Plenty Of Birds In February on Lower CT River

 The area that I've spent most of my tie exploring this winter had been the lower section of the Connecticut River, particularly between Chester and Old Saybrook. There is a nice mix of birds to be found in the woodlands,wetlands, and coves along the river as well as on the river itself. 

To get the most out of the birding in this area you need to do a little backroading. I found a dozen turkeys along river road in Essex  including several toms showing off their impressive fans.

 I found a flock of 50 cowbirds at an Essex cemetery where they are building up strength so they can be ready to sneak their eggs  into the nests of unsuspecting migrant birds that will soon be arriving. 

 With the surprisingly warm weather we've had this week it won't be long before the robins can start pulling up earthworms.

 There has been a large group of Ruddy Ducks hanging out in South Cove in Old Saybrook. I also saw a dozen Long-tailed Ducks and many scoters just around the corner at saybrook point.

In just a few weeks there will be plenty of bird activity on my hometown stretch of the Connecticut River (further north) but for now, I'm happy to be able to take a short ride south where the bird 

Distant Goldeneye From A Scenic Cemetery

I took a ride down to Essex this weekend in hopes of finding Common Goldeneye on the Connecticut River. It was a sunny December morning and I could hear several White-breasted Nuthatches calling to each other from the hardwood trees which border the property. 

The vista alone from  Riverview Cemetery  made the trip worthwhile. Way out in the distance I could see small specks moving around and making ripples on the river.

The thing about diving ducks is that they dive a lot which is fun to watch but frustrating when you're trying to snap a picture from a distance. I finally managed an id shot after uttering a few words to myself that shouldn't be spoken from behind a church. Thanks to the eBird alert feature and the eBird user who reported the goldeneye I was able to find what I was looking for. 

That makes species #167 seen in Middlesex County for the year. This doesn't mean anything but it was fun seeing all those birds along the way. The real joy this morning was sitting on a cemetery bench taking in the view and soaking in the sunshine. 

Bird Search Led Me To Fox Afflicted With Mange

Finding new species to add to my Big January list was much more difficult in the second week. I put more effort in than I did the first week but was only able to add 10 new species to my total which now stands at 78 for the month. I spent some time exploring areas along the lower Connecticut River. There didn't seem to be much bird activity in this area during my visit. I found the land birds to be especially quiet. I didn't find any blackbirds and there were very few sparrows or finches around.

The birding was so slow that even took time to chat with a Ring-billed Gull .

There were some Mallards at the Essex town dock eating cracked corn that someone had tossed onto the boat launch.

There were two American Coots mixed in with the ducks. Coots are related to rails which are known for being elusive birds. These coots reminded me more of chickens the way they were pecking at the cracked corn. I found it interesting to learn that coots lay their eggs in floating nests that are anchored to aquatic plants.

.....and check out those funky looking feet!

At first I was excited to find this Red Fox  so out in the open. They have a beautiful coat of fur when healthy.

After watching this fox for a few minutes I realized there was something wrong with it. Notice how its eyes are almost closed and the tail is missing fur. It also didn't show much fear when people passed by with their dogs. An internet search revealed that these are all symptoms of mange. Sarcoptic Mange is caused by tiny mites that live in the skin. It can be cured with proper treatment. 

I reported the fox to local wildlife authorities. I hope that this poor  animal will get the help it needs before it is too late.

Big January Update: In week two I added ten new birds to my list for a total of 78 species. Two of the more interesting additions were a Red-headed Woodpecker and a Northern Shrike. Both had previously been reported on the CT daily bird report.

My Search For Birds Led Me To Dinosaurs!

I walked what must have been close to 20 miles through 6 different parks this past weekend looking for new places to go birding but despite my efforts, Yellow-rumped Warbler was the only new species of warbler for this month. The truth is that migrating birds don't care how hard you try to find them. They will go where they want when they want. I may not have seen the variety of warblers that I had hoped for but I did find some interesting things during my travels.

The first photo is from a park in Middletown called Tynan Memorial Park. It passes by some farm fields and enters a wooded area that is lined with some impressive Hemlocks. The main trail connects with the Mattabasset Trail and trail to Mount Higby. I had never been to this park before and only came across it by chance later in the morning. The standout birds here were a singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet and..

this very vocal Northern Flicker. I came across a couple who were out hiking and we talked about birds for a few minutes. The Northern Flickers have been so loud the last couple of weeks that I've confused them with Pileated Woodpecker calls a couple of times. I also enjoyed watching of a pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks circling above my head before they glided off out of view.

