Our morning started off at Jim Berry’s house in Ipswich, where it didn’t take long to secure the adult female Townsend’s Warbler. We ended up spending over two hours with this stunner, enjoying the antics of the feeder birds and a nearby Hermit Thrush in between visits.

We then moved on to Gloucester, where, after enjoying an awesome seafood lunch with a first cycle Iceland Gull present just out the window, we headed to the Jodrey Fish Pier.

Our highlights at the pier included two more 1st cycle Iceland Gulls, a Razorbill, three Double-crested Cormorants and a Red-throated Loon.

Double-crested Cormorant

Our next stop was the Elks Club on Atlantic Road where some of the best birds included seven Red-necked Grebes, a Surf Scoter, a flyby Northern Pintail and last but not least, an ABSOLUTELY STUNNING adult male King Eider not 1000 yards offshore.

It was then time for Brace Cove, a gorgeous cove nestled into the shoreline. We ended up spending a while at the spot, just taking it all in and enjoying the birds. And they did not disappoint. Northern Pintail, Razorbill, Iceland Gull (1st cycle) and Gadwall were some of the highlights.

White-winged Scoter and Northern Pintail

Our last stop was the famous Niles Pond, where the gull show did not disappoint. Numbers below:

463 Herring Gull — a couple of odd individuals were present, one a candidate for Thayer’s, but we were unfortunately unable to go beyond that conclusion, which is often the case for odd HEGUs!

100 Great Black-backed Gull — this is not an estimate but an exact count of the Great Black-backeds present!

1 Glaucous Gull — an awesome first cycle bird.

3 Iceland Gull — two first cycle birds (one pale and one rather dark) and a fantastic adult.

Other great birds at the pond included Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks and a number of Gadwall.

Glaucous Gull

Iceland Gull

Overall, it was a very successful day of birding. I am very excited to return to Gloucester (especially Niles Pond!), and Jim and I discussed spending another day later in the winter.

-Alex

Basically we pulled into the Somersville Pond lot around 11. I was surprised to not find any birders there but even more surprised to find the Pink-footed Goose after just two minutes of scanning through the flock. Around a half an hour later the geese were spooked but the first field we checked held what looked like the entire flock (including the Pink-footed Goose). We spent the next couple of hours enjoying this bird, which, much to our delight came pretty close and gave great looks just before we left. Definitely one of the most painless rare goose chases I’ve ever had!

Greg Hanisek provides fantastic detail in his blog post on the origins of this flock and other rare geese in Connecticut. Definitely worth checking out.

Photos and (phonescoped) video below:

What a bird!

-Alex

Common Chaffinch, Union Township, NJ

I was lucky enough to have some free time today, which gave my dad and I a chance to chase the Common Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) in Union Township, New Jersey. Found on December 20th, proving this bird of wild origin is a tricky matter. We ended up getting nice looks at the bird, seen twice for about a minute each time during a ten minute period.

In terms of origin, the current ABA Checklist lists four accepted records of Common Chaffinch in North America (singles in Newfoundland, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Massachusetts). As Paul Lehman mentioned, an important part in determining the provenance of this bird is knowing what subspecies it is. I am personally not familiar with Common Chaffinch subspecies at all, but this bird definitely appears to be of one of the northern races (either F. c. coelebs or F. c. gengleri). This is good in supporting wild origin, as a bird of a population from a more southern race (i.e. the Canaries or Azores) would almost surely be of captive origin. However, the northern populations (especially gengleri) are migratory. That knowledge paired with the fact that Common Chaffinch is one of the most abundant birds in Northern Europe leads to the conclusion that vagrancy by northern birds has occurred and could be the case here.

Also, the bird does not show any overt signs of captivity, such as bands, rings or wear on feathers and tail or out-of-season molt. Behavior-wise, the Chaffinch was loosely associating with a flock of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos and has been seen around the property in the company of these birds. Nothing about the bird’s actions seen so far point to captivity.

