This morning, lured by the prospect of two possible nemesis lifers, Lapland Longspur and Northern Saw-whet Owl, I joined Eamon, Ryan, and some others on a trip to Stratford, CT lead by Brian O’Toole. The high was predicted to be in the mid-20s with winds less than 15 mph, which was quite a contrast from last week’s bad weather birding. We left the Audubon Center in Greenwich a bit after 9 am, and arrived at our first stop, Great Meadows Marsh, at 10.
We walked across railroad tracks and into the park, reaching the first boardwalk overlook in a couple minutes. This looked out over a section of marsh and appeared pretty barren. Soon, however, two Northern Harriers were spotted flying low over the tall grasses. One was a male, termed a “gray ghost” because of its light gray coloration (compared to the rust-colored female and juvenile). We soon found two Red-tailed Hawks watching the action from a tree, as well as another hawk of the same genus (buteo). Because of the habitat and time of year it was at first called a Rough-legged, an irruptive grassland hawk that breeds much farther north in the continent, but we soon realized it was actually an immature Red-shouldered Hawk, more uncommon in winter. Continuing down the trail, we ran into a group of American Tree Sparrows and another Harrier, as well as some Hooded Mergansers. A Snowy Owl had been reported not too many days before, but we were not lucky enough to run into it. On to the next spot!
After stopping at a spot that had produced many birds the last time I was there (Jan ’09), but was lacking this time around, we headed to Long Beach, the other main attraction of Stratford birding. This was were I was hoping to find Lapland Longspur, a bird that had eluded me for several winters. Back at the marsh we ran into a man who said he had seen them earlier in the morning, further raising my hopes. After we parked in the parking lot, a quick scan of the Sound revealed not much more than a few Common Goldeneye and 2 Red-breasted Mergansers. Brian led us down the path toward a pair of cedars where that same man had apparently seen an Orange-crowned Warbler. As we walked, the wind picked up and got to a point that was almost comparable to that of last Sunday. The longspur had been seen around the parking lot, so it wasn’t looking too good for…
“What’s that?”
A few small birds appeared to our right, rummaging through the leaf litter on the beach.
“Longspur!” said Brian.
Not one, but three Lapland Longspurs hopped around feet from us. They were joined by an “Ipswich” Sparrow, a pale subspecies of Savannah Sparrow. This particular one was so pale it almost shone. One of the longspurs was unusually pale as well, with almost no hint of color. Before we could study it further, the group flew off down the beach. Luckily I was able to snap a few pictures of the longspur in question, but after review it seems to be just an aberrant Lapland.
We continued down to the cedars, and when no warbler showed up, we went just a bit farther, to a tangle of shrubs. American Tree Sparrows hopped around in the sand, but no warbler. This was explained when a couple coming from the opposite direction told us that the warbler was actually hanging around some cottages at the other end of the beach (and they hadn’t seen it). The effort was abandoned.
It was noon and I was hungry, so I quickly polished off a roast beef sandwich as we drove to our next stop, a sizable pond in the middle of town. On it were many Canvasback (how did I miss that bird last year??), and on the way back Brian spotted an adult Bald Eagle sitting on the ice, which promptly took off. The final stop in the Stratford area was a boat launch. We saw American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Fish Crow, Killdeer, a tired Black-crowned Night-heron, a flyby American Pipit, and a rattling Belted Kingfisher there. Most of those were new birds for the year.
The final scheduled birding stop was Sherwood Island State Park, on the way back to Greenwich. We were looking for a Saw-whet Owl, a tiny owl that migrates into the northeast during the winter. I had tried explicitly for this bird several times before, only to have to settle for some “whitewash” coating the branches under where the owl used to be. When all we found was some dried whitewash and a small owl pellet (which was cool to see), it looked as though this attempt would end just like the others. But, luckily, Ryan found one! A Northern Saw-whet Owl perched high up in a conifer, the very same tree, as it turned out, where he saw his life saw-whet. The only other birds of note were a few Red-breasted Nuthatches. Highly satisfied (2 for 2!), I spent the car ride back to Audubon picking through all the photos I had taken of the owl to find the best one. Here it is…
An excellent recap of a fun day of birding! Glad you got your lifers.
Thanks, it was fun! 😀
At least you saw it. You can’t count that one heard only. 😉
Well good thing I’ve never heard it so I didn’t have to deal with that dilemma…
Plus, it isn’t America’s Cutest Bird because of its call!
Nice photos of the owl. Came out way better than mine.
On the Canvasback though, did you forget about the one at marshlands that we saw last year (some time in February- saw a great horned owl the same day) or did you decide it wasn’t definite enough to count?
Eamon
I do remember that, and I put it into eBird actually, but it was such a bad look (so far it just looked like a duck with a very reflective back if I remember right) that I didn’t even consider it really seeing the bird.
hi,
I am a friend of Alex Burdo, and was reading your blog about Camp Chiricahua. I was just wondering if that company, (Vent Birding Tours) did any other camp for young birders, or if it is just that trip to southeast arizona. Thanks,
James Randall
They do run other camps for young birders, though Chiricahua is their main attraction and is done every year (other camps are run less regularly). For instance, last year they did one in the Cascade mountains of the Pacific Northwest, and I think two years ago they did one in Yosemite Nat’l Park. Next year they have a youth camp planned for Big Bend, Texas (in addition to Camp Chiricahua).
More info: http://ventbird.com/tour-styles#youth-birding-camps
Benjamin