3 More for the List

Scaup in New Haven Harbor

Spring crawls closer every day but the temperatures this past Sunday seemed the same as a month ago.  Probably because they were.  I took a few hours mid-day to try to add a couple of species to my year list.  My totals are crawling slowly and steadily upward.  My first stop was at East Shore park in New Haven, rumors of warblers and swallows enticed me.  Maybe it was a little too cool or late for much activity but I didn't get any of my target species.  I did manage to find a cute little Golden-crowned Kinglet, my first of the year.

Greater White-fronted Goose

I was about to head home but feeling the pull of the chase I headed up to Wallingford, in search of the Greater White-fronted Goose that has been seen the past few weeks.  I went to North Farms Reservoir and glanced over the geese scattered around the pond with no success.  After enjoying nice views of the American Coot and the companionship of a nice couple out birding, a gaggle of around 200 Canada Geese flew in.  Searching through the pack, I finally spotted the Greater White-fronted Goose on the far side of the water.  Not a great picture but enough to ID the species.  Looking back through emails later, I found that the bird was located earlier in the day in another pond in Wallingford. 

Sanderling and Dunlin

Headaing back to Stratford I stopped at Long Beach to see if I could pick up Common Goldeneye, one of the winter ducks that I haven't been able to find.  Once again the species evaded me but I did manage to find my first Dunlin of the season.  These shorebirds were mingling with Sanderling as they very frequently do.  A nice three species added for the day.  With any luck, I'll be able to pick a couple more up this weekend. 

End of the Road

After a meeting in downtown New Haven, I headed back to the Peabody Museum to have yet another meeting.  I pulled into the parking lot next to the Peabody at the end of Humphrey and came to the stop sign in the parking lot.  Looking up on the small grassy patch across the way, I suddenly yelled.  "Oh My God!  It's a Peregrine Falcon eating a Pigeon."

Peregrine Falcon- feather from prey

Sure enough an adult Peregrine Falcon was sitting on top of it's prey pulling off little bits and pieces.  We quietly (we were in a hybrid) pulled up next to the bird and pulled out our cell phones.  Pictures aren't 'the best' but the view certainly was. 

Someone is coming...

I sent the picture over to Steve Broker who has been studying some of the local Peregrine Falcons and found out that a pair has nested on both East Rock and West Rock.  He has also noticed some activity associated with the Klein Biology Tower (KBT) in the science hill area of Yale's campus.  This shot was almost at the foot of that building and very likely might be a pair of birds scoping out the tower for a nesting spot. 

Peregrine Falcon taking a bite.

It's amazing what a few trees in a parking lot can produce.  I've seen Common Grackles nesting in the parking lot, Chipping Sparrows throughout the summer, warbler species use them as a stop during migration, there's been Red-tailed Hawks mating in the branches, Common Ravens visit the museum, and now a Peregrine Falcon stopping for a bite to eat. 

Common Raven (image taken on Yale West Campus)

Sun, Wind, and Hawks!

I spent the morning with the Connecticut Butterfly Association members and other butterfly enthusiasts at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven.  We gathered this morning to tag some monarch butterflies as they migrate their way south to Mexico.  Monarch numbers were low but it was still an enjoyable time and the best part.... I just walked across the field and did some hawkwatching when we were done!

I didn't bring the camera because I figured I wouldn't need it since the hawks would be too high to get decent images.  For the most part that was true until the afternoon when a male Cooper's Hawk flew over our table, a resident Red-shouldered Hawk made a trip around the field, and an Osprey decided to fly fairly close and check us out.  We has strong winds today, almost making it chilly, but they were coming mostly from the East and not exactly the best for a hawkwatch.  I have no idea what total numbers were but here are the raptors I remember seeing, migrating or not.

Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin

I picked up a few ID hint/ helps but as one would expect...  I still need a ton more practice.  We are planning on doing a hawkwatch at work this Friday as long as the weather and winds look good for it.  With what we've seen around so far it should be great.  http://birdingwestcampus.blogspot.com/2011/09/hawk-watch-season.html For this past weeks hawks at work.

Post or Poster

I've been working diligently all week on finishing up my poster presentation for the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections annual conference. Less than two weeks to go and I realized how quickly I've been needing to get it done. My posts have therefore been remiss but I thought I would quickly catch up on some of the sightings I've had. This past Friday I stopped at some open space in Orange for a quick walk before meeting a friend for a drink. It was a great stop with 2 foy's for me and a life bird. Life birds are really easy right now since I've never been birding in the spring before. LOL. I added Blue-winged Warbler to my list! Luckily I've been studying enough so that when I finally pished him in I was able to get the ID. Other great birds were Indigo Bunting, Eastern Phoebe, nesting Tree Swallows, and a viewable Ovenbird. I think Ovenbirds like me because it seems like I trip over them.

Monday my coworker and I made a quick stop at Long Wharf in New Haven on our way into the museum to move some elephant bones out of the attic. At Long Wharf were a few Brant milling around, one Lesser Yellowlegs, a Spotted Sandpiper, and a raft of about 150 Double-crested Cormorants, every pylon in the harbor had a cormorant on it.

Before we had even made it into work that morning though we had added three new birds to our work list and 2 more life birds for me. Easy pickings with the warblers, both Black-throated Blue and Magnolia Warbler were in the trees in the parking lot. The Baltimore Orioles, Chipping Sparrow, and American Redstart were all present as well. It seems so early in the season but last week we already found a nest of fledgling American Robins and Monday morning I found a fledgling Mourning Dove with mom nearby, sitting on the curb a few rows from my car.

I've already taken Friday off to wind down from the busy work week. And there is a good birding forecast. So, I think I might try to get back up to Orange for an early morning hunt for Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Yellow-billed Cuckoo. The first species was there the other day according to someone I ran into and the later I had while trail running a few years ago. This time I'll leave the running sneakers behind and pack the telephoto instead.