July 18, 2019 Revised from the original September 16, 2014, post. Western Sandpiper Calidris mauri by Andy Griswold, EcoTravel Director Where to find it: The Coastal Center at Milford Point has produced five Western Sandpipers this week (the week of July 15, 2019). Numerous in its range, Western Sandpiper is considered a vagrant in Connecticut, […]
Bird Finder Articles
Western Sandpiper 2019
Thursday, July 18th, 2019Black Skimmer
Friday, July 12th, 2019July 12, 2019 – Black Skimmers are uncommon enough to be worth looking for, but you have to pick the right spot at the right time.
Ovenbird
Friday, June 28th, 2019June 28, 2019 Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla by Chris Wood Walking along my regular birding/hiking route at Whittemore Sanctuary in Woodbury in late spring, two ubiquitous birds demand my attention: Red-eyed Vireo and Ovenbird. Red-eyed Vireos may be the most common woodland songbird in the Northeast, but looking over my eBird data for Whittemore (a 680 […]
June Birds
Thursday, June 13th, 2019June 13, 2019 – Connecticut is filled with birds this month, many of them raising families (or being raised), many resting and feeding. Here’s a list of eight chosen at random from among our summer Bird Finder entries over the past five years.
Cuckoos
Friday, June 7th, 2019June 7, 2019 – On a recent bird walk I was leading, my group stumbled upon our first cuckoo of the season in a less-traveled portion of Goodwin State Forest, near one of the park’s three wetlands. Though we never got to lay eyes on the conspicuous Yellow-billed Cuckoo that we heard, its distinctive, guttural-sounding call was enough to confirm the ID and welcome them back to our forest.
The Wood Warblers
Friday, April 26th, 2019April 26, 2019 – The next few weeks will be warbler weeks in Connecticut. True, vireos and thrushes and sandpipers and lots of others birds will be arriving too, but it seems almost beyond debate that warbler migration excites the spring birder more than those others.
April Birds
Friday, April 19th, 2019April 19, 2019 – There are so many birds to find in April, we thought we’d post a quick compilation of a handful to be alert for over the next few days.
Cranes and Waterfowl
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019April 4, 2019 – Connecticut Audubon EcoTravel sent a group to the prairie to find these birds last week. The birding and the landscape were awesome.
Blue-winged Teal
Wednesday, March 13th, 2019March 13, 2019 – A male Blue-winged Teal is truly unmistakable. Its dark blue-gray face and black bill stand in strong contrast with the large white crescent that extends vertically between the bird’s bill and eye. That huge white slash on the front if its otherwise dark face can be seen from a great distance.
Wintering Golden Eagles in Connecticut
Wednesday, February 20th, 2019February 20, 2019 – Recently I’ve spent a few hours scanning ridge lines, farm lands, and waterways between Salisbury and Kent for Golden Eagles. I had my first bird on Thursday, February 14, in Kent, some 10 miles as the crow flies north of where Stefan Martin had two Goldens a couple days before (at Deer Pond Farm, in Sherman).
