The Month Rolled By & The Blog Stood Still

February seemed to pass me by in the blink of an eye. I ran into a few minor situations that threw a monkey wrench into my weekend birding. My truck broke down, my spotting scope broke, and my shed collapsed. It may sounds like a depressing country song but there was a bright side to all these things. I was able to get my money's worth out of AAA towing service, my scope was covered by a warranty, and I secretly hoped for my shed to collapse when I saw the snow piling up on the roof. I already got more mileage out of it by covering it with rustproof paint and turning the broken sliding doors into hinged doors.

On a more positive note, I saw this robin and many others eating crabapples from the trees near the parking area at Rocky Neck Sate Park.

The Mallards picked through the leftovers that fell to the ground. It was cloudy on the days I got out this month making it difficult for me to get usable photos. I made a visit to Harkness Park in Waterford. It doesn't have the variety of birds and habitat that Hammonasset does but it is a beautiful place to walk. It has large open areas with mature trees and old vine-covered buildings on the grounds. The rocky shoreline had an ocean fresh smell that made me want to break out a pot and cook up some clam chowder. The birds in the background were mostly Brant and Canada Geese and I also came across Snow Bunting .

I came across this Turkey Vulture when traveling from one place to another.

I watched Tufted Titmice, Black-capped Chickadees and White-breasted Nuthatches

under the cedar trees at Wadsworth Mansion. The titmice were the most vocal, communicating back and forth using a variety of whistling calls and noises. Mostly, I just liked standing beneath the trees because I of the way they were lined up giving a tunnel effect. I looked for easy places to do some quick birding this month. I also tried snowshoes for the first time but decided to send them back. There just aren't enough days in the winter when Connecticut has white fluffy snow. It's more often the ice-crusted variety. I tried to cross a field and it sounded like I was marching through a giant bowl of Cap'n Crunch cereal. The birds wouldn't let me get 100 yards from them. I think I might have even started a winter migration.

I saw these Common Goldeneye along the Niantic Bay trail. I was happy to find a new walking trail near the shoreline.

It's just on the other side of the train tracks. Maybe I should take up train spotting. There's one for my 2011 list. Note the grayish metallic body with blue trim. I believe the species is Amtrak. I didn't intend to take a blogger break this month, things just happened to slow me down. I'm looking forward to getting back out on the birding trail and making up for lost time.