Merlin
Falco columbarius
What it looks like: The Merlin is a small falcon about the same size as the American Kestrel, except a bit stockier. Merlins have pointed wings, a medium-length tail, and a streaked dark appearance. The males are slaty-gray to dark gray; the females and immature birds are browner in appearance. Their moustache is not very prominent, unlike in Peregrine Falcons.
Red-throated Loon
Gavia stellata
‘Tis the season for loons in Connecticut and the Red-throated, the smallest of its family, is a favorite. Common Loon, as its name indicates, is quite common, unlike the rare Pacific Loon, which makes few appearances, maybe one or two a year.
“The Connecticut Audubon Society and its thousands of members are outraged at this heinous crime. Bald Eagles are attempting to make a comeback in our state and we can’t afford to lose even one of this beautiful species. Almost 150 Bald Eagles spend the winter here and three dozen or so nest and raise their […]
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection issued this news release today about the killing of a Bald Eagle: $5,000 Reward for Information on Bald Eagle Shot in Rocky Hill The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Environmental Conservation Police and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are asking the public for information […]
Snow Goose
Chen caerulescens
What it looks like: Snow Geese are medium-sized, stout, short-necked geese, smaller than the common and familiar Canada Goose (almost a foot smaller). Most Snow Geese are almost all white with black wingtips, most easily seen in flight. However, there are some individuals that have darker plumage on their bodies, which are referred to as dark morph Snow Geese or sometimes colloquially called Blue Geese. These birds are all still in the species of Snow Goose, but like many animal species, there are different variants that have the same genetic makeup (think humans with varying hair color). Adult Snow Geese, regardless of their plumage color, all have pink bills and legs and their head plumage is all white.
A deteriorating Osprey nest platform near Great Island in the lower Connecticut River River estuary has been replaced, thanks to the efforts of three local middle and high school students. On Sunday, November 23, Sam Griswold, a junior at Valley Regional High School, and Sarah Evarts and Kededria Lewis, eighth-graders at Haddam-Killingworth Middle School, helped […]
A number of birders saw Hammonassett Beach State Park’s first Snowy Owl of the season yesterday, and Bill Canosa of Branford got this terrific shot. We haven’t had reports since Sunday of the Snowy that had been seen at our Milford Point Coastal Center, but one was reported yesterday at Greenwich Point Park. The Connecticut […]
Snowy Owl
Nyctea scandiaca
One of the season’s first Snowy Owls was observed resting on the sandbar at the Milford Point Coastal Center on Sunday, December 7. Last year, as you remember, there was an amazing influx of Snowies, tied no doubt to a crash in the population of lemmings in the Arctic. Big irruptions very seldom last for more than one year but because the lemming population will probably re-build itself slowly, we still may see more Snowy Owls this year than usual (or maybe not).
Lark Sparrow, a bird of the farms and plains further west, has been seen twice in Connecticut recently.
The winter of 2013-2014 was totally awesome (that was the official designation) for viewing Snowy Owls in Connecticut and scores of other places across the United States. More Snowy Owls flew south from the Arctic than anyone could remember having happened before, and some were being seen in Connecticut as late as April Is it […]
