Mystery Goose

While bicycling today, my wife and I happened upon an odd looking goose.  Before we could grab our "bins" or a camera, we could tell it wasn't a Canada Goose.  We took several pictures and sent them off to a birding friend of ours.  It is a hybrid geese of some sort.  What this bird really reminded me is that surprises are waiting around every corner.  With Migration starting to pick up, there are all sorts of birds passing through.  I've posted the pics below:  Take a look!

Fall Birds and Birding!

I finally broke the cycle of sleeping in and did some early morning birding.  It was fantastic!  Woodpeckers, Phoebes, Warblers galore.  I loved walking around the park and I even managed to find some black bear scat.  No worries though, I did not run into the bear, its a good sign that the park is supporting a diverse array of life!  Back to birds, I saw a Brown Thrasher which was my second in CT and first in this park!  Cardinals and Black-Capped Chickadees were also bouncing around the park and the air.  No hawks that I could see from the air, but I did see both Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers and a noisy Red-Bellied that was chasing away all the birds it could.  A few Blue Jays and White Breasted Nuthatches were also around.  While I missed out on the American Redstarts, I did manage to find a couple of Chipping Sparrows and some very active Common Yellow Throats.  The Highlight of Park was finding a bunch of Bay-Breasted Warblers that were eating away and getting ready for the migration.  At my second site, I got a Blackpoll Warbler, a first for my Connecticut List and a Saltmarsh Sparrow.  2 Life birds in one day.  I also managed to find some Black-Bellied Plovers, Juvenile Yellow-Crown Night-Herons and a Laughing Gull.  All and all, a good day of birding!

Life list Total:
216!

Links to the Birds:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bay-breasted_Warbler/lifehistory
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Saltmarsh_Sparrow/id

(Copyright is not Mine, Photo from Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

A Break too Long

So I've taken a long, long, LONG break.  Well the good news is that I've done some awesome birding in the meantime.  All summer I was making trips and saw some stellar birds throughout my trip.  I'll run through some of the highlights and then the list with some pictures!

Summer 2012 Highlights:

Georgia in June 2012

While I was hunting down a Summer Tanager, I saw my first Ruby-Throated Hummingbird of the Year!  I also found a Dickcissel in a farm in Rutledge, GA.  I never found the Summer Tanager but I did find a Prothontary Warbler!  I was a great time!  I also got married and found a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher at the reception, a life bird for my new wife!

Shenandoah National Park, Early July

The only new bird we got here was a Chestnut-sided Warbler.   However, the birding here was incredible!  Indigo Buntings and Eastern Towhees were ubiquitous!  Ravens and Vultures as well.  While I missed out on finding a Canada Warbler, we did manage to find a flock of Cedar Waxwings, rare for the area, another Dickcissel!  The Find of the Trip though was a Barn Owl, right outside the dining restaurant!  We also found deer, black bears and founda  timber rattlesnake.  A great trip and a great park!

British Columbia and Western Washington, Late July to Early August

A quick list of the birds we saw: Anna's Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Chestnut-Backed Chickadee, Bewick's Wren, Black-Throated-Gray Warbler, Bushtits, California Gull, California Quail, Common Murre, Oregon-Backed Junco, Glaucous-Winged Gull, Heermann's Gull, Marbled Murrelet, Northwestern Crow, Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Western Gull, Western Tanager, Western Wood-Pewee and a Wilson's Warbler!  A lot of birds but I am still thinking about the birds we chased but couldn't find!  I was really hoping to find a Varied Thrush and Black Oyster Catcher, but alas, I missed out on both of them.  I did enjoy this amazing environment.  We didn't see any bears, but we did see a Salmon fish Ladder, Harbor Seals (pic below) and a wild Mink1  I definitely want to go back to the Pacific Northwest and bird some more!

Great Blue Heron

 Harbor Seals

Life List Total:
214!  (14 past my goal!)

Some Great Birds and A Birding Conference

So a couple of great birding outings this weekend. Friday, I returned to the spot where I saw the Piping Plover to see what I could. I decided to stop by and see the marsh before going to look at the beach. While setting up my scope and looking around at all the Wigeons and Green-Winged Teals, I spotted a small duck moving around. It was a Blue-Wing Teal male and female! A new Life bird for me! There are beautiful birds. I followed them for about half an hour as they swam, dabbled and poked around the mud. While doing that, I saw some Osprey Building a Nest, 2 Snowy Egrets hunting in some tall spartina grass and tons of green-winged teals and American Wigeons. While the last 2 weren't new year or life birds for me, it was a great exercise to study birds and look at the birds around me.

On another note, I went to the Connecticut Ornithological Association Annual Meeting this weekend as well. I saw a couple of great speakers, Alvaro Jaramillo and Richard Crossley and I've added some information below. I got a copy of Crossley's Guide and I will be posting a review later in the week. In the end it was a great week to be a birder and I hope to continue having weeks like this!

