I don’t often go after rarities in
southwestern CT since that part of the state is well beyond my self-imposed
2-hour driving limit for chasing. So
when an Ash-throated Flycatcher was reported from Sherwood Island State Park in
Westport (nearly 3 hours away), I didn’t get too excited about it. But then the bird continued to be reported on
a nearly daily basis, and I had a couple trips to New York City coming up. The bird would have to continue for nearly 3
weeks, but if it did, I could give it a try in route to or from the City. As my NYC trip neared, the bird was still
being reported. So I reached out to Tina
Green who visited the park almost daily, and got excellent
micro-directions. I was all set –
assuming the bird continued that is.
The night before I was heading back from
NYC on my first trip, I checked the listserve and the bird was indeed seen that
day. And there was also a sighting of Townsend’s
Solitaire that day from nearby Cos Cob, CT.
I needed both birds for my CT list, and both were only a couple miles
off of I-95, so it would be great to try for both. But I only had an hour of spare time, and who
knew if the Solitaire would be re-found.
So I decided to just try for the reliable Ash-throated. Plus I had a couple more trips to NYC in the
next 2 weeks, so maybe I could still try for the Solitaire on one of those
trips if it continued.
I arrived at Sherwood Island State Park and
took the short walk to the spot where the Flycatcher had been reported. I quickly found the cork tree which was the
bird’s favorite perch, but the tree was empty.
Then just a minute later I noticed some movement in the trees a short
distance away – it was the Ash-throated Flycatcher. The bird continued to fly-catch in those
trees over the next several minutes. I
got these passable phone-scoped photos of the bird during my brief stay.
I now have Ash-throated in 5 New England
states as a rarity (just need it in VT), along with 8 states in its regular
range in the southwest (see my statebird map below).
That was easy! Although I had just an hour to look for the
bird, I only needed 10 minutes. And just
as I was leaving the park I got a text that the Solitaire was re-found in Cos
Cob. Did I have enough time to try for
that one too? Maybe if I had gotten the
word earlier I could have stopped at Cos Cob first, then headed east to
Sherwood Island while heading home. But
now I didn’t have enough time to double back to the west and still get home in
time. So I would have to be content with
just getting the Flycatcher for my CT list.
Then again, with 2 more trips to NYC in the
next 10 days, maybe I could try for the Solitaire after all. I kept watching the listserve and the
Solitaire did continue from the same suburban neighborhood in Cos Cob, so there
was hope. Although the next trip to NYC
included a drive down I-95 (within a couple miles of the Solitaire), I had no
free time. And the trip back included a
crossing of Long Island Sound on the Orient-New London ferry instead of a drive
up I-95. So no chance to try for the
Solitaire on that trip. Though I did find
a rare Common Murre at the Orient, NY dock as #279 for my NY statelist – my 5th
northeast state for this species. (Sure
would have rather seen it in CT waters though!)
I only had one more trip to NYC, but at
least on the way down I had 2-3 hours of spare time to try for the
Solitaire. I arrived in Cos Cob at 9:15
after enduring some miserable rush hour traffic heading into the City. Soon after I got out of the car I heard what
I thought was the Solitaire. The bird
had been calling quite a bit over the last several days, so I initially thought
I had the bird. But the call wasn’t
quite right, so I tracked down the source of the call to be sure. It turned out to be a Blue Jay giving a very
good imitation of the Solitaire’s repeated “whee” call note. Over the next 30 minutes I heard that Blue
Jay give the Solitaire call two more times.
I bet birders had been playing a lot of tape of the Solitaire’s call in
the area, and the Blue Jay had added it to its repertoire.
I had now spent 30 minutes in the area
where the Solitaire had been seen most often, but the closest I came to getting
the Solitaire was to hear a Blue Jay imitate its call. So I walked a short distance to the south to
expand my search area. Just then I heard
a Solitaire call from the original area.
It only called 5 times, though this time it sounded like the real
thing. But could I be sure? I quickly headed back to where I thought I
heard the call, but neither heard nor saw the bird. A few minutes later I heard the call again –
this time repeated non-stop. And there
was the Solitaire, nicely perched near the top of a nearby deciduous tree. It flew in undetected. Not sure I would have noticed it if it hadn’t
been calling. I took this phonescoped
photo of this most cooperative bird.
CT was my 6th state for Townsend’s
Solitaire as a rarity (5 in the northeast plus IL), along with 12 states out
west.
The Flycatcher and the Solitaire were #324
and #325 for my CT list – excellent additions to my list from a part of the
state where I rarely bird. Sure was nice
for these rarities to hang around long enough for me to see them as part of
pre-arranged trips to and from NYC. (As
I write this both birds are still being seen daily - now 37 days for the
Flycatcher and 19 days for the Solitaire.)
Unfortunately I wasn’t as successful with a “Western” Flycatcher seen
for 2 days in Branford, CT – I was there on the third day.
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