warbler, ‘Yellow’ Palm Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler (local breeder), Yellow Warbler (local breeder), Black-and-white Warbler and a gorgeous male American Redstart. Both Black-and-white Warbler and American Redstart breed at Lake Mohegan, so these birds could either be working on establishing territories or still have a ways to go to reach their nesting grounds.

Other highlights of the visit included a spectacular swallow show involving Northern Rough-winged and Barn Swallows at North Pond, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush and an oddly-behaving Swamp Sparrow that should be watched for breeding.

Overall, it was another awesome visit to this great location. Lake Mohegan is truly a fantastic spot, possessing a great number of habitats and always putting up big species totals. I encourage those in the area to check it out this spring! Even after nights of poor winds, the wealth of breeders will be sure to keep you busy, even if the migrants don’t produce.

A few photos:

Warbling Vireo

Yellow Warbler

American Redstart

Another look at the AMRE

-Alex

A Bird-Finding Guide to Costa Rica by Barrett Lawson

A Bird-Finding Guide to Costa Rica. Barrett Lawson. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2009. 365 pages.

Costa Rica. When we encounter these words, we’re instantly transported to a land with a wealth of organisms and habitats, from beautiful sand beaches and Loggerhead Turtles, to cloud forests and Resplendent Quetzals. Birders have long been aware of the fantastic birding opportunities that await them in this small Central American country. It is one of the most-visited tropical birding destinations in the Americas, and is a great place for one to begin birding in the tropics.

It would seem necessary, then, to have an accurate birding guide, so one might be able to navigate the overwhelming amounts of possible species and sites and plan an effective trip. I’m happy to say that Barrett Lawson’s A Bird-Finding Guide to Costa Rica does just that.

Introduction

We start off with the introduction, surprisingly one of the most helpful parts of this book. The intro contains information on the following, divided into short sections:

• An Overview of Costa Rica’s Geology, Geography and Climate
• Birding in the Neotropics
• How this Book Works
• Logistics
• Related Books of Interest
• Planning Your Trip
• Sample Itineraries

I personally find the introduction to be absolutely fantastic. As well as being incredibly helpful (especially in the case of the Birding in the Neotropics, Logistics and Related Books of Interest sections), it provides terrific background on topics such as geology, geography and climate that might not have been needed to be included in a bird-finding guide. However, the author makes them very helpful and useful here and they add a nice bit of background to our knowledge of the country.

I’m especially fond of the Birding in the Neotropics section. It’s truly a terrific introduction to neotropical birding for the average European or North American birder and goes through the difference of temperate versus tropical birding, the distribution of birds in the neotropics as well as the habitats, microhabitats, and the niches species fill.

Also very helpful is the Related Books of Interest area, where the author not only recommends field guides and CDs on birds but also field guides to other wildlife, natural history books, and general travel guides. Instead of just being lists of titles, a little description of each work is provided, giving the reader a nice, general background on each item.

The Planning Your Trip section is nice and concise, and like the rest of the introduction, very helpful. It provides a number of sample itineraries to give the reader a general sense of how to put a trip together and which sites will work well together. While the sample itineraries are certainly an added bonus, I’d like to see a little more information regarding each, including regarding how exactly they were constructed. That way, the reader would know why exactly La Selva Biological Station was picked over Rara Avis, for example, and thus have more background on how to plan a trip.

The introduction area contains two main, two-page maps, in addition to the ones used to illustrate geography and climate. One of the maps is a ‘countrywide road map’ with approximate driving times, while the other is a map of the country with all of the sites labeled. While they are both very convenient, I often find myself flipping back and forth to see the distance between sites and the towns they’re near (since sites aren’t labeled on the road map and towns and approximate driving times are not labeled on the site map). Although it might be a little cluttered, I think one map would be more effective and would save all of the time spent flipping pages.

The Site Guides

The author then moves right into the site guides, divided into six regions (which can be thought of as chapters or parts), three of which are further divided into subregions. The nine regions and subregions are the following:

Region 1: The Caribbean Slope

Subregion 1A: The Caribbean Lowlands

Subregion 1B: The Caribbean Middle-Elevations

Region 2: The North Pacific Slope

Region 3: The South Pacific Slope

Subregion 3A: The South Pacific Lowlands

Subregion 3B: The South Pacific Middle-Elevations

Region 4: The Mountains

Subregion 4A: The Lower Mountains

Subregion 4B: The Upper Mountains

Region 5: The Coastline

Region 6: The Central Valley

Each region section contains a nice introduction to the regions’ avifauna, locations and habitats, as well as a map of all of the sites with towns and roads labeled. Adjacent sites from other regions are also labeled on the map, which is nice.

Also provided are two lists: one of the regional specialties and one of common birds to know. One really, really nice thing about all the lists in this book is the fact that after every species, the page and plate number where the species can be found in both The Birds of Costa Rica by Richard Garrigues and Robert Dean and A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Gary F. Stiles and Alexander F. Skutch is given. Thus, if one is unfamiliar with a certain species on a list, wants to learn more about it, etc., they have the exact page number right there in front of them making trip planning and study even easier.

Most regions and subregions contain three to eight locations, each with their own site descriptions.

All site descriptions contain a nice introduction, a target bird list (with an asterisk next to endemics, as is the case with all lists in the book), notes on access, logistics (including accommodations and food) and finally a guide to birding the site.