So, we have a Common Chaffinch, likely a bird of the migratory northern races on the east coast of North America. The bird does not display any overly apparent signs of captivity and is associating with the native species. Usually I’d be saying “awesome….everything points to countability, I’ll just put it on now.” That’s my usual approach with these kinds of birds – typically very liberal as to origin. Today on the ride home I asked myself the question: “If I were a member of the NJBRC, would I vote yes to this bird with the current information about it I currently possess?” The answer: NO. I realized, that, if I were a committee member, I’d want much more CONCRETE proof, be that a feather or bowel sample (to send in for testing) or a chance to band the bird and take a closer look at it myself. Although we can never be certain even with that information, I’d like a lot more info before I voted to accept this bird onto my state’s list.

Origin aside, it was a great bird to watch and an awesome one to have on this side of the Atlantic! Photos below:

-Alex

(Note: Unlike last time some photos were NOT taken in the Northeast.)

Enjoy!

-AB

The Wood-Warb story basically went like this: Starting at Pine Creek, I immediately made my way up to the landfill. As I was walking up the hill, I thought I heard a chip that sounded like that of a Wood-Warbler and quickly stopped. Not two seconds later a Nashville Warbler flew in, quickly followed by an Orange-crowned. Photos were not obtained of these two, although the looks they gave were pretty darn good. Continuing on, I nabbed two Winter Wrens, one in the vicinity of the landfill and one near the base of the hill. Once down I made a sharp right, meaning to retrace my steps after I reached the Salt Meadow Road entrance. Crossing the small creek, I began to pish in the brush right near that entrance, hoping for a catbird (late cats had been seen here in years before) and instead got a Common Yellowthroat and Yellow-breasted Chat followed by a Gray Catbird. By this point I was absolutely shocked. Amazed. And just a little befuddled It would be a few hours and many more highlights seen before the day came to the end. None, however, matched the quartet of Wood-Warblers, although they were all pretty fun.

Photos below:

Common Yellowthroat

This bird looks like a 1st year female based on the VERY LIMITED extent of black on the face

Yellow-breasted Chat

Sharp-shinned Hawk

American Robin

Northern Harrier

Golden-crowned Kinglet

American Tree Sparrow

Almost seems to be saying "put the camera down and back away slowly and quietly"

-Alex

In short, I’m pumped. Doing a CBC on your own turf is pretty awesome and the Westport CBC represents one of my favorite counts. I’ll be out scouting for the majority of the day tomorrow before getting a good rest for Sunday’s count. This is a plea to anyone birding the Fairfield/Westport/Easton area to report your interesting sightings to CTBirds. Every piece of vital information matters.

-Alex

Thayer's Gull alongside a Herring Gull

Last Thursday, Jim Orrico and I headed up to the Windsor-Bloomfield Landfill in search of the previously reported 1st cycle Thayer’s Gull found by Nick Bonomo. Amazingly, the Thayer’s was the first gull I saw upon exiting the car. The bird provided great looks as it wandered around our vicinity before flying onto a dirt pile and then into the areas where fresh trash was being dumped. An awesome bird and for once a pretty straightforward Thayer’s. See Nick’s blog for more photos and notes on this bird.

Photos below:

-Alex

Harlequin Duck

-AB

#1 – The Big Twitch – Sean Dooley

Definitely one of my favorite big year memoirs, one that certainly rivals Kenn Kaufman’s Kingbird Highway. Sean is an excellent and entertaining writer and does a terrific job summing up his Australian big year effort into 322 glorious pages, while also giving us a background of Australian birding. There is a lot of humor packed into those pages, and some parts found me bookmarking them to come back to later on when in need of a good laugh. Ultimately, I categorize this book as a must-read for anyone interested in big year lore. But really, this book would be a good read for birders and non-birders alike interested in gaining a few laughs and a great new adventure story to add to their respective libraries. And, thus, a great Christmas gift for any birder.

