All previous week, our Drumlin Farm's trip this past Sat. & Sun. [May 3rd &4th] to Ct looked iffy due to rain & storms - fortunately only Sat around 4 pm through midnight was washed out and the balance of the weekend we were not impacted as we explored/birded a variety of upland and coastal birding habitats.
Day 1 - First stop is a totally under birded location - Morey Pond & Nipmuck SF off Rt 84 near Stafford Springs - woodland habitats mixed with wet areas as you drive these well-maintained dirt roads you are surrounded by song/birds. The challenge is how to bird these 2 spots in 2 to 3 hrs so that we can move along to our other southern Ct locations.Our group arrived about 9 am & before we drove 50 yds down the dirt road, not even out of the cars, we could hear a Louisiana Waterthrush calling near the road. While looking at the Waterthrush, we had Blackburnian & Blk&Wht Warblers in the trees, N Parulas, Am Redstarts, Ovenbirds, Gt Crested Fly, Scarlet Tanagers, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, N Flickers, E Towhees, Gt-crested Flycatchers,Veery, Red-eyed Vireos & more singing in the woods nonstop around us. The real challenge was trying to separate all the species singing around us & not missing some of those high-pitched songs. To our surprise, a D-C Cormorant fly over. Down at the pond, we spotted a Wood Duck, Tree Swallows, Yellow Warblers, C Yellowthroats etcThe Nipmuck section which is a long loop road through the forest/wet areas was alive with all the species seen on the pond road but additional Blk-thr Green Warblers, Nashville Warblers, another Louisiana Waterthrush but close looks at a N Waterthrush for comparison. Other highlights were stunning looks at a male Scarlet Tanager in full sun, Cedar Waxwings, Wht-b Nuthatch, Wood Thrushes singing, Yellow-b Sapsucker &again all the song along the loop road.We then drove south to South Windsor to enjoy Station 43 [a Hartford Audubon Soc preserve] - a narrow trail along a stream opening up into a large marsh area. Along the trail you had Warbling Vireos, Yellow Warblers, C Yellowthroats, Baltimore Orioles, Catbirds, N House & Carolina Wrens, Swamp Sparrows - once we arrived at a clear opening where we had marsh on either side, we flushed a pair of Blue-w Teal & Wood Duck, a Glossy Ibis and quick looks at Virginia Rails moving through the grasses, 2 Green & several Gt Blue Herons, a Cooper's Hawk flying off with a snake, many Tree & 1 Rough-winged Swallows flying about, Marsh Wrens singing, E Kingbirds plus volumes of Red-w Blackbirds & C Grackles. The previous morning, a Least Bittern was calling there but not for us unfortunately.Close by is Vibert Rd that leads you down to the Ct River pass sod fields - once scanning the river, we had 3 to 4 Bald Eagles sitting & soaring plus several Bank Swallows that nest there along the banks. - many Baltimore Orioles in the trees along the river.After lunch, we traveled to NorthWest Park in Windsor - here we knew the impending storms could be an issue, but all was calm as we walked out towards the fields. To our delight we quickly had a few Indigo Buntings teed up, singing Blue-w Warblers, many Baltimore= Orioles along with 1 male Orchard Oriole, Field Sparrows - once in the woods heading back to the cars, we ran into a small pocket of birds that included a Ruby-cr Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and a group of sparrows in the brush - but at the same time we heard the storm coming quickly so we left also quickly for the cars. Once in the cars, the rain came hard washing out all our evening birding plans. Despite the shorten day, we managed 81 species Day 2 - We had an early departure down to New Haven & East Rock Park where you walk past the gate up Summit Rd to the top by the monument overlooking New Haven. This location is one of the most birded spots in Ct for migrant species but while there, we had only a few pockets of warblers, I think the storm earlier affected our findings [me being greedy]. We certainly had many N Parulas & Black&Wht Warblers along the climb plus Gt-crested Fly, Red-eyed Vireos, Wood Thrushes & Veery, Red-bellied & Downy Woodpeckers, N Flickers plus Worm-eating & Prairie & Nashville & Blackpoll & Blackburnian & Yellow-rumps & Am Redstarts & male Blk-thr Blue Warbler, Chimney Swifts, Scarlet Tanagers, Fish Crows, Bald Eagle, Black & Turkey Vultures [upon reflection, a nice variety]. To our enjoyment, we watched 2 different Raccoons resting in trees.Next stop is one of my favorite coastal birding locations in Ct as we worked our way back north - never see other birders there unlike other locations - I just call it the Secret Spot - as we approached the marsh & channel, the tide was low boding well - once we walked out by the channel, we were surrounded by Osprey, Willets. Purple Martins along with Blk Oystercatchers, Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plovers, flocks of Dunlin. 1 Spotted Sandpiper, Common Terns, Boat-tailed Grackles - the 2 highlights were at least 5 or 6 Clapper Rails calling all around us with 1 walking out in the open & also close to us was a Seaside Sparrow teed up singing. A few other species was our 1st Snowy Egret, Rough-w & Tree & Barn Swallows, Killdeer plus all the regular gulls & D-C Cormorants.Next coastal stop was Hammonasset Beach SP - drove out to Meig's Point area to view the ocean where we had Brant, Red-thr & Common Loons, Surf Scoters, Common Terns & a Blk Oystercatchers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Willets, Gt Yellowlegs, Great Egrets - given few migrants had been seen there that day, we left spotting a Brown Thrasher on the way out.Last stop was a quick stop at Harkness Memorial Park - chance to show the participants this lovely location of marshes, lawns & ocean & a majestic mansion - among the variety of species spotted where Piping Plovers, Least Sandpipers, Willets. Gt Yellowlegs, Osprey, Black Scoter, Common Eider, Red-thr & C Loons, Glossy Ibis & Savannah SparrowFinal count for Day 2 was 100 species - combined with day 1 species we ended up with 118 species for the trip - like always, you miss some species [Wht-thr Sparrow, Kingfisher, Rose-br Grosbeak] but you have many exciting, unexpected sightings like the 2 rails, Seaside Sparrow, the 2 Waterthrushes, teed up Scarlet Tanagers, male Blk-thr Blue Warbler, etc. etc Thanks like always to Dan Fournier & Lindsay Neubeck-Brooks for all the leadership/driving plus a great group of participants up to the challenges of this trip as we covered a lot of territory - one special veteran birder actually flew up from Louisiana [must be a record] to join 2 friends for this weekend birding trip Next trip is on May 17th visiting my Bird Banding Site at West Hill Dam plus other Uxbridge birding locations - great chance to see species in the hand, ageing them, etchttps://www.massaudubon.org/programs/drumlin-farm/97066-bird-banding-in-uxbridge
