Some of the birders around Connecticut were hoping that the remnants of this weekend' tropical storm might bring some new birds in. I checked The Rocky Hill Meadows after a night of some moderate wind and rain. The most interesting sightings for me were three American Golden-plovers. None of them came particularly close to me so I couldn't get much of a photo. -
I've only seen these birds a couple of other times. While I was there another birder suggested that one of the plovers was actually a Black-bellied Plover because it showed white under the tail. Not having any experience in comparing the two species it seemed to make sense to me. Although, I was pretty sure that a Black-bellied Plover would be a more unusual sighting at an inland location. After discussing this with some more experienced birders, I learned that the bird in question was an American Golden-Plover that was in the process of molting. The molting gave the appearance of white under the tail. The better field mark for identification was the clearly defined white eyebrow as well as the shape of the bird. I would like to see the two side by side for comparison some time.
It was not quite the fallout we were hoping for but I was happy about the golden plovers. Other birds of interest seen here included: White-rumped Sandpiper (not by me), several Pectoral Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, 2 adult Bald Eagles, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, Great Egret ....
And yet another Solitary Sandpiper. These guys don't seem to want to leave me alone. I think they might be following me. I caught a pretty good video of this one talking to me.
