Christmas Week Birding Journal

Here is a summary of the places that I visited and some of the birds that I saw during Christmas Week.

Tuesday 12/25/07-Wangunk Meadows, Portland- I took a short walk in the meadows on Christmas Day. It was a cold, sunny morning and the river was smooth as glass. I wanted to see if the Bald Eagles had returned to this area. I walked slowly along the icy path but felt that sudden jolt as my feet slipped out from under me. I hate that feeling of complete loss of control. I stopped and scanned the shoreline. Two eagles were perched in a tree on the Cromwell side of The Connecticut River. One of them looked to be a male that had not yet completely developed the white head and tail . Next to him was an adult female. She was noticeably larger with a solid white head and tail. Other birds that caught my interest were a Brown Creeper, Eastern Bluebirds, Belted Kingfisher, Merlin, and 3 Ring-necked Pheasants. I also counted 6 Northern Flickers which are considered to be less common in the winter. Apparently, there is no shortage of them in Portland.

Wednesday 12/27/07-Mansfield/Storrs area-I wanted to explore this region because it is considered to be a good birding area but doesn't seem to quite draw the attention that other parts of the state do. My hope was that I might find a flock of Red Crossbills or Pine Grosbeaks. Instead, I spent most of the morning driving around and getting lost. When I arrived at Mansfield Dam, I excitedly jumped out of my truck to get a better look at some ducks that were swimming in open water below the dam. Unfortunately, I locked my keys in the truck with the engine running. This normally wouldn't be a problem because I keep a spare key in my wallet for occasions such as these, but for some unknown reason, I had left my wallet along with my cell phone in the truck, too. I had that sickly feeling come over me as I realized the predicament I had gotten myself in to. To my relief, I noticed the window was open about half an inch. It was just enough for me to pry the lock open using one of the aluminum supports from the bed truck cover. I broke the plastic rain guards above the door to accomplish the feat but was more than happy to make that sacrifice. The ducks turned out to be Mallards after all that.

After that, I took a drive along Horse Barn Hill Road. There were 48 Horned Lark picking though the dirt in one of the farm fields but I didn't see any Longspurs or Snow Buntings in the flock.

My last stop was a nice spot along the Fenton River. By that time, it was almost noon and not many birds were around.I did see a Hermit thrush and some Eastern Bluebirds there. I'm looking forward to going back in the spring. There was no sign of Crossbills or Grosbeaks. I somehow ripped the cuff of my pants when I took my hiking boots off. It was just one of those days.

Thursday-12/27/07-Norfolk, CT-Pine Grosbeaks-I already wrote about this in my previous post. It was definitely the highlight of the week birding wise. Here is one more photo of a Pine Grosbeak. I know that it is not an adult male. From what I've read, immature males and adult females can be hard to tell apart, so I can't be sure of the sex of this bird. If anyone has some insight on this, please feel free to give me an opinion.

Friday 12/28/07-Selden Creek Preserve-Lyme, CT-I got the idea for visiting this place from a newspaper article that I read from The Hartford Courant. Peter Marteka writes an excellent column on Fridays called Nature's Path. He often writes about scenic natural areas in Connecticut that aren't always well known by the general public. He recently wrote about a beautiful scenic area called Selden Creek Preserve. It sounded like the kind of place that I would like to visit even if it didn't turn out to be a good birding spot. Upon further investigation, I discovered that this site was listed in a book called Finding Birds In Connecticut as a place worth visiting in the winter. It was a little bit tricky to find but definitely worth the visit. Two Brown Creepers, 2 Common Ravens, and a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were among the birds that I saw here. I also saw a large flocks of birds that were eating some sort of seed pods in the tops of the trees. There was probably close to 100 of these finch-like birds, but they were so high up in the trees, that it was difficult for me to identify what they were. After using the process of elimination, I decided they might be Common Redpolls. Since I'd never seen a Common Redpoll before, I wanted to be careful to make a positive identification. I noticed that they were heavily streaked, had short stubby yellowish bills, and had black near their face. Some of them had a rosy-colored breast. I was pretty sure of their identity but it was almost an hour before one of them finally gave me a clear view of it's signature red cap. I'm afraid that I'm getting a little spoiled with lifers this month. Oh well, I turned 42 today and it's been 1 year since I started my blog so why not celebrate? Common Redpoll-another lifer! Saturday-12/29/07-I didn't do any birding today, but did clean all of my bird feeders and birdbath. Congratulations to The New England Patriots for a perfect 16-0 regular season record!

