Glossy Ibis
This is not a bird you expect to fly by low over your head, nor one you are ready to turn up and shoot…but here is the Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), a wader of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The species is actually present on six continents, and because it is a long-legged wading bird found in our coastal marshes it is one of the many species we tally in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. Protecting their habitat, tracking their populations, and studying where they are and when all helps us learn more now and utilize better conservation management practices later. Scott...
Read MoreYellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
We had a very welcome late morning visitor at Stratford Point today in the form of this Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus) as it searched out tent caterpillars on the bluff. The American Robins and Common Grackles were not as welcoming, thinking this bird was going to go after their nests and little ones. The light was not the best for photography, but it is hard to get better views of a cuckoo than this! Stratford Point keeps bringing in the migrants even as we near the end of May. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreRuby-throated Hummingbird Portraits
In his continuing portrait series, RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser couldn’t get enough of this adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). He said that the bird’s gorget was one of the most stunning he had ever seen in this species and so very vibrant. This is one of the two adult males at Audubon Greenwich this breeding season. Sean has seen a lot of hummingbirds species over the years. He has now caught over 40 species during mist netting and banding operations across the Americas, and the bright red gorget of a male Ruby-throat is still one of the most splendid...
Read MoreBlack-and-white Warblers
Black-and-white Warblers (Mniotilta varia) were the most common migrant this spring in Connecticut for RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser, and he even thinks that breeding individuals may stick around at Audubon Greenwich. This is male on the left and female on the right. Only now is their migration finally winding down after a tremendous season for the species.
Read MoreMagnolia Warbler
This Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) was another bird from the Noble Proctor Memorial BioBlitz Challenge this past Saturday at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut. Willards Island was still a warbler machine late in the morning and we were cranking out the birds. Some, like this individual, would briefly drift into point blank range…even with an excited, raucous crowd around us. All of the birds were as happy as our birding friends with all sorts of plentiful insects in the air and on the trees at this vital migratory site…and we were recording all of those...
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