Spotted Sandpiper
The Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) is one of our easier to identify shorebirds from any distance, and their unique behaviors make them a stand out from the crowd – literally. While you may run into large flocks of shorebirds numbering in the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands heading south in the summer along lakes, in marshes, or on the Atlantic coast, you will very likely find only one or two or a handful of Spotted Sandpipers at a time. Even if multiple Spotteds are present in one place they will probably be on different flocks, not bumping into one another or seeking the...
Read MoreWillet
Here is a Willet (Tringa semipalmata) that I photographed during the Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge this past May. Now that we have entered August we are firmly in the time of year for these birds to be found as migrants in many marshes, wetlands, beaches and coastal locations. We can also expect to find one or two Western Willets that have a distinctly different appearance including a softer toned, less-barred gray body, a slightly leaner bill, and a bit of a larger overall size. See if you can spot one soon! That can be a difficult task to begin with as you can see how well their...
Read MoreWildLife Guards Planting & Removing
The Bridgeport WildLife Guards do even more than educate beachgoers about the wildlife around us or conduct avian surveys on the shore as they, like the Project Wild America Youth Ambassadors, get hands-on with our local habitats. The Guards recently came to Stratford Point for the day in order to help enhance and maintain the increasingly spectacular site as upland habitats are completely overhauled with a focus on benefiting migratory songbirds and various pollinator species. They planted everything from butterfly weed to serviceberry while removing non-native invasive species such as...
Read MoreOutrageously Outstanding Outreach
The Bridgeport WildLife Guards are rolling along in the 2016 season, and last week I stopped in to visit them for a while on a couple of days. We went for a walk to see some Piping Plovers and Least Terns along their own Pleasure Beach and the connected Long Beach in Stratford, the two parts of the mile-long barrier beach. While Pleasure Beach’s Piping Plover has fledged we still sometimes find a bird or two foraging or flying by. No Least Terns nested there in 2016, but they are currently nesting in nearby areas of Long Beach. Those birds forage all over the general area so visitors...
Read MoreThe Big Dipper
Can you spot the Big Dipper just above the horizon between the trees? It can be hard to believe in the midsummer heat but birds are already migrating south for the winter both during the day (various swallows to Eastern Kingbirds to Blue-gray Gnatcatchers) and the night (Red-eyed Vireos to Indigo Buntings to Black-billed Cuckoos). Those nocturnal species use various methods to help them move around our planet – some may use a coastline, others the Earth’s magnetic field, and like people, certain birds gaze at the stars. Various species take in the night sky as a map, just as we...
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