Ignored Birds Are Conspicuous Birds

 My wife and I Spent a couple of days at Saybrook Point Inn. The top photo is a view of the Saybrook Point Marina as seen from our window. 

 I had no plans to do any birding during our stay but birds seem to have a way of finding me. It's hard to ignore a tree full of Monk Parakeets when they're ten feet from where you parked your car. I don't know what kind of tree this is but it had some sort of greenish round pods the parakeets were eating.   

 I had no real desire to go cormorant watching but look at how neatly they're lined up on top of a rock. How could I resist taking a photo of them?

 I continued my walk down the causeway which crosses south cove and there must have been 20 Osprey circling around looking for fish.

 It was compelling to watch them set their sights on a fish target and then dramatically plunge into the water to retrieve them.

I sometimes take breaks from my usual birdwatching routine but birds only seem more conspicuous if you try to ignore them. And why would I want to anyway?

The Origami Mute Swans

These Mute Swans reminded me of Origami.

Old Saybrook Has A Good Point

 I visited took a ride down to  Saybrook Point this weekend. It is in the town of Old Saybrook located where the 400 mile long Connecticut River empties into Long Island Sound. 

On this particular morning there was a lot of fog in the area making viewing conditions difficult.

 Saybrook Point Inn & Spa is located right on the waterfront and are within a short walking distance from great birding areas such as Fort Monument Park and the South Cove Causeway. It would be an excellent place to stay for the traveling birder.

 The fog on the cove itself was as thick as pea soup but there is a nature preserve at the end of the cove where I saw some young Eastern Bluebirds snacking on berries.

There have been many unusual bird sightings at South Cove over the years. Within the last year I've had sightings of a Red-headed Woodpecker and my first ever look at a White Pelican. 

The more I visit Saybrook Point the more I realize it's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year round!

Shorebird Clock=Right Tide And Right Time

 Last weekend when I checked visited the Westbrook shoreline early in the morning. Right from the start I knew it was the right tide and right time for seeing shorebirds. As I started to walk up the beach a yellowlegs seemed to be leading the way. 

This may not look like the ideal place to go surfing at low tide but for the shorebirds it was breakfast time.

There were plenty of Ruddy Turnstones like this one were around.

 As Oystercatchers picked through selections at the raw bar .... 

the Semipalmated Plovers just behind them had their own idea of what looked good on the daily menu. There were lots of Black-bellied Plovers and peeps around as well. 

 There was a strip of beach that was perpendicular to the shoreline making it convenient to walk out further during low tide.

There were lots of terns active along the sides of it including Least Terns which had eluded me in prior weeks. 

What a difference the tide makes. Once high tide arrived there were plenty of people and dogs but the shorebirds were gone and you would never know that just a just a couple of hours before it was a bird bonanza.

Mortensen Riverfront Park Carribean Festival

I like to take some breaks from the usual birding routine to check out some of the area festivals during the summer-(although, I did notice a few Double-crested Cormorants along this stretch of the Connecticut River). 

 This a view of the recent Taste Of The Carribean & Jerk Festival at the Mortensen Riverfront Plaza as seen from the Founders Bridge Promenade. 

There are more free events scheduled at the Mortensen Riverfront Plaza including the upcoming 15th annual Pipes In The Valley Celtic Festival on September 24th. Further information on that event can be found directly at the event website here.