Roseate Spoonbill, First State Record, Milford, CT, September 2018

Just 3 weeks after the Wood Stork and Neotropic Cormorant showed up in NH, and the Great Black Hawk appeared in Maine, a Roseate Spoonbill was spotted way up in Sebec, ME.  This first state record was apparently very reliably seen starting on August 27 on a small farm pond far from the coast.  Although I would have loved to go after the Spoonbill, Sebec would be a nearly 5-hour one-way drive for me.  So despite my temptations, I never went to chase after it.

While reviewing posts on the ME listserve one day I noticed a report that the Spoonbill was no longer being found at its usual location.  It was last seen on September 9 after 14 days of daily sightings.  I always wonder if these long-lost species find their way back home, or whether they continue to head even further in the wrong direction.  For instance the Great Black Hawk was spotted leaving its southern ME home-away-from-home flying northeast out to sea – perhaps its next stop was even farther afield in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland.

But back to the Spoonbill…  Then amazingly 8 days later on September 17 came a report of a Roseate Spoonbill on the CT coast – yet another first state record!  Was it the ME bird or yet another Spoonbill visiting New England?  Unlike the ME bird, this one wasn’t very sedentary.  It was first reported on the Stratford side of the Housatonic River at Raven Pond, then it would not be found at all for a time, despite numerous birders searching from land and by boat.  Then the Spoonbill seemed to prefer Wheeler Marsh visible from the Audubon Coastal Center at Milford Point, though it would also return to Raven Pond especially to join a nighttime Egret roost there, and would be seen elsewhere in Stratford as well.  It was still covering a pretty large area. 

Unlike the ME bird, this one was within my chasing distance, “only” 2 ½ hours from home.  So I definitely wanted to give it a try.  Unfortunately I was too busy to head out, so I needed it to stick around a few days until I could finally break free early on Saturday morning the 22nd.  Luckily its wanderings had become more predictable by now.  It would typically show up at Wheeler Marsh soon after sunrise, and then be seen sporadically at the marsh during the day.  A complication was that it would often be seen flying into the marsh only to drop in and disappear out of view for hours.  So you had to keep a close eye out for it.  Friday morning the bird appeared at 7:40 AM, so I planned to arrive at the Milford Audubon Center no later than 7 AM the next day to give it a try.  That meant a 4:30 AM departure – anything for a rarity!

Luckily there was next to no traffic as I made my way to the CT coast early on Saturday morning.  As I arrived at the Audubon Center a few minutes before 7 I could see about 10 birders already on site.  There had been no sightings yet that morning, though one birder had the Spoonbill there in the marsh the night before all the way up until nearly total darkness.  Maybe our target never left the marsh the night before and was right out in front of us hidden by the marsh vegetation. 

By 7:40, the time it arrived the day before, there were at least 20 birders on site scoping the marsh, but to no avail.  You wouldn’t think a large pink wading bird would be so difficult to find.  As 7:40 came and went I mentioned to everyone that the yesterday’s 7:40 tide would be duplicated today at about 8:30 – so maybe that would be the more likely time for it to return.  We all had to stay optimistic, right?  At least while we were waiting I spotted at least 1 “Western” Willet – perhaps soon to be a separate species.

And then at 8:28 one of the birders yelled – “I have the Spoonbill!”  There it was flying over the marsh at a considerable distance coming in from the west.  At first it was quite high, then it slowly got lower to the marsh, circled a couple times, then dropped in out of site.  Although it was quite distant the whole time, and total viewing time was maybe only 30 seconds, everyone was able to see all the fieldmarks including of course the pink color and the large spatulate bill.  Good enough for a state “tick” – though if it had been a lifebird I would have wanted a better view.  Here is a picture of the marsh where it dropped in, perhaps nearly a mile away.

Roseate Spoonbill was #332 for me in CT, and the 440th species I’ve seen anywhere in the 6 New England states.  CT was only my 4th state for this species typically only found in the deep south.

 

It turns out that comparison of photos of the ME and CT birds revealed that they were the same individual.  Amazingly, 8 days after leaving Sebec, ME it was re-found in Stratford and Milford, CT, some 345 miles away “as the Spoonbill flies”.  Wonder if it took a direct route and passed over NH and MA on the way.  In fact, if it flew on a straight line it would have passed nearly directly over my house here in Pepperell, MA.  I guess I didn’t look up at the right time. 

“But wait there’s more…”  There were also reports of Spoonbills all across the Midwest and Northeast this year, including IN, OH, WV, PA, MD, NJ, NY and DE.  And it turns out that the ME and CT bird was also the one spotted at the Walkill River NWR along the NJ / NY line from July 22 to August 5.  And then there was a Spoonbill spotted in southeastern Quebec on August 7.  Was this also the same bird?  Unfortunately the photos weren’t of sufficient quality to tell.  This was only 85 miles northwest of its Sebec, ME location where it was first spotted 20 days later – certainly a feasible trip.  But the Quebec spot is 375 miles northeast of its NJ/NY location – could it have traveled that far is just 2 days?  I guess we’ll never know for sure. 

It has truly been an amazing year for vagrant Roseate Spoonbills!