#2 – ABA Birdfinding Guides – Various Authors

If I were forced to choose one item to help me plan a trip to any of the premier locations in the ABA Area, the ABA guide to that respective area would certainly be it. I depended heavily on these guides on trips to Florida, Arizona, Texas, Turks and Caicos Islands and in planning trips to California and Alaska. Thus far, all the guides have been incredible and have made my successful trips possible. An example of one of the times one really came up big was in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Lacking any information on local birding in the islands and with zero local listserves to refer to, I was forced to read confusing and often unhelpful trip reports online. That was, until, I realized the ABA Guide to the Bahamas covered the Turks and Caicos Islands. Although written in 1998, many things in this book were still accurate. Instead of having a frustrating and overwhelming trip to North Caicos, I had one of the most incredible birding days of my life, notching 12 life birds in less than 8 hours. I highly recommend these guides over anything else when going on a trip. They are incredibly helpful and make trip planning far easier. If a birder close to you is going to one of these locations in the near future, consider purchasing one of the ABA guides for them.

#3 – The Life of Birds – BBC Video, Hosted by David Attenborough

If I were forced to pick my favorite documentary on birds themselves, this would, unquestionably be it for me. David Attenborough does a fantastic job hosting this documentary, and really helps bring out the wonder that is Earth’s avifauna. The footage is remarkable and breathtaking, and one can watch each episode over and over and never tire of the sensational Saddlebacks, silly Chinstrap Penguins and regal Birds of Paradise. For me, the $35.00 price tag was unquestionably worth it. With approximately 580 hours of footage, The Life of Birds makes a great Christmas gift, one that will take a while to get through.

#4 – Warblers of the Americas – An Identification Guide – Jon Curson, David Quinn and David Beadle

Wood-Warblers rank as the favorite bird family of many. Their flashy colors, beautiful songs and sheer variety make that easy to understand. Warblers of the Americas – An Identification Guide is one of my favorite books about this wonderful family. This book covers all members of the Wood-Warbler clan, from Nome and the Blackpoll Warblers to Brazil and the Flavescent Warblers. The illustrations, covering almost all subspecies and plumages, are absolutely fantastic and the text, containing descriptions on Status and Distribution, Voice, Measurements and Moult (among others) is not far behind. A terrific piece of literature for any birder who has an interest in, or is looking at furthering their knowledge of this family. Note: this book was published in 1994 and is now out of print, but is still being widely sold on the internet.

Another good book for Wood-Warblers is The Peterson Field Guide’s Warblers by Jon Dunn and Kimball Garrett. Basically, you can’t go wrong with either book.

#5 – Birders Conservation Handbook – 100 North American Birds At Risk - Jeffrey V. Wells

Now that the American Bird Conservancy’s Guide on bird conservation has come out, this book has sort of taken a backseat as one of the best books written on bird conservation for the entire North American continent. But believe me, it still is. I have now read this book twice and have not only learned a ton about the factors leading to declines in bird populations and what can be done to stop them, but also a ton about the birds themselves. The book covers birds such as Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Steller’s Eider, Tricolored Blackbird. The introductory material on the status of North American bird populations, major conservation issues and what a reader can do to aid conservation are not to be missed. This book does a terrific job in putting bird conservation in the hands of birders and is a terrific gift for any dedicated birder.

Hopefully this post puts a few gift ideas in your mind. Stay tuned for part 2.

-Alex

Snow Goose

While on the topic of the Fairfield Big Year, I have ultimately decided to attempt another effort next year. Although I keep trying to convince him to do it again, James Purcell will not be joining me for next year’s big year, leaving me on my own. Ultimately I seek to beat this year’s record and hope to continue to gain a better understand of Fairfield’s avifauna through duplicating this year’s run. Next year I’m also planning on being more ‘aggressive’ by planning ahead and nailing birds as soon as the right time appears.

It should be an exciting year. A few young birders and I have turned it into a competition to see the most species we can in our town in one year. Wonder who’ll come out on top.

-AB