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 28 - Viera Wetlands

I was awake at 5:30, so got up to a cloudy 49° morning.  It was no longer raining, but was still moderately windy, with about 15-knot winds from the northwest.   The seas off Port Canaveral were 10-12 feet and up to 15 feet, with a 4 foot swell and wind chop on top of that, so I’m kind of relieved that the pelagic trip was cancelled.  It would have been a nasty boat ride, even with a larger boat than those used by the Westport Charter fleet.  One thing I’ve long since learned was that “if the skipper doesn’t think it’s a good idea to go out, he’s absolutely correct!”

At 10 a.m., I decided to walk down the road toward the Viera Wetlands, which are wastewater settling and recharge ponds for the local water and sewer folks.  The wind was still blowing a bit as I headed out of the neighborhood, supervised by one of the local Black Vultures.

 
The Folks in Florida have different yard birds than we do in the Puget Sound region.

Glossy Ibis as a Yard Bird

En route, there was a bit of a breeze, but I had good views of the local warblers,

"Western" Palm Warbler

as well as the water birds in the ponds along the way.

I did see my first Blue Jays of the trip . . .  I’m surprised that I had spent several days in Florida without seeing the species, although I’d heard several prior to this.  Red-bellied Woodpeckers are really common in the 'burbs

They're called Red-bellied 'cause they have red bellies

Mockingbirds checked me out, and didn’t seem too concerned that I was in their neighborhood,

Northern Mockingbirds - Common in Florida; Very Much Not So in Washington

although the Loggerhead Shrikes were less confiding.

Unsafe at any speed . . .

At one vacant lot, there were hundreds of Tree Swallows descending on the wax myrtle bushes.  I couldn’t tell if they were eating the berries or foraging for insects in the foliage, but they would weigh down the branches, take off, and swirl down to another bush. 

All Tree Swallows, so far as I could tell . . .

Swirling lower and lower . . .

 . . . and landing in the Wax Myrtle by the hundreds!

I got to the wetlands, named for Ritch Grissom.

After yesterday’s 3 ½ inches of rain, vehicles were prohibited until the road dried out a bit longer.  There are several acres of ponds, with cattails, grasses and reeds to absorb the nitrogen from the treated effluent water.

The treatment plant is adjacent to the wetlands

"Clean" water goes into the wetlands

The wetlands provide habitat for the wildlife, and opportunities for birders, joggers, and nature lovers.  The water management folks have provided roads & trails with observation decks

There are lots of interpretive signs for birds and bugs

Of course, there were no butterflies out while I was there . . .

But I learned about them in spite of myself

and the local vegetation
The site has rules.  There are always rules.  One is “Don’t feed the ‘gators!”
I got some nice views of the water birds

The immature-plumaged Little Blue Heron is neither

But, the adult fits the bill . . .

Common Gallinules are, well, common here

White Ibis

Wood Storks have these cool pink feet . . .

Headless Limpkin comes in for a landing

Pied-billed Grebe

There were a few alligators who wished that the ambient temperature was a bit higher.

This is a cool alligator . . .

Being cold-blooded, they didn’t move fast, unless one approached a little too close or too quickly.  Fortunately, these 5-footers were solely interested in getting back to the safety of their marsh.

My, what big teeth you have, Grandmother!

Besides alligators, there were other reptiles about, including this softshell turtle.  It appears, from its 20-inch size, to be a female.  Males are smaller, about 10-12".

Apalone ferox - the softshell turtle

I stayed on the dike, although some nice habitat along the perimeter seemed to beckon.  But, the area was closed to the public.  ¿Quien lo sabe?

Bridge to Nowhere, Florida style

You may get bored looking at someone else’s shots of birds, but I can never get enough of seeing these species.

I don't see many Palm Warblers in the Pacific Northwest, so I enjoy them while I'm here

And, the same with the Boat-tailed Grackles

These two Caspian Terns caused a traffic jam.
They were apparently adult and mostly-grown child, altho' I suppose it could be a female begging from a male in a courtship behavior thingy.  The one with the submissive posture kept uttering the juvenile begging calls, which the adult seemed to not quite ignore.  It seemed more like, “yes, young man, you are hungry.  I suggest that you go out and get your own dinner…”

The Roseate Spoonbills also caused a bit of a Viera traffic jam,
although there were plenty flying overhead and feeding in the marsh

Who doesn't like big, pink birds?

At about 3 p.m., Marty called, and I was pretty close to the parking lot, so I told her to come pick me up. We packed to leave the Sunshine State tomorrow to return to the gray skies of the Pacific Northwest.

Viera Wetlands eBird Checklist is Here