April 5 - Garret Mountain

Time to resume the trips to this special mountain, that always has something interesting to offer.

Today I saw my first Palm Warbler and also Louisiana Waterthrush of this year.

Also seen today were American Woodcock, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeper and Phoebes. A male Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker provided some nice views and calls.
Common Raven was overhead, and I saw the sparrows of White-Throated, House, Song, Swamp and Fox. Winter Wrens were also seen today.

Next weekend will be even better !

March 22 - Southern Connecticut

I made a trip to Stamford this morning in hopes of seeing the Common Black-Headed Gull that had been reported on both Thursday and Friday of this week. I arrived just after 7 a.m. however the bird was not present. There were some Bonaparte's Gulls, but the dozen here were a far cry from the 200-300 recently reported.

There were some nice birds to be seen though with Monk Parakeet being a highlight.
Duck species seen Shoveler, Black, Mallard, Bufflehead, Wigeon, Gadwall, and Lesser Scaup. Also Red-Breasted and Hooded Mergansers were about. My first Blue-Winged Teal of the year was a nice surprise.


On the ocean side of the park there were beautifully plumaged Long-Tailed Ducks, Horned Grebes, Common Goldeneye, Brant, and Great Cormorant. Also a Merlin was observed.


Having dipped on the gull, my next stop was the CT Audubon's Coastal Center at Milford Point about 25 miles further east. I had been here once before in July 2006 when my friend Rob F. took me to see the Red-Necked Stint. This morning I was able to see very close look at a dozen Common Redpolls.

On the water here was my first Osprey and Oystercatchers of the spring, and numerous duck species. They being Blue-Winged and Green-Winged Teal, Canvasback, Pintail, Black, Mallard, Wigeon, Gadwall, and Goldeneye. Two large rafts of Greater Scaup were out in the ocean, as was a Common Loon, many Horned Grebes, and RB Mergansers. There were more Monk Parakeets seen here also.

Alas, the target was not seen today, but it was a fine morning of birding.

March 15 - Sussex County spots

Having just a few hours free today I visited some spots in Sussex County. On the drive to my first stop, I saw a Kestrel.
At the Sussex County Landfill, I was able to locate two Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, and identify another gull that I feel is a Herring x Glaucous hybrid (a.k.a. Nelson's Gull). Certainly I am not a gull expert and could always be mistaken, particularly with the high variability of the gull family.

The bird in question was predominately white, with not a touch of gray to be seen on the mantle. The pinkish bill with complete dark tip also got my attention, and I immediately thought I had a Glaucous, yet the bill was not large enough. On further examination, also I noted that the primaries were darkish, and the bird had a dark tail band. Certainly a leucistic Herring Gull should be considered. However, I feel that a hybrid gull is likely.

Here is an image I found on the internet that appears like the bird I saw:

My next stop was Paulinskill WMA, also known as Hyper-Humus. Here I saw a pair of Tree Swallows, nearly a dozen Rusty Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and several species of duck: Mallard, Black, Gadwall, Pintail, GW Teal, Wigeon, Wood, Ring-Necked, Bufflehead, Ruddy & Common Mergs, and a few Coot.

Finally at Swartswood Lake, I saw a few Common Goldeneye, and a Lesser Scaup.

March 9 - Eastern Long Island geese

This was an incredibly windy day with sustained winds in the twenties, and gusts that seemed to touch forty ! The life-bird of Ross' Goose was finally seen after trying for over 4 hours. Many thanks to Seth A, who was kind enough to call me once he had located the bird !! I had just finished lunch and was preparing to head back home. I certainly would not have gotten the bird without the phone call. The bird was seen among Canada Geese in a farm field near Water Mill in the town of Southampton.
credit: Dean Edwards


This excellent comparison shows the diminutive Ross' Goose in front of the larger Snow Goose:

credit: Bill Schmoker


Otherwise some good birds seen in the vicinity of Southhampton were Kestrel, Cooper's Hawk, and Red-Tailed Hawk. Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-Necked Duck, Ruddy Duck , Mallerd, and Black Duck were seen along with Canada Geese and Snow Geese.

February 17 - Long Island birding

Today I went to several places on Long Island. At Massapequa Lake my friend Andy located the Eurasian Wigeon that had been reported here. It was tough to find in all the reeds, but eventually the bird moved out and we got some nice views of it.
credit: Bill Hublick


Later at Point Lookout, Andy once again had the quick eyes, and found a Red-Necked Grebe in the ocean.
credit: Steve Gantlett

February 9 - Tufted Duck and more Crossbills

Today I went on a long-distance trip to see an Old World species of duck that rarely visits Eastern North America. Known as the Tufted Duck this species appears similar to the common Ring-Necked Duck or Lesser Scaup species. Other than the tuft, the difference are the whiter flanks and slimmer neck, and a rounded head with a wider plainer bill.

Range Map for this species:

Once previously I have seen this species, and that was back in January 2002 in Rumson, NJ.
Knowing that it could be many more years until this bird is within driving distance, I took the drive up to East Providence, Rhode Island.

It was quite easy to find the spot where this bird, along with numerous Ring-Necked Ducks, were enjoying the fresh-water mussels within the James V. Turner Reservoir.

After 30 minutes or so of watching this bird, I headed back west toward home. Living on borrowed time, I made a brief stop at Connecticut's Hammonasset State Park.
Here I was able to see another rare visitor, this time from the Western US, in the Orange-Crowned Warbler .

Unfortunately, the rain started coming in so I had to cut this visit short. Before finally heading home, I had my lunch while watching the Red Crossbills, from incredibly close range --and for likely the last time this winter season.

February 3 - Montauk Point and Dune Road

What a banner day today was. A friend and I came out to Montauk Point and were rewarded for the long drive with fantastic weather, calm ocean, and fine views of seabirds.
Among the tens of thousands of birds here are the most White-Winged Scoters that anyone in the metro area can see. The other scoters of Black and Surf were also well represented. We were able to get nice looks at over a dozen Razorbills.

We were not able to positively locate any other alcids, however we did enjoy close views of the thousand or so Common Eider, in all variations of age and plumage. On the drive west from Montauk Point we stopped at Edgemere Ave and scanned the ocean once again. This time my friend spotted a beautifully-plumaged full adult male King Eider !


I have been hoping to see the drake King Eider for many years now, and finally seeing this bird brought a huge smile to my face. While scoping the one bird, I spotted yet another full adult male King Eider mixed in with the females, and both sexes of the Common Eider.
We watched these birds at fairly close range for about 30 minutes, enjoying the bird feeding and preening, opening it's unusual bill, and doing some courtship rituals.



A truly spectacular sighting today.

Before leaving the Montauk area we stopped at Hither Hills park and found the Pink-Footed Goose, as well as, the Barnacle Goose. We also saw Brant, Canada Goose and Snow Goose.

Later along Dune Road, near the Ponqougue Bridge we located the Snowy Owl that has been present here for a couple of weeks.

Also seen were a pair of American Bitterns, Boat-Tailed Grackles, Long-Tailed Ducks and Red-Breasted Mergansers.

One last view of the scene typical of Montauk in winter:

click on all images to enlarge