Birders Meet In CT For BwBTC Field Trip

I went to Milford Point on Saturday to meet Birders who Blog Tweet or Chirp for a day of birding. The trip was organized by Dawn, of Dawn's Bloggy Blog and led by Luke of Under Clear Skies. I do most of my birding alone and don't often travel out of state, so this was a nice change from my normal weekend birding routine. We had a lively group with an interesting mix of personalities. I found myself focusing in on the different aspects of birding which appealed to different individuals within the group.


Here are a few of the of birding related topics that I can recall being discussed:

• Birding adventures at a Maine Sporting Camp


• identifying Pine Warblers by their chip notes as they flew across the New york City sky at night.


• Various social gatherings and festivals by birders in various states


• species added to state lists, monthly lists, year lists, and life lists
• how attempting to sketch what you see can be beneficial even if you're no good at it


• differentiating species of birds by their flight patterns & wing beats


• The different species of birds one might find in a backyard birds in Brooklyn


• The excitement of being a new birder rapidly adding to the number of new species seen


• How to make homemade digiscoping adapters


• Proper identification of various species including Boat-tailed Grackles and various terns


• The recent increase in quality of lower end optics


• and of course-blogging, tweeting, and chirping (I'm still not sure what tweeting and chirping is)

By the end of the day I felt a renewed interest in certain aspects of birding that I may avoided for some time. I was also pleased by the number and variety of species we were able to see by the end of the trip. I won't list all of the species which totaled more than 60 but I'll point out a few of my favorite sightings. This photo of a Baltimore Oriole was taken for the observation deck at Milford Point Nature Center. We also saw Glossy Ibises, Black-crowned Night Herons, Purple Martins, and Orchard Orioles here. At other stops we added Brown Thrasher, Salt-marsh Sparrows, Marsh Wrens, Boat-tailed Grackles, and Piping plovers to our lists.

An Osprey flew overhead with the catch of the morning gripped tightly in its talons.

While we were carpooling I mentioned to Luke that it would be nice if I could get my first look at a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. He told me that with any luck we would see one in a few minutes. We were driving along a residential road and there it was-my first Yellow-crowned Night-Heron! I found the markings on the head stood out distinctly as the bird made its way through the tall, pale grass. Another nice sighting for some in the group was seeing a flock of Monk Parakeets and their jumbo-sized nests. I've seen my share of these birds but I haven't gotten used to their lime- green color always catches my attention.

click to play

I started hit the record button but was disappointed when I saw that my memory card full after a few seconds of filming. I had forgotten to delete the old videos which fill up a lot of space. I was able to record a short clip of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron but don't blink or you'll miss it.

After stopping off for lunch, we headed out to Hammonasset State Park. There were plenty of egrets there like the Great Egret above. We were also able to get some glimpses of a Little Blue Egret as it flew by us a couple of times. I enjoyed learning about the differences between the different terns as we carefully searched for a Roseate Tern without success. We were able to find a King Eider which had been reported here recently. This was a lifer for several of us including me. We also had an excellent view of a Surf Scoter that was perched upon a rock. The low angle of the sun and the texture of the rock upon which it stood made the bold markings of the scoter stand out nicely. Some other birds of interest included Least Terns, Common Terns, Double-crested Cormorants, Short-billed Dowitchers, Spotted Sandpipers, and Least Sandpipers .

A cool breeze was coming off the water as we used the last of daylight to take in the final views of the day. After leaving Hammonasset we stopped at Fishtale for some ice cream. It was a nice way to put a finishing touch on what turned out to be a great day of birding and camaraderie.

Thanks to Dawn for organizing the trip and to Luke for leading it. It was a pleasure meeting everyone. Hope to see you next year!

-Here are links to the birders who attended:

Dawn and Jeff from Dawn's Bloggy Blog

Dan from Nature Observances
Dee from Oak and the Seed
Chris from Tails of Birding
Luke from Under Clear Skies
Bev from Behind the Bins and Murmuring Trees
Christopher from Picus blog
Cindy from Living in Brooklyn, Longing for Maine
Laura from Interstitial Spaces
Mark from Strack16
Catherine from Birdspot blog
Paul D-No link yet (but that may change soon)