Fog-aided putdown at Stratford Point

I have to post today's list from surveying Stratford Point because it is even better than yesterday. After rain cleared out last night the birds got on the move, and they flew into the foggy coastline of Connecticut. This stopped and concentrated many of them along the coast. Hundreds of birds were hopping just after dawn through mid-morning at Stratford Point. Some were flying south still, stopping at the water, and some were moving out to Long Island Sound. Yet others were flying in off the water or turning and heading back to the north or west. It was a hectic and awesome time and is a great start to the Great Stratford Bird Festival weekend.

Here's the list!

Canada Goose  8
Mute Swan  4
American Black Duck  2
Mallard  1
Green-winged Teal  6
Common Loon  1
Double-crested Cormorant  187
Great Egret  6
Snowy Egret  3
Osprey  2
Northern Harrier  1
Cooper's Hawk  2
Black-bellied Plover  7
Semipalmated Plover  2
American Oystercatcher  1
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Sanderling  64
Semipalmated Sandpiper  12
Laughing Gull  6
Ring-billed Gull  168
Herring Gull (American)  339
Great Black-backed Gull  18
Rock Pigeon  6
Mourning Dove  38
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1  
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1
American Kestrel  2
Merlin  2
Peregrine Falcon  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2 
Eastern Phoebe  14
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  16
American Crow  3
Tree Swallow  1
Black-capped Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  21
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
House Wren  2
Carolina Wren  2
Golden-crowned Kinglet  41
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  33
American Robin  31
Gray Catbird  6
Northern Mockingbird  5
European Starling  254
American Pipit  3
Cedar Waxwing  5
Common Yellowthroat  7
Bay-breasted Warbler  1    
Blackpoll Warbler  8
Palm Warbler (Western)  2
Palm Warbler (Yellow)  19
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  28
Eastern Towhee  3
Clay-colored Sparrow  1  
Savannah Sparrow  39
Song Sparrow  32
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  8
White-throated Sparrow  26
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)  1    
Northern Cardinal  4
Blue Grosbeak  1 
Bobolink  3
Red-winged Blackbird  4
Common Grackle  7
Brown-headed Cowbird  120
House Finch  12
American Goldfinch  26
House Sparrow  9

There were a few new birds for my fall list, a couple new species for the year, and even a couple more new to the site. All of our hard work restoring the property is paying off, and even more birds will be found there as the newly planted trees and shrubs mature work continues on the coastal oasis.


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician