Rare Visit From A Wood Stork In Connecticut!

I was tipped off by a fellow birder last weekend that a juvenile Wood Stork was sighted in Waterford Connecticut. I was unable to make it down there so was hopeful that it would hang around for a while. The following weekend I headed to Harkness Park at 5:30 am hoping to get my first look at one. Sightings in Connecticut have been extremely rare.  

Of the sightings that have been reported in Connecticut, they are usually just briefly stopping in before continuing on their journey. It was reported that this one had an injured leg which may have caused it to stick around longer but it seemed to be doing very well on the morning I saw it. It spent about 30 minutes preening which made it difficult to get a good look at its bill.

After it finished preening, it started to forage with an open bill (something juveniles do). 

There was also an Egret hanging out in the same area as well as this Green Heron.

The last photo gives you a good size comparison between the Green Heron and Wood Stork. It is definitely a good-sized bird!

I'm not a a big bird chaser but this one was a very large bird polite enough to hang around for a week and then stay in one spot so I could snap a couple of photos. There has been plenty times I traveled across the state looking for a sparrow-sized bird and came up empty so this was a welcome surprise!