Blue Jay
This Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) was in the shade on a sunny April day, nevertheless showing off blue hues against a blue sky and flying around with its mate. In this case the blues are not as blue as they could be because they are not actually blue. Huh? Their feather barb cells are specially modified scatter light in a way that makes them appear blue instead of what would be brown melanin, and if this bird flew into the sunlight then it would pop even more. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreBrown Thrasher
The Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) was another photographic target of mine this spring. I typically do get to enjoy the species a bit each April and May, but they are difficult subjects to shoot. Part of the problem is that they have dramatically dropped in abundance since Roger Tory Peterson’s time which makes me appreciate moments like these all the more. For a species that was a tolerably common breeding bird for many people, including Roger’s homes in New York and Connecticut, is now often a ghost in both behavior and population. Habitat loss and degradation, competition with...
Read MoreDay Moon
We tend to think of migration as a nightly event as we enter the spring – watching birds pass in front of the moon on a clear evening, catching them on radar, hearing flight calls in the darkness or finding new faces have joined us in our yards and patches when we wake up in the morning. While we often ignore the moon shining in the bright blue sky all day we also ignore the fact many birds are flying over us then, too. Yes, we see geese and certainly are aware of hawk watches and the many raptors that use thermals, but shorebirds might be migrating nonstop over the continent, while...
Read MoreGull Problems
High on the list of things I simply do not have time for in the spring is spending hours picking apart a gull identification problem. Even if I did then I would likely leave the gulls to the pros! With that said, I took a little time to see this bird last week. This individual was discovered at Long Beach in Stratford, Connecticut by Patrick Comins, Audubon Connecticut’s Director of Bird Conservation. He thought it could be a first cycle Thayer’s Gull upon initial discovery as it stood out among the Herring Gulls for several reasons. However, this was in putrid light and very...
Read MoreNoble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset on May 14, 2016
Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset on May 14, 2016 Please join family, friends, colleagues and students for a celebration of Noble Proctor’s life in the form of a BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut on Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 8AM to sunset. Our headquarters for the BioBlitz will be at the pavilion near Willard’s Island. A BioBlitz is a race to find every species of life possible – birds, mammals, plants, insects, and more. We will form teams to search the park and record all the species we can discover. At 1:00 PM, we will come together...
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