Sunday-12/30/07-I took a ride over to Hurd Park in East Hampton. There weren't a whole lot of birds to be seen today but it was nice to work off some of that holiday food with a long leisurely walk. The gate to the park was locked so it was nice to be able to use the entrance road as a walking trail. There were Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpeckers,White-breasted Nuthatch, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Tufted Titmice, American Robins, Eastern Bluebirds, American Crows and, of course, the ever sociable Black-capped Chickadees.

As I walked down one of the woodland paths that led me to the river, I was thinking about two young men from my hometown who had passed away this week. They were both in their forties. I guess there are some things in life that you just don't have any control over.

There were a few Common Mergansers in the river and some Greater-Black-backed Gulls flying overhead. As far as gulls go, they are probably one of my favorites. They are very large and look pretty impressive to me when they're in flight.

On my way out, I had a short chat with a gentleman who was taking his Boston Terrier for a walk. He told me that he often sees owls at this park and suggested that I visit here very early in the morning. Thanks-I think I might just do that.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's A Lifer! Pine Grosbeaks In Norfolk, CT

I took a ride out to the northwest corner of Connecticut this morning hoping to find a Pine Grosbeak. They are the largest of the winter finches, and not particularly wary around people. Although they are normally found in boreal forests, they are irruptive this year and some have recently found their way into parts of Connecticut. I arrived in Norfolk at 9am after a 1-1/2 hour drive. I parked where I had a view of several crab apple trees, where the grosbeaks had been previously reported, but after a half hour of waiting, there was no sign of them. Just after 9:30 am, I started to hear some suspicious sounding finch-like calls. I looked in the bare trees across the street and saw some plump reddish birds, along with some grayish ones, perched near the top. "That has to be them!" I thought to myself. Actually, I might have even said that out loud.

I went across the street and watched in amazement as a whole flock of Pine Grosbeaks were in the midst of gorging themselves with crab apples. This was my first time ever seeing these beautiful birds. I counted as many as 17 at a time but I think that there were probably a few more than that. There were several adult males (like the one seen above). Apparently, immature males and females look very similar. They both have a grayish-olive tone with some yellow features. This is the second irruptive finch species that I've been able to find in Connecticut this winter (Red Crossbill being the other). What a nice way to spend a rainy morning!

A few Cedar Waxwings also joined in on the feast. I was hoping that I might find a Bohemian Waxwing mixed in with them but I didn't spot any within the few seconds that they stayed. Pine Grosbeaks don't seem particularly neat in the way they go about eating. There was fruit residue all over their bills and they also left a mess of skins and fruit pulp on the ground. Apparently, they are eating the seeds within the fruit and not the actual fruit itself. Thanks to Corey of 10,000 Birds for bringing this to my attention. Several trees in the area had already been completely stripped of fruit. I had already left to go back home when I realized that I forgot to take some video footage, so I went back to take this short video of a male Pine Grosbeak having its breakfast.

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.

Giuffrida Park And Hartford Audubon CBC

A Red-tailed Hawk perched on top of light a post, along the highway, is a common sight to me, but the view I had of this one was nothing short of stunning. This Red-tail stood out so vividly as I watched it circle overhead against the backdrop of a brilliant blue sky. It's interesting how quickly your perspective can change when you see something so familiar in a different light.

I saw this Hermit Thrush while I was at Giuffrida Park in Meriden on Monday morning. It was kind enough to land on a branch and show off his reddish tail before ducking into a brush pile for cover. There was also a Golden-crowned Kinglet nearby which seemed to demand my attention. It was flying from branch to branch at eye level. At one point, it came so close to me that I thought it was going to land on my head. It looked me straight in the eye from a foot away before wandering off into a different section of woods. I also noticed eight Common Mergansers swimming on the opposite shore of the parks reservoir. It's been awhile since I've seen the mergansers and I'm pleased to see that they're back.

One thing I really like about the winter is that the air often seems so clean and crisp . On days like that birds really seem to stand out in such sharp detail. Monday was a day when the trees were covered with ice and the ground was covered by a hard, crusted snow. Large numbers of American Robins were picking at crabapples that could be heard bouncing off the ice as they fell to the ground.

I spent half a day at The Hartford Audubon CBC on Saturday. I saw this American Pipit, along with three others, spending some quality time together on a pile of manure. They were bobbing their tails incessantly as they hopped around searching for bits of food. Pipits are usually hunkered down in farm fields. Watching them play King Of The Mountain made for interesting observation. Probably my favorite sighting on Saturday was that of a Winter Wren . I've heard Winter Wrens singing during the summer but this was the first time that I actually found one on my own.

Nothing is burning in this picture. It's just a steaming pile of mulch reacting to the cold air. I just thought it looked interesting. There was another CBC scheduled for Sunday but it was rescheduled for this upcoming weekend. I'm really looking forward to this one and I'm crossing my fingers that the weather holds up.