Alvaro Jaramillo:
http://alvarosadventures.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTPZqMjm_Vg

Richard Crossley:
http://www.crossleybooks.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrKrleEQRMQ

Outing #23
Blue-Winged Teal LB (Life List is at 139)
Osprey
Snowy Egret

2012 Total: 103

A Day at the Beach

A great day at the state park today. Great Sun and warm weather meant that it would be a great day for birds. And it certainly was. Birds were everywhere! As well as birders. Pulling into the parking lot gave me the chance to talk to several birders and admire a Greater Yellowlegs making the rounds while avoiding the ring-billed and Herring Gulls that were just sleeping around him. After than, I decided to move on. There were lots of American Black Ducks, Ring-neck Ducks and Red-Breasted Mergansers just sitting in the waves soaking up the sun. Even a few people were joining them! The salt marsh also had a lot of activity. Killdeer were flocking around and were joined by a few snow buntings! A little too warm to imagine that snow buntings were still around, but there they were! Just hanging out and having fun. Harriers and Turkey Vultures filled the sky along with the new arrived Red-Wing Blackbirds. They were fighting over spots in the trees with Grackles! Bonaparte's Gulls, a bird I had been looking for since November, finally caught up with me. I found them just sitting on a sand bar. The sand bar was a popular place to hang out. Even a Harbor seal made an appearance! Rounding out the day I got horned larks, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Northern Cardinals, Song Sparrows, Red-Throated Loons. My 2012 Total rose to 97 and my life list grew to 139. My goal for 2012 was to get to 200 for both the year and life lists. With Migration season upon us, I hope I can get there!

Outing #21
Bonaparte's Gulls LB
Killdeer

2012 Total: 96

Wood Ducks, Lots of Wood Ducks

Rumor has it that wood ducks are making their way back to the northeast. Seeing Wood Ducks are one of the chief reasons I got into birding. They are beautiful and when I firs t read about them, they were describe as elusive and tough to find. I decided, arbitrarily, as most good decisions go, that when I found a wood duck, I would then be able to call myself a good birder. I found my first one about 2 years ago, but today showcased a gluttony of wood ducks. Every spot I spotted at yesterday had wood ducks. I got some great views through scopes, binoculars and the plain eye. I was humbled to be at several spots that were supporting such beautiful birds and I hope to be able to see them as the breeding season continues and grows!

Outing #20
Wood Duck

2012 Total:94

City Parks

I spent the other day birding all around my hometown, I learned a lot about the birds of my hometown. Lots of great birding to be had. In 3 parks I saw some amazing birds. While I only added 2 to my year total and got 0 life birds, I saw a great deal of birds that were new for me in Connecticut and new for me in here. Bald Eagles, Swamp and Field Sparrows, Ring-Necked Ducks, Buffleheads, House Finches and a Mallard drake with a purple head. I noticed the Bald Eagle in the park when every little bird that I had been following flew into brush or in between large rocks. Nothing is scarier to many creatures than the sight of a Bald Eagle. In fact I felt bad for the Red-Tailed Hawk patrolling the same area as he was virtually ignored. Of course, that probably meant he had better hunting opportunities.

Urban Parks provide great insights into the balance of nature and humanity. Once again, its just a matter of seeing. Sometimes you can see the power humans have on nature. Oil tankers, trash and roads cut through parks and make their marks on how animals, plants and all forms of life have to make their way. yet, nature, not just birds, seem to find a way. yet, when a park is cleaned, valued, and enjoyed, nature and humanity can flourish together and enjoy each other.

Outing #17
Common Grackle
Green-Winged Teal

2012 Total: 90

A Trip South

A quick vacation from work means that I head down South. The advantage of such a trip is that you get a chance to see a whole different group of birds. One of the things that I do enjoy about seeing new birds on my year list is that they remind me how lucky I am to see and notice the world around me. It also gives me a chance to appreciate the skills and effort that Big Year-ers put into their efforts.

I also have a bit of a conundrum on my list. A bird that I thought was a Western Grebe in Rhode Island turns out that it was. I didn't count it or list it because I thought it too improbable that a Western Grebe was on the East Coast. Since then, several briders have confirmed the Western Grebe in the area. Do I count the bird or not? Your thoughts?

Outing #15
American Goldfinch
Brown Thrasher
Carolina Chickadee
Downy Woodpecker
House Finch
Purple Finch
Redwinged Blackbird
Tufted Titmouse
White-Breasted Nuthatch

As the Trip Continues:
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow LB
Northern Flicker

2012 Total: 75

A Busy Busy Weekend

So this weekend was filled with 2 great and wonderful birding trips. One River Cruise and one trip to Rhode Island. Both Trips yielded some great finds and even a few life birds. I've attached a few photos of the snowy owl. I was thrilled to see it. In fact, I half expected that what I saw was a gull and not a Snowy. But there she was. and she was hanging out with some Harlequin Ducks. What a great day to be outside and a birder. While I am ready for winter to be over, I am excited that there are still great birds to find out there. This is short but I'll be back. There are a few ducks to still get out there and the outings during the week will be spent trying to get them. Good birding to you all!


Outing #12
Bald Eagle
Great Cormorant

Outing #13
Black Scoter
Canvasback
Harlequin Duck LIFE BIRD!
Lesser Scaup
Snowy Owl LIFE BIRD!
Surf Scoter

2012 Total: 61

A Hairy Friend

So, while Daylight continues to linger and linger, I will continue to take advantage and go birding after work. Today, I stopped by a heavily wooded pond. One of the many things I love about birding is that in one moment there can be pure silence but if you are willing to give up a little time, then you can see a birds and all sorts of life pop up before you. Today was that sort of day. Nothing and then little flutters of birds here and there. The only new bird for 2012 was a Hairy Woodpecker. I did see some Red-Breasted Mergansers too. The biggest development of the day was 2 mystery birds. One was very very small and was alone flying from branch to branch and another was fair large, gray back about the size of a herring gull but also flying branch to branch. Neither were around long enough for me to get a positive ID and both flew into the sunlight. Guess I will have a reason to go back and look around some more! In the meantime, Here are the year totals and a picture I took of a Hairy WP.

Outing #9
Hairy Woodpecker

2012 Total: 49