In the case of the logistics section, the author not only provides the names of local accommodations, but also provides the contact information for both the accommodations and the location, including phone numbers, email and a link to the website (when available).

Great detail is given in the section on birding the location, including where to go on the property, what can be found there, and the habitats present. The description ends with a ‘species to expect’ list, which is explained in the ‘How to Use this Book’ section.

Many site descriptions also contain a map of the local area (sometimes with other adjacent sites; all labeled) as well as notes on nearby birding opportunities. This area is usually geared towards smaller locations that contain a specialty or two not likely to be seen elsewhere. It’s a very nice addition, and a very important part of this book.

The author also notes the birding time, elevation, trail difficulty, hours and whether there’s an entrance fee, if a four-wheel drive is necessary and if there are bird guides available. Also provided is a small, blank map of the country with the location labeled.

It should be noted that the ‘How to Use this Book’ section in the introduction explains the way the site descriptions are written and how the lists are prepared. This makes it very easy for the reader to understand and utilize the setup.

Overall, I find the site descriptions, the ‘meat’ of the book to be terrific. All of the information in the descriptions is incredibly helpful, and, as is seen throughout the book, the author goes above and beyond when providing it, exemplified by the listing of contact information as well as giving the page numbers for all lists.

There is one quirk about these sections that I really can’t ignore, however. In short, the addition of a sixth section, ‘The Coastline’ is completely unnecessary and is actually a little unhelpful at times. This section contains three sites, all located in the North Pacific region of the country. While all other sections are regional (and thus distinct), these coastal sites do not form a distinct region.

When one is planning a trip, it’s incredibly costly in time to keep having to flip back and forth between sections and compare basic lists. The case of Carara National Park and the Tárcoles River Mouth is especially extreme.

The Tárcoles River Mouth is actually PART of Carara National Park, and is thus always included in a birders’ itinerary at Carara. It’s ridiculous to have to continually be flipping back and forth to compare the two and try to plan a trip to the location. Also, because the author attempts to make them distinct by having the Tárcoles part mainly focus on aquatic species and the Carara part mainly focus on landbirds, there is a constant referencing to the other in both site descriptions.

Thus, I feel like the book would’ve benefited from having five regions, instead of six, and having the ‘Coastline’ sites merged with the North Pacific sites.

Appendix

The book concludes with an appendix, which contains the following sections:

Recent Name Changes – Includes splits and lumps; through 2008

Recent Invasive Species – Brief descriptions of species that have been expanding their range into Costa Rica with one introduced species (Tricolored Munia)

Where to Find the Endemics and Other Sought-After Species – Lists the sites where these birds can be found

Costa Rican Checklist with Select Site Lists – A complete Costa Rican checklist with eight sites, each representing their region or subregion; abundance ratings are given

Of these four sections, the one about where to find endemics and other sought-after species is obviously the most important, and is a critical part of any bird-finding guide. I’m honestly a tad disappointed with the section. While it does do exactly what its name implies (list the locations of where to find those species), it doesn’t go much beyond that. I would’ve preferred a little information on the species’ status as well as its habitat.

The checklist is helpful, as many of those eight sites are some of the best birding locations in the country (and thus the most-visited). However, because smaller sites, which might be the only place to find a certain specialty in the country are omitted, some species’ rows are left completely blank.

Instead of choosing a site to represent a given region or subregion, what about expanding to the entire region and including distribution codes (such as local, widespread) to go along with the abundance codes? That way, we could get a much better picture of the general ease of finding each species, as well as where to locate it.

Summary

In short, this book is fantastic. It’s a much-needed update and replacement for the horribly outdated A Travel and Site Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by Aaron D. Sekerak (1996) and is just what the independent birder needs to plan their expedition to Costa Rica. I highly recommend this book for any birder interested in visiting Costa Rica, from those like me that enjoy planning and executing their own trips to those visiting on guided tours.

I’m excited to say that I am going to be returning to Costa Rica this November and am currently in the process of planning the trip. This guide has been and continues to be invaluable to me while I’ve been putting the trip together, and will surely be terrific to have handy during the trip as well.

Pura Vida!

-Alex

Birdcraft and the upcoming week

I spent a rather uneventful (as expected) morning migrant-wise at the Birdcraft earlier. The wet and chilly conditions coupled with the total lack of movement the past night were the primary factors in this. It was, however, awesome to get out after having been cooped up in the hospital for a week.

The highlights of my hour and a half of birding the sanctuary grounds included my FOY House Wren, as well as Eastern Towhee (breeds), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, ‘Yellow’ Palm Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

As is often the case, the Yellow-rumped Warblers foraged at a variety of levels, including quite low in the pondside vegetation providing very nice, extended views of their beautiful (and often under-appreciated) spring garb.

A few photos below:

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Northern Flicker

White-throated Sparrow (likely banded at Birdcraft)

The next few days are also shaping up to be quite interesting. As I tweeted yesterday afternoon, we’re entering the prime time for southern overshoots with the system we just experienced increasing that potential. Blair Nikula delved into further detail on the subject last night on MASSBird.

So get out there and go birding! Check your local migrant traps (especially along the coast) as well as any patch of open water for any interesting non-passerines. It may be worth noting that the Birdcraft is a bona fide spot for an overshoot, especially in this case. Its proximity to the coast and varied micro-habitats fit the bill perfectly for a variety of southern breeders, from Prothonotary (lots of terrific pondside vegetation!) to Yellow-throated Warbler (think the areas with tall oaks).

-Alex