Another park that I visited for the first time was the 300 acre Canfield Meadow Woods Nature Preserve in Essex and Deep River. I used the trail entrance off of 154 in the town of Deep River. There are several old stone walls still intact throughout the preserve. They are the remnants of farms from 100 years ago. The Blue Jays were very active during my hike. They were displaying all kinds of vocal tricks including some nice imitations of a Red-shouldered Hawk call. The only warblers that I encountered here were Pine Warblers but some of the swampy habitat along with some steep rocky hillsides looks like it might be good habitat for other species later in the spring.

The informative signs along some of the trails reminded me of the pop-up videos that they add to some of the movies on television. I assumed that this tree toppled over because the roots weren't deep enough.

I didn't know that it was a beech tree and that parts of it that were alive. I think that this preserve would be worth a visit during the nesting season. The fact that the trees are not so dense should make for good viewing opportunities and I have a hunch that there could be some interesting nesting species here.

I saw this Osprey perched next to Beseck Lake in Middlefield. It seemed to have a little snack tucked away under its foot.

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I thought that the names of the roads in the lake area were interesting. There were road names like: Seminole, Seneca, Algonquin, Pawnee, Pequot, Chipeway, Mohican, Iroquois, Cherokee, Kickapoo, Sioux and Chicopee. Do you think there might be a common theme there?

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I drove along shore of the lake until I located a hiking trail at the end of Mattabeseck Road. It was a fairly steep climb to the top of the hill. The place was alive with the sound of various woodpeckers calling, drumming and pecking away.

There were lots of these porous rocks lying around. I think they are of the volcanic variety since part of a volcanic ridge runs through the area. I was impressed with all the Hermit Thrushes I found here which totaled five. I didn't see many over the winter so it was surprising to find so many. I found Pine Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers and Palm Warblers near the entrance which was just across from the lake. I chased a singing Ruby-crowned Kinglet for 10 minutes but couldn't come up with a worthy photo or video. They sure do have a big song for such a little bird though.

After leaving the Beseck Lake area I took a ride up Powder Hill Road near the old ski resort. I saw a sign that said Powder Hill Dinosaur Park. At first I accidentally drove right past the park and into someones driveway. I was wondering where the park was until I realized that the rock area pictured above is the entire park.

It wasn't until I actually walked over to the brownstone area and looked down that I realized why it was named dinosaur park. I couldn't believe that there were actual dinosaur footprints right out in the open! Most people in Connecticut have heard of Dinosaur Park in Rocky Hill. All the footprints there are carefully protected and preserved. This dinky little park has a worn out sign that is barely legible and the park is hidden away in this old section of town. Who put it there? Where did it come from? How come I've never seen or heard of it before? When I have time I want to go back and see how many footprints are actually out there.

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I also visited Hurd park in East Hampton. I seem to have good luck with Barred Owls. That seems to be the only owl that I find on a consistent basis. I assure you that I was not drinking when I took this video footage. I was in an awkward position on the hillside but did my best to get in record the owl before it flew off into the woods.

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Besides the owl, I counted 4 Louisiana Waterthrushes here. I noticed that starting from the main entrance there is a gradual decline all the way to the end of the park so I rolled my windows down, turned off my engine and coasted in neutral for almost the entire distance. This was a nice way to cover ground while birding by ear. I hiked down one steep trail that led to the river and spotted a secretive brown bird hiding in the mud banks along a stream. It turned out to be a Winter Wren.

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I would have to say that my most unexpected surprise of the weekend was the dinosaur park I found in the Baileyville section of Middlefield.

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What was the most interesting park that you came across unexpectedly?

Eagle Festival In Essex Connecticut Draws A Big Crowd

I decided to check out the Eagle Festival for the first time this year. I arrived at about 10:30am. It was only about 30 degrees but lots of sunshine with minimal wind made for a nice winter morning. I decided to skip the cruise and save it for another weekend. It was a little too crowded for my taste.

One of the reasons I went was to try out some of the binoculars they had in the optics tents. I currently use Swift Ultra-Lite 8x42 roof prism binoculars. I have no major complaints with these binoculars. They have all the features I am looking for and include a lifetime warranty.
If I were to buy new binoculars, they would have to offer me a view that was clearly better than the ones I own now.

I looked through several of the top of the line roof prism binoculars. The only one that really impressed me were the Swarovski 8.5 x 42's. The Leica's didn't seem to fit my eyes comfortably. I did not like the view through 8x 32's as well as the the 42's. I would have liked to try out the best that Zeiss, Bushnell, and Nikon had to offer but unfortunately none of the dealers brought those models along. The dealer at Fat Robin said he would have brought those models had he known the weather was going to be so good.

I didn't spend a lot of time at the festival. It was interesting to come across so many people who had never seen eagles before. My brother-in-law Al and I enjoyed helping people locate BALD EAGLES . We saw about ten in the area while we were there. I also saw a NORTHERN HARRIER and a RED-TAILED HAWK fly by.