Big Day 2012

It's that time again! Here's information on the Big Day 2012 effort from Coastal Center Director Frank Gallo:

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In 2011, our team, the Connecticut Audubon Raven Luna-ticks (Nick Bonomo, Patrick Dugan, Frank Gallo, Dave Tripp, and Fran Zygmont) finally broke Connecticut’s Big Day birding record of 186 species (see the details in this post). We broke it by six, besting the New England record by one, as well, with a hard-earned total of 192 species in 24 hours. Our New England record lasted a week. Friends from Massachusetts now hold the record with 193 species. It’s a new year, and we want it back! Nick will be away, so we’ll have to work even harder.

In 2011, we again found amazing birds for late May in Connecticut, including Barn Owl, Northern Gannet, and Horned Grebe,  25 species of warblers, a late Great Cormorant, Common Eiders, Blue and Green-winged Teal! Tough misses included, Purple Finch, White-throated Sparrow, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. The highlight for me was descending from Meig’s Point with 185 species, having just seen a late gannet, both loons, and two species of scoters. Luckily, we had Seaside Sparrow in the bag to tie the record, and there in the marsh pond by the parking lot was a female Blue-winged Teal, like a little gift from the heavens. An already great day had just gotten better, and with hours of light left… 192! Ending our day with both a Barn Owl and Least Bittern calling was pretty great too…   

This year, we’re busy nailing down raptor nests (please let us know if you have any in your area), and are already out scouting. Our sights are set on 200 species, and we’ll give it our all! We invite you to join our team by pledging your support. Help us achieve our ambitious goal of reaching 200 species and raising $5,000 -- every dollar you pledge directly supports the Coastal Center at Milford Point – voted Yankee Magazine’s best birding destination in Connecticut.  We cannot do this without you, and we thank you in advance for your generosity! 

Pledge forms (in PDF format) are available by clicking here 

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Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician

Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds weekly updates

Below is an example of the updates we help provide as a part of the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. Connecticut's beaches are becoming much more active now with some species nesting and nearly all at least back on the breeding grounds. You can see them all and many more updates on coastal waterbirds in the AAfCW blog located here: http://ctwaterbirds.blogspot.com/

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This is the eighth update by the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds (AAfCW) for the 2012 season. It includes reports of Piping Plover, American Oystercatcher, Least Tern, and Common Tern received from 12:00 p.m. on April 30 through 12:00 p.m. on May 7 with sightings of birds spanning April 29 through May 7 by our staff and volunteers.

Informational updates:

The terns have returned to Connecticut, and with them come additional responsibilities in monitoring. We need all of the data and information on Least Tern and Common Tern, and much more rarely Roseate Tern, that you can provide to us, just as you do with Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher. These are priority species that should be tracked in an identical way. We hope we will end up with many tern colonies that require our monitoring and care, especially Least Tern on beaches such as Morse/Sandy Points in West Haven, Long Beach or Pleasure Beach in Stratford or Bridgeport, and so forth. Please provide us with all of the data you can including precise numbers of birds seen, breeding status, location, nests or eggs, age, behavior, threats, bands, etc. Thank you as always!

Survey and monitoring updates:

Piping Plover

Volunteer and staff surveys:

5 adults at Griswold Point on 4/29

1 adult at Fort Trumbull Beach on 4/30

1 at Silver Sands State Park on 4/30

1 pair, 3 adults, 4 nests at Long Beach on 5/1

5 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/2

1 adult at Silver Sands State Park on 5/2

3 pairs, 1 adult, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/2

3 pairs, 1 adult, 3 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/2

5 pairs, 4 nests at Milford Point on 5/3

1 adult (male) at Silver Sands State Park on 5/3

4 adults on 4 nests at Milford Point on 5/3

4 adults, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/4

2 adults on 2 nests at Harkness Memorial State Park on 5/4

1 adult at Stratford Point on 5/4

6 pairs, 5 nests at Long Beach on 5/4

4 pairs, 4 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/4

2 pair, 5 adults, 3 nests at Long Beach on 5/5

1 adult on Pleasure Beach on 5/5

3 pairs, 3 adult, 2 nests at Long Beach on 5/5

6 pairs, 1 adult, 5 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/5

1 pair, 1 nest at East Broadway Milford on 5/6

3 pairs, 1 adult, 4 nests at Milford Point on 5/6

4 pairs, 2 adults, 5 nests at Bluff Point on 5/6

4 pairs, 4 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/6

1 adult at Silver Sands State Park on 5/6

American Oystercatcher

Volunteer and staff surveys:

