Don't Trade Today's Birds For Yesterday's Birds

 One of the advantages of using eBird is that you can look to see what people are seeing in the area and then go to the same places to look for the same birds. The problem is that when birds are migrating they may not wait until the next day for you to show up.

I've been looking high and low for birds on the weekends. From high places like the above photo overlooking the fog-covered Connecticut river valley...

 ....to the low lying train tracks passing through the dynamite-blasted ledges. 

The other day, I was on my way to a location that had been crawling with exciting migratory bird sightings the just a day before. On my way there, I made a quick stop at a marsh and was surprised at how many birds seemed to be around. I was eager to get to yesterday's hotspot so I only took a quick look around before heading off to my desired destination.

There was only one problem when I got there. Yesterday's birds were gone. I should have stayed at the marsh and enjoyed viewing the many birds that I already knew were there!

 I decided to take a couple of photos of butterflies instead of stepping over them to look for birds.

I see plenty of eagles in our area but made sure not to ignore the one flying over my head.

There are tons of catbirds around in the summer but I'm trying to remember that I will be desperate to see one by the end of the upcoming winter.

It may only be the non-native Mute Swan but what if it was the last one I were to ever see? 

I hope I learned my lesson. Don't make the mistake of trying to trade today's birds in by looking for the ones that were seen by someone else the day before.

Cormorant And Gull Sharing Lookout Duty

 My birding adventures are brief and less frequent during most of the summer. I came upon a rocky area in Saybrook where a cormorant and gull seemed to be sharing lookout duty.

 The rock next to them seem to be a popular spot among the local terns.

I like when cormorants spread their wings to dry. It looks like a bird that should be guarding Dracula's castle.

Here's a little clip of the terns. I just noticed that some were banded.

Swallows On The Roof & Flickers On The Beach

 We are headed for a 5 day heat-wave so I got an early start this morning.I decided to take a quick walk through the farm fields to the river. Seems there are a few birds on top of the barn roof. Wonder what they could be?

 Seems to be barn swallows (hope they had their shingles vaccine).

It was a short walk down to the river and it seems that the Sycamore Tree was loaded with flickers, a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and a couple of Cedar Waxings. They were all gone when they saw my camera come out.

I passed by a few butterflies along the way.

 Time for me to go. It's only 9am and already 90 degrees. Even the flickers are heading for the beach!