2007 Salmon River Christmas Bird Count

I participated in the annual Salmon River Christmas Bird Count Sunday, which had been rescheduled from the previous Sunday due to inclement weather. I teamed up with Joanne, Barbara, and Mike (above photo) to cover the Portland territory. There was a very light drizzle throughout the day, but it was comfortable, with the temperature in the 40's and minimal wind.

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Joanne is the team captain for the town of Portland during the annual Salmon River CBC. This is the third year that I've taken part in this annual tradition. We started our count near the Portland Reservoir, which was frozen over, along with all of the other ponds in Portland. Mike and I walked up the snowy path to investigate the edge of Meshomasic Forest while Joanne and Barbara searched near the main road.

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For the first fifteen minutes, the area that Mike and I covered seemed practically devoid of birds. Our first breakthrough was a flock of 25 American Robins that passed overhead. We started pishing near a stand of tall pines. You know that it's a s-l-o-w day if I start pishing because I don't particularly enjoy doing this activity in front of others. The Black-capped Chickadees started to move in to investigate, followed by Tufted Titmice and Downy Woodpeckers. Shortly thereafter, we caught a quick glimpse of a Golden-crowned Kinglet. The final species we recorded in this area was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Joanne and Barbara said that their area was fairly slow but they did manage to add a Carolina Wren to the list before we left.

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Other areas we searched included power line crossings, woodland habitat interspersed between houses, open fields , stream banks, a cranberry bog, and a small section of the Connecticut River.

Here are some of the highlights of the day:

• While we were near the cranberry bog, I heard what sounded like a Red-shouldered Hawk in the distance (kyeer kyeer call). We had fun debating as to whether it was really a hawk or just a Blue Jay imitating it's call. The bird never came within our range so we decided not to count it. We traveled a little further down the road before hearing it call again. By this time, we decided that it must be a hawk because it was too consistent with its call. Mike played the Red-shouldered Hawk call using an Ipod recording. Sure enough, we could hear it respond and move in close to us. We all had a terrific view of a beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk, which faced us, perched on a branch . We saw it fly across the road and land on another branch. It was a great team moment! We also saw a Northern Flicker in the same area.

• While at the Cox Road power lines, I heard the tiny ringing sound of a Golden-crowned Kinglet. It took the four of us about five minutes to track it down, but we all had a great view of the bird as it hovered at the edge of a bush. It gave us a great show of its pretty golden crown. We also spotted some sparrows at this location including American Tree Sparrow, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrows, and a Field Sparrow.

• All of us had a great look at a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. It displayed a brilliant red color on its throat and head.

I think that we all enjoyed watching the birds more than we did counting them, but we did our part. It is one of the smaller CBC's in Connecticut but I really enjoy the fact that it takes place in my own home town. The total number of species for the entire count (includes people from other towns) was 67. In comparison, the Milford/Stratfordcount which includes part of the shoreline had an unnoficial total of 117 species.

We took a lunch break at Rossini's Restaurant, in the town of East Hampton, and met up with two other birders (Rob and Alberta) who were also involved with the count. It was interesting comparing notes with them about the birds we saw. I will pass on the final results of the count when I receive them.

Saturday, I was in East Hartland trying to find some Pine Grosbeaks. I didn't have any luck finding the grosbeaks but I did see a flock of about 50 Cedar Waxwings and also recorded this video of Wild Turkeys eating something in the snow. This is the first time I've uploaded a video! Unfortunately, you can hear cars in the background, as well as me zooming in and out on the turkeys. If you listen closely, you can also hear the turkeys.