2 pairs, one 3-egg nest and one 4-egg nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 4/30

3 pairs, 1 nest at Milford Point on 4/30

1 pair, 1 nest in Branford on 5/2

1 pair, 1 adult, 1 nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/2

1 pair, one 3-egg nest and one 4-egg nest at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/2

1 pair, 1 adult at Barn Island on 5/3

4 pairs, at least 2 nests at Menunketesuck Island on 5/3

2 pairs, 2 nests at Milford Point on 5/3

3 pairs, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/3

1 pair, 1 nest at Milford Point on 5/3

1 pair at Bluff Point on 5/3

1 adult at Tuxis Island on 5/4

3 pairs, 1 nest at Menunketesuck Island on 5/4

1 pair at Stratford Point on 5/4

4 pairs, one 3-egg nest and one 1-egg nest at Milford Point on 5/4

1 adult at Long Beach on 5/4

2 pairs, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/4

1 pair at Long Beach on 5/5

1 pair seen copulating at Long Beach on 5/5

1 pair, 1 adult, 2 nests at Milford Point on 5/6

1 pair at Bluff Point on 5/6

2 pairs, 2 nests at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/6

1 pair, one 1-egg nest at Griswold Point on 5/6

4 pairs, 1 adult, 2 nests at Sandy Point in Stonington 5/7

1 adult at Bluff Point on 5/7

Least Tern 

Volunteer and staff surveys:

1 adult at Long Beach on 5/1

1 adult at Stratford Point on 5/4

1 adult at Long Beach on 5/5

4 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/6

8 adults at Long Beach on 5/7

Common Tern

Volunteer and staff surveys:

2 adults at Russian Beach Stratford on 5/2

16 adults at Stratford Point on 5/4

2 adults at Milford Point on 5/4

10 adults at Stratford Point on 5/5

8 adults at Long Beach on 5/5

3 adults at Pleasure Beach on 5/5

5 adults at Sandy/Morse Points on 5/6

4 adults at Bluff Point on 5/6

70+ adults at Stratford Point on 5/7

There have been no reports of Black Skimmer in 2012, but they should be spotted soon. All long-legged waders are in expected breeding areas at this point and frequently encountered foraging at many of our monitoring locations as well. Semipalmated Sandpiper are slowly growing in number, but Least Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover are now regular sightings with numbers into the dozens at times. A high number of 51 Semipalmated Plover were seen at Stratford Point on 5/4, with many other spots recording groups and singles of these birds. We make a special note of this because observers should be aware not to confuse these birds with Piping Plovers as both share some identification points.

This concludes update #8 through 5/7/12 as of 4:00 p.m.

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Scott Kruitbosch

Conservation Technician

Olive-sided Flycatcher #3

Today I had an Olive-sided Flycatcher in my Stratford neighborhood that represents, as far as I know, the third bird ever recorded in Stratford. It was perched, as the species nearly always is, at the top of a dead branch. I first spotted it through the trees as it flew back to its perch from the porch! This was actually an entirely dead and considerably tall tree, but I was able to snap off some record shots.

And some more photos from this evening...

It was flycatching though unfortunately not calling. It stayed in this spot until a Blue Jay flushed it away, but it did not go far, staying in the tops of many dead branches in the neighborhood, feeding nonstop. In 2010 and 2011, I and others were able to find an Olive-sided Flycatcher each year at the McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in the southern end of Stratford. Here you can see record shots of the 2011 bird: http://ctaudubon.blogspot.com/2011/05/olive-sided-flycatcher-repeat.html

As you may read there, the most amazing part of those finds is that the bird appeared on the same day in the same location, mere feet from the first sighting a year earlier. It is likely the same individual, a male, taking the same route each year. I have always looked for Olive-sided Flys on the snags in my neighborhood but have come up empty until now. This is a good example of how not getting in your car and instead walking or biking through a neighborhood or nearby park can yield some astonishingly wondrous results. It is a great time of year to stroll down the street with your family and friends on a beautiful day. No one else is going to be birding these areas and you never know what you might find. I will keep you updated on whether or not we see that bird return again on May 20.


