June 27-28 - Connecticut and Rhode Island

I'm writing this in early August . . . yes, over a month behind on the blogs.  How do the "Big Year" birders keep up???

The yard turkeys came over to bid me adieu

Thursday the 27th dawned clear and calm again at 67º when I woke at 6 a.m.  I had breakfast with Cousin Blythe and Bob, and headed on out, across the Tappan Zee Bridge into Connecticut.  I pulled off Highway 15 to stop at Stamford for gas, and birded a bit at the Hoyt-Barnum House museum grounds, then got back on the highway, making it as far as the town of Old Saybrook, where I checked into the Super 8.  I made a late afternoon run out to a boat launch at the Great Island Wildlife Area/Roger Tory Peterson Natural Area Preserve in Old Lyme.  The preserve is owned and operated by the Connecticut Audubon Society.  I was looking for a Saltmarsh Sparrow, which would be a “Life Bird”, but not much was moving this late in the day.  I thought I’d kept an eBird list for my stop here, but apparently it didn’t load.

There was an Osprey chick in the nest near the boat launch

Old Lyme is the namesake for Lyme Disease, which Dr. Willy Burgdorfer identified as being carried by ticks, first from this location.  Indeed, there are lots of ticks in the area.

Photo from the Bay Area Lyme Foundatio

Waking on Friday the 28^th, I ate a bowl of cereal at the motel; they have microwave waffles and cold cereal for breakfast at this place.  At least they had coffee & milk . . .  I drove the 10 miles back to Hammonasset Beach State Park, and paid the $15 entrance fee.

The Hammonassett people are no more . . .

The Meig's Point Nature Center and marsh are at the south end of the park, and my goal today is to see a Saltmarsh Sparrow.  As soon as I got out of the car, I saw a sparrow teed-up out in the marsh, and thought that “it can’t be that easy . . .”  I was right.  It was a Seaside Sparrow.  Turning back around, I saw that the local Fish Crows had taken quite an interest in my car.

There were other birds in the marsh, mostly blackbirds and starlings, but a dozen or so Glossy Ibis and a few egrets.

Snowy Egret stalking through the marsh

I walked on out to the Point and out to view the cormorants on West Rock, then came back around and walked to the observation deck east of the Center.  Along the outer cobble beach strand, what I had thought were pebbles were instead Slipper Shells.

I love the Latin name:  Crepidula fornicata

Some folks had built a labyrinth.

Nearby, an adult Killdeer gave her ‘distraction display’, feigning a broken wing and attempting to induce me to follow her away from the nest.

She's telling me she has a broken wing . . .

. . . to draw me away from her precious eggs

There were the usual ‘brush birds’ along the ‘trail’, as well as some gulls and terns.

Common Yellowthroats were very vocal here

Song Sparrows were carrying food back to their clutch of young

Yellow Warbler

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Common Tern

Finally, I got the scope on a sparrow with the buffy orange ‘mustache’ and stripe above the eye, as it jumped up on some marsh grass, then dropped before I could get the cell phone camera focused for a digiscope shot.  But - Yes!  This was ABA Life Bird No. 617 for me.  I heard the call of another Saltmarsh Sparrow further along but still couldn’t get a photo.  I could get shots of the numerous Willets.

Willet - Or, won't it?

Willets show a distinct black-and-white pattern on their wings

Another 'bird-watcher' tried to convince me that she was seeing Bank Swallows, but all I saw were the abundant recently-fledged Tree Swallows, which also have a dark  'breast band', reminiscent of that on the Bank Swallow.

Juvenile Tree Swallows

I spent about 2 ½ hours birding along the marsh, then stopped at the Meigs Point Nature Center, which is really well done, having exhibits for the marsh, the woods, and the air.  They also had a pair of Monk Parakeets and a Blue Jay, who were keeping the volume elevated in the building.  In the marsh back of the Center was a foraging raccoon, bidding me so long.

I headed east into Rhode Island, and stopped to walk the Foster Cove Loop trail at Ninigret NWR, before heading toward New Hampshire.

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They have quite an extensive trail system here

It was a pretty warm afternoon, so bird activity was a bit muted, but I walked the Foster Cove trail loop to see what birds and wildlife I might find.

Habitat shot

Leaving the Refuge and driving north until I tired out, I checked into the Best Western in Concord.

Hoyt-Barnum House  eBird Checklist is Here

Hammonasset Beach State Park  eBird Checklist is Here

Ninigret NWR  eBird Checklist is Here

Hammonasset Osprey

January 11 - Potlatch

Anders Price and I spent some time today booking a Repositioning Cruise with Princess Lines from Los Angeles to Vancouver, as well as air and ground travel to and from.  I’d been on similar trips previously, in the May and September periods, but wanted to do a cruise this year, hoping that we might find a Mottled Petrel on an earlier trip, since I would like to get Pterodroma inexpectata on my ABA list.  We signed up for the March 26-29^th sailing of the Emerald Princess.

Anders left for home, so I made lunch and then drove out to Potlatch State Park to see what might be in the bight of the Canal.

Potlatch State Park

The name Potlatch on the Northwest Coast of North America refers to a Nootka Indian word that was added to the Chinook Jargon meaning a gift or the giving of a gift.  Potlatches were held by Northwest Coast Indians from time to time where, with great ceremony, goods were distributed among those who were in attendance often by one host.  Often large buildings called Potlatch Houses were built for the ceremonies and sometimes were used year after year until the practice was outlawed by government.  The last major potlatches held in Tacoma were in 1907 and 1909.  The history of the nearby town of Potlatch dates to 1900, when Thomas Bordeaux became president of the newly incorporated Potlatch Commercial and Terminal Company. The company acquired timber lands and began construction of a logging railway to access them. Potlatch was built as a company town.

The sun was out, and the Olympic Mountains shone in its light, so it was a pleasant drive over.  I arrived at the picnic area and scoped the bight of Hood Canal for water birds.  There was a flock of over 400 wigeon

The Wigeon were close to shore, feeding on sea lettuce

with a distant Eurasian Wigeon, Mallards, Greater Scaup, and both species of Goldeneye.  A flock of Killdeer was resting on the picnic area lawn, amongst the molehills. Our local Townsend's mole is the largest North American mole.

Townsend's mole hill dwarfs the Killdeer

The only ‘new bird’ species for the day included my view of a few distant Red-necked Grebes, bringing my year total to 107 Species

Potlatch State Park eBird Checklist is Here