Grassland Migrants
Yesterday I was able to enjoy and photograph a couple of uncommon grassland birds for us in the Northeast – the Dickcissel (Spiza americana) and the Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum). Both of these species had been spotted at Stratford Point where they are almost annual visitors, with Dickcissels typically stopping over in the fall and Grasshopper Sparrows being seen sometimes in both spring and autumn. I decided to take a walk around the site with my friend and great birder Tom Murray as we were giving the sparrows some space in hopes the unseen Grasshopper would pop back...
Read MoreGood Dog
Zach here is having a good laugh at the notion that dogs like him are native parts of our ecosystem! I mentioned keeping cats indoors last week, once again describing how much damage they can do to our environment and how much pain being exposed to nature can inflict upon them. The same goes for unsupervised and untrained dogs. No one needs to see a puppy chasing a squirrel into the street and getting hit by a car. Dogs that run through the woodlands in summer can crush nests and eggs, sniff out young birds to “play” with or kill, and pick up dozens of ticks while they do,...
Read MoreRed Knots
Last evening we found these juvenile Red Knots on the beach at Stratford Point along with Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers and our first of fall Dunlin. In 2014, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced that the rufa subspecies of Red Knot was officially added to the United States Endangered Species Act, designated as “threatened”. We are already identifying the most significant staging and feeding areas in Connecticut through our work in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds, and we know this is a very important location for them. It is so...
Read MoreLong Beach Down, Sandy/Morse Up
Here are a few more photos of the string fencing and signage removal effort last week by us at the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Thank you to those of you who joined us! We really need more assistance this Thursday, August 20th at 10:00AM at Sandy/Morse Points in West Haven. Any and all volunteers are greatly appreciated! It is one of the best sites in the entire state for birds in August, and you can expect to see a lot of wonderful shorebirds, terns and other migrants while we are there. Assisting not only...
Read MoreWalking Long Beach
Here are four quick iPhone photos that I took yesterday while walking the length of Stratford’s Long Beach all the way to Bridgeport’s Pleasure Beach during string fencing and signage removal operations with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Audubon Connecticut, our partners in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. I did not haul my camera gear a half mile plus down the beach because we were doing physical labor, pulling up wooden stakes and then carrying them back to the parking lot. While walking all the way out I saw a Gatorade bottle...
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