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician

All photos © Scott Kruitbosch and not to be reproduced without explicit permission

Chuck-will's-widow at Stratford Point

I had a sensational morning at Stratford Point yesterday, the highlight being a very rare and state review list species, a Chuck-will's-widow! That was one of the last birds I was expecting to find during a busy migration morning, but here is how everything played out.

I arrived at Stratford Point around 8:30 a.m. yesterday, and hearing Wood Thrush while coming in told me that many migrant birds had been dumped here, obviously out of place in regards to their normal habitat, with the rain hours earlier. I did a sweep of the perimeter of the site, finding some first of year for me shorebirds like dozens of Semipalmated Plover and Least Sandpiper, before moving on to searching through the perimeter. I intended to look through the limited amount of woody vegetation on and along the site including the surrounding neighborhood and Coast Guard property. This area can be searched well on Stratford Point property, walking roughly from the lighthouse to our main entrance, while checking the small pine trees along the driveway. I found many migrants that I will list out at the end of this summary.

While walking and looking for little birds, I flushed a large one that was obviously roosting in one of these small pines. After my shock and the first flush, I flushed it again unintentionally a few seconds later and it flew around me, calling twice (a grunt or croaking kind of noise, rough and low). It then went back into the thick shrubs, brush, and trees on the adjacent Coast Guard property. Subsequent extensive searches of the immediate area and playback with Twan Leenders, Sean Graesser, and Frank Mantlik came up empty, which was not a shock. This was like looking for a very camouflaged needle in a haystack, and it was likely not to flush again unless one of us were nearly on top of it. The views I had in those brief glimpses in decent light directly in front of me were relatively good. It was large, with long wings, a moderate brown overall with a little tawny towards the tail. I felt strongly enough that it was a Chuck-will's-widow, not a Whip-poor-will, based primarily on size and coloration. I hoped we'd have success later that evening with it coming out to fly off, or simply calling from wherever it was, but I doubted we would be that fortunate.

This evening a small group of experts waited in the area I had discovered it, and at about 8:15 p.m. I spotted it fly out from just about the same pine it was in that morning. It landed perfectly on the fence in front of us, sitting on it in plain view in decent enough light for a minute. We were absolutely astonished and flabbergasted, delighted but also trying to make sure my initial thought of a Chuck was correct. The large size and head combined with good looks at the body showing some of the brown, then subsequent flight and hunting showing long and pointed wings, all said Chuck. Every identification marker we were able to come up with kept pointing to it and those on hand with experience watching Whips fly around really felt strongly it was not one. It had no white and the tail and did not sing, thus making this a female.

It kept making that grunting rough call I described earlier when it flushed basically the entire time, and by the end of the night everyone had heard it and seen every aspect of it, locking in the identification as a Chuck-will's-widow. It would occasionally land on the fence again or a tree branch, sometimes going out of sight for a few minutes. It was out of our view for a while after 9 but was hunting again as of 9:45 when the last of us departed. Photos were not obtained (well, none of real use despite effort), but several of Connecticut's best were on hand who all had excellent views and continual looks. Fortunately we were able to have this bird in a situation where we could confirm the identity without photos or video, something all of us probably rely on too much at times, myself certainly included.

I will open up Stratford Point tonight and we can take a shot at this bird once again. Feel free to come on down - 1207 Prospect Drive, White-tailed Kite country. Since I anticipate many visitors please drive in the driveway, slowly because this is where the bird will be if it is there, and head up it until you take a left and get near some buildings. Park here wherever and then you can walk back down towards the entrance where the bird was seen and continued to hunt all night. Email me at skruitbosch@ctaudubon.org if you have any questions.

