It all started with an absolutely amazing set of sightings in
Long Island Sound off the CT coast. First there were reports of a large number of
Shearwaters at the eastern end of the Sound, with Great, Cory’s and Sooty
Shearwaters seen in record numbers from the New London-Orient Point ferry. Unfortunately I couldn’t break free to get
out on the ferry during that time. And
when I finally could get out, the Shearwaters had mostly moved on. The best I could do was add Great Shearwater
to my NY list on one leg of one of these ferry trips.
Then came CT reports of multiple Parasitic Jaegers seen from
land, principally from Hammonasset Beach State Park. And several of these reports included an
occasional Shearwater. All sightings
were apparently associated with feeding frenzies including hundreds, if not
thousands, of Terns. I didn’t try
chasing after these birds since the sightings were a bit hit or miss,
apparently depending on whether there were schools of fish nearby to attract
these pelagic species.
All in all, this was perhaps an unprecedented set of pelagic
sightings in Long Island Sound. Unfortunately
one that I hadn’t been able to experience.
That is until a report of a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck in
Essex, CT came across the listserve. Photos
confirmed the ID of this first state record, and many birders were able to see
this most cooperative bird later that same day.
When the bird continued to cooperate the next morning, though seen in
multiple spots in the immediate vicinity, I cleared my schedule to be able to
make the trip to Essex on Day 3. And
since Hammonasset was within 30 minutes of Essex, I could combine the 2
locations into one trip with lots of statebird potential.
But as I was piecing together the directions to the spots
where the Whistling-Duck had been seen, I noticed a post that a birder watched
it fly north around Noon and he did not refind it. I posted to the listserve asking for other
updates and unfortunately only received negative reports. I tried to remain positive that it would
return since vagrant BBWDs will often stay in one spot for quite a while, and
decided to keep with my plans. And just
before closing the computer that night a post came across that the bird
returned at 6:30 PM. The chase was on!
I was out of the house before 6, arriving in downtown Essex
by 7:45. The Whistling-Duck seemed to
prefer a small tidal pool in a suburban backyard at the corner of Ferry and
Pratt Streets, so that was my first destination. As I drove down Ferry Street nearing the
intersection I looked to the left toward the pool and there was a lone duck
standing in the lawn at the edge of the pool – it was the Black-bellied
Whistling Duck. I parked on Pratt Street
and got crippling views of this extreme rarity, including these phonescoped
shots as it fed in the mud.
CT was my 9th state for this species, most of which as a
vagrant.
I was happy that my first target was so cooperative because
I needed to move on to Hammonasset to try for my next objectives – pelagics on
the Sound. Within a half hour I was at
the park gate and realized this was the first time I had ever been there “in season”
requiring an entrance fee. The $15 day
pass seemed steep, but I hoped it would be worthwhile.
Minutes later I was at Meig’s Point and walked up to the
observation platform. Two birders were
already there, and they mentioned they had just had a couple Jaegers. And one birder had a Cory’s Shearwater. That made me hopeful for what might lie
ahead, though I wished I could have been there a bit earlier. With a first scope scan I could see a large
flock of Terns flying low over the water – we had a feeding frenzy with
critical mass for the pelagics. And sure
enough within a couple minutes I picked out a slim Jaeger which was very most
likely a Parasitic. Then I spotted another,
and another, and soon had a group of 6 Jaegers all in one scope field! Over the next 45 minutes the feeding frenzy
continued nearly directly off the point, and we had at least one Jaeger in
sight nearly the entire time. And we all
agreed that at least a few we could positively ID as Parasitics, with all the
others most likely Parasitics as well. CT
was my 12th state for this species – I only need it in VT to complete the sweep
of all 6 New England states.
Over the next couple hours the feeding frenzy would die
down, and sometimes completely stop. And
then a few minutes later we would find the big flock of Terns a short distance
to the east or west, again accompanied by multiple Jaegers. I conservatively reported 6 Parasitics in my
eBird checklist, since I had 6 in view at once, but the total could well have been
more. Then there was one that got away -
at one point I spotted a Jaeger to the west of us, and watched it fly by
eventually out of sight to the east. It
was not associating with any of the Terns as all the other Jaegers were, and
was apparently just migrating through the area.
Most interestingly, I could not see any white in the primaries. Could it have been a Long-tailed? Unfortunately it was too far away for a
definitive ID of these very tricky species.
By 11 the activity had slowed dramatically and the other two
birders left the point. I thought about
calling it quits myself, very content to have found my second CT statebird for
the day. But then another couple birders
arrived, and I decided to stay a bit longer to compare notes. A little later one of those birders spotted a
Shearwater flying west. Although it was distant
we could ID it as a Great. Finally had my
first Shearwater for CT after many unsuccessful trips on the Ferry. And then a bit later while searching through
another Tern flock I spotted another Shearwater gliding by – this one was a
Cory’s. A few minutes later I spotted
another Great actively feeding in the Tern flock. Amazing!
Good thing I didn’t leave earlier!
My statebird maps for Great and Cory’s Shearwaters are very
similar – all the coastal states from NY north, plus a few mid-Atlantic
states. I’ve also seen both species in
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
On a comparatively minor note, I also had excellent results with
Black Terns during my seawatch. In my
last hour there twice I had a single flyby of a Black Tern heading west, once
had a pair heading west, and twice I spotted a group of 4 birds feeding in with
the Common Terns. I initially reported 8
Black Terns for the morning, only counting the group of 4 once. But later I was notified that 8 would be a
new record for a single location in CT, so I decided to be overly conservative
and revised the total to just 4. Those
were only my second Black Terns for the state.
I guess the $15 entrance fee to Hammonasset was a worthwhile
investment after all.
A first CT state record, then not 1 but 3 pelagic species all
from land. That brings my CT statelist
to 331. What a day!