And here is the list from the day at Stratford Point alone, many species first of the year for myself and the site:

73 species
Brant  23
Canada Goose  10
Mute Swan  3
American Black Duck  1
White-winged Scoter  4
Red-breasted Merganser  4
Red-throated Loon  14
Common Loon  4
Double-crested Cormorant  11
Great Egret  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Osprey  1
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
American Kestrel  1
Black-bellied Plover  13
Semipalmated Plover  51
Piping Plover  1
Killdeer  1
American Oystercatcher  2
Willet (Eastern)  1
Least Sandpiper  8
Dunlin  1
Ring-billed Gull  20
Herring Gull (American)  31
Great Black-backed Gull  3
Common Tern  16
Rock Pigeon  3
Mourning Dove  3
Chuck-will's-widow  1
Chimney Swift  3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1
Least Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  242
Fish Crow  8
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Tree Swallow  8
Barn Swallow  9
Carolina Wren  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  12
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  3
Brown Thrasher  1
European Starling  4
American Pipit  1
Cedar Waxwing  8
Black-and-white Warbler  2
Common Yellowthroat  1
Magnolia Warbler  1
Yellow Warbler  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)  1
Black-throated Green Warbler  1
Chipping Sparrow  2
Field Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  8
Swamp Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  1
White-crowned Sparrow  2
Scarlet Tanager  1
Northern Cardinal  2
Red-winged Blackbird  14
Common Grackle  26
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Baltimore Oriole  1
House Finch  6
American Goldfinch  12
House Sparrow  2


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician

Leps and birds increasing at Trout Brook Valley

Lepidoptera are now back to being seen across Connecticut in many forms. I found this and more Eastern Tiger Swallowtails at the Trout Brook Valley Conservation Area of the Aspetuck Land Trust during a recent survey.

I actually recorded over a dozen species that day without too much effort. Subsequent surveys have uncovered dozens of migrant and potential breeding bird species as well. This was one bird of a pair of Tree Swallows already on to nesting in the orchard.

During a few hours there today I tallied 59 bird species in only a small section of the massive preserve. I will list off more of some of our cool finds soon, but "Ovenbird city" was the theme of the day as it was the most frequently heard (and seen!) warbler species of the 14 that I was able to find at this early enough date of May 3.

Their ringing song is a classic one, but it was so great to be able to see so many of them as well. The Ovenbird is a species nearly anyone should be able to find in abundance there, let's hope, throughout the spring and summer. I hope the same can be said for the Louisiana Waterthrush and the Worm-eating Warbler, two species I heard only today but would be thrilled to mark down as confirmed breeding birds. All of these discoveries and potential findings do and will have an impact on our management planning and habitat recommendations.


Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician

All photos © Scott Kruitbosch and not to be reproduced without explicit permission

Spring Bird Walk with Michelle Eckman

With all of this migration talk here is another great upcoming event in the prime of spring movement. I plan on joining Michelle for the walk detailed below and I hope some of you can as well. She is a fantastic birder and extremely knowledgeable, and I am so glad to have her with us at CAS.

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It’s that time of year when our feathered friends are making their journeys back north towards their breeding grounds. Fortunately for us, many of them find our Larsen Sanctuary to be a wonderful stopover site for rest, food and water. Some may even decide to call the sanctuary home for the summer.

Join long-time birder and CAS Director of Education, Michelle Eckman, who will lead you on a beautiful walk through our sanctuary while helping everyone observe birds by sight and sound. Our Chiboucas Trail is stroller-accessible and birders of all levels and ages are welcome.

The program is on Saturday, May 19 from 9-11 a.m. Meet at the covered trailhead at the Connecticut Audubon Society’s Center at Fairfield’s Larsen Sanctuary. Bring your binoculars, note pad and field guides. Identification books are also available in the Nature Store.

Program fee: $5/person for CAS members; $8/person for non-members. All proceeds support Connecticut Audubon Society environmental education programs. Register in advance by calling 203-259-6305 ext. 109.

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Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician

Name this April migrant answer

So do you have the answer to this quiz yet?

Here is that photo again...

 

To me, this is an odd look for a bird that never stops moving and flitting about through the trees. To see it perched in a (seemingly) stationary position is strange, but it was actually moving around quite a bit outside of this photo. You cannot see the eye but it has a white eye-ring and a white-edged tail.

Any thoughts now?

 

Take your guesses because the answer is in the next line!

That is a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. We see them migrating both north and south at Stratford Point. 

 

 

They are diurnal migrants, moving through most often one at a time during warm days with a nice southerly flow in April, and then sometimes in small groups heading through our trees and out to Long Island Sound in the late summer.

This bird had a few snacks and kept moving, calling away with it's classic wheeze. We are little more than a fast food restaurant for dozens of birds each day.

Scott Kruitbosch

Conservation Technician

All photos © Scott Kruitbosch and not to be reproduced without explicit permission