Ash-throated Flycatcher and Townsend’s Solitaire in Southwestern CT, along with a Common Murre in NY, December 2015

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.

Cory’s Shearwater and Pomarine Jaeger, New London, CT - Orient Point, NY Ferry, August-September 2015

In July I had the opportunity to take the ferry across Long Island Sound from Bridgeport, CT to Port Jefferson, NY, and of course birded from the ship while we crossed the Sound.  Unfortunately I didn’t see anything but a few gulls and Common Terns.  Afterwards I found out that birders typically take the more eastern ferry from New London, CT to Orient Point, NY hoping for the occasional pelagic bird closer to open ocean waters.  Pelagic birds are exceptionally rare in CT given the coastal geography of that state with Long Island blocking the entire coast from open ocean waters.  So on my next trip to Long Island in late August I decided to take the ferry from New London to give it a try.  I was especially hoping for birds in CT, but would be happy with new birds for my NY list too.  Though I was well aware that many trips on the ferry are pretty slow with no pelagic birds seen at all. 

As we left the New London harbor there were many gulls and a few terns, but the numbers dropped off dramatically soon after we got into the open waters.  For quite a while I saw just a few Laughing Gulls, with a couple larger gulls mixed in, but that was all.  As we got roughly halfway out I checked the GPS on my phone and I estimated that we were now in NY waters.  So much for a new CT statebird that day.  But just a couple minutes later I noticed two birds flying along with the boat low over the water.  I got them in my binoculars and was shocked to see that they were Cory’s Shearwaters.  They continued to fly roughly southwest, passing the boat and then heading west when I lost them in the sun glare.  If only I had picked them out a little sooner they would have been in CT waters.  A little later I spotted another Cory’s now well into NY waters.  I took this picture with my iPhone (no magnification) of the third bird right next to the boat. 

Even though Cory’s Shearwater isn’t a rare bird in NY (they are seen regularly in season on the ocean side of Long Island), they are pretty rare on the Sound.  And of course just as rare in CT waters.  In fact I don’t remember seeing any reports of Cory’s from the ferry in either state.  Cory’s was number 277 for my NY list, which was my 7th Atlantic coastal state for this species (see my statebird map below).

I posted my sightings to the CT listserve that evening because even though the birds were in NY waters, they were tantalizingly close to being in CT.  And sure enough a number of birders went out on the ferry the next several days and spotted Cory’s in CT as well as NY.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get back on the ferry for at least another week, so I would have to be content to have gotten them in NY.  And I was happy to know that my initial sightings resulted in a number of CT birders being able to add them to their CT lists. 

But now it was a week later and surprisingly the Cory’s sightings continued.  So on a whim I decided to take a round-trip midday ferry, hoping to find them this time in CT waters.  This trip started very much like the first one, with few birds in the open sound.  We were now very close to the CT/NY line and I was just about to give up hope in seeing a shearwater in CT.  But just then I noticed a large dark bird flying alongside the boat with white wing patches – a Jaeger!  I got good looks at this sub-adult bird which was very stocky, making it a Pomarine Jaeger.  I rechecked my GPS and we were still in CT, but just barely.  The bird continued to fly south, and soon crossed into NY - #321 for my CT list and #278 for me in NY.  Although I’ve seen this species in just 11 states, they are scattered across the country including most all the “corners” of the US.

The return trip was very quiet with no Jaeger or Shearwaters.  So although I missed Cory’s in CT (there were no further reports of these birds), I was very happy to have discovered the Pomarine.  It appears that Pomarine Jaeger is even rarer than the Cory’s Shearwater in CT.  I checked the 1990 reference “Connecticut Birds” by Zeranski and Baptist, and Pomarine is not even included in the book.  So it was likely not even on the CT state list as of 1990.

I once again posted my sightings on the listserve, again resulting in a number of birders heading out on the ferry.  The next day another birder had a Pomarine Jaeger at the same spot near the stateline – undoubtedly the same bird I had.  Although others on subsequent days could not find the Pomarine, they had a couple different Parasitic Jaegers.  I sure could have used that one for my CT list, but home and work commitments kept me from heading back out.  Maybe I’ll get lucky again on a future ferry trip.

Long Island, NY – 9 Statebirds, July 2015

With an upcoming July vacation on Long Island of course I wanted to squeeze in some birding time.  My NY list was pretty good at 267, with many of those birds coming from upstate while I was at grad school at Cornell.  By comparison my downstate birding has been somewhat limited, featuring a couple trips to Jamaica Bay NWR, and some incidental birding through multiple work trips to New York City.  But since there are quite a number of NY species only seen near the coast, or at least much more likely downstate, I figured I would have some significant statebird potential. 

So now it was time for a bunch of research.  My first step was to set up my new favorite tool – the e-Bird Needs Alert.  Of course NY is a big state, but by focusing in on reports from Suffolk and Nassau Counties I was able to find quite a number of likely statebird possibilities.  They generally fell into 4 categories –

• Regular birds that should be relatively easy to find, though nothing is guaranteed – Whip-poor-will, Pine Warbler, Orchard Oriole (filling in some gaps in my NY statelist);
• Less common local breeders – Roseate Tern and White-eyed Vireo;
• Stakeout rarities – White-faced Ibis, Yellow-throated Warbler; and
• Rarer possibilities but not necessarily likely at any stakeout site – Any pelagic, Royal and Arctic Terns, Chuck-will’s-widow, and Blue Grosbeak.

I would have a couple early mornings available, generally before the family was awake, and at least 1 evening, so I developed itineraries for each day and hoped to get at least 4 or 5 new NY statebirds.

Day 1 Evening -

Whip-poor-wills had been reported from a number of sites in central Long Island, and there were also a couple Chuck-will’s-widows reported.  Though the Whips were reported into early July, the last Chuck report was from early June so I was less optimistic about finding that one.  I picked out Rocky Point Natural Resources Management Area as the best spot – with many Whip reports, one older Chuck report (though without a specific location), and many Pine Warbler reports, and only about 30 minutes from the hotel.  I arrived at Rocky Point about an hour before sunset hoping to hear the Pine Warblers before dusk, and with overcast skies hoping that I could hear the Whips a bit earlier than normal.  My first 2 stops didn’t yield any Warblers despite good habitat, but on my third stop I heard a Pine Warbler singing as soon as I stepped out of my car (statebird #1).  I heard another one at the next stop, but those were the only 2 I heard despite over an hour in good pine habitat.  NY was an obvious gap in my statebird map (how did I miss it during my time birding upstate?) – I’ve now seen it throughout all of its regular eastern range except MN, and as a rarity in CA and CO. 

 

I was driving around the area to look for likely places to listen for Caprimulgids at dusk, when I came upon a large field that seemed like good habitat for Blue Grosbeaks.  So I decided to get out of the car to see what I might find.  Within a few seconds I heard what I thought was a singing Blue Grosbeak in the distance.  I’m not too familiar with their song, so I pulled up my bird song app and it seemed like a pretty good match, though not perfect.  Since I wasn’t 100 percent sure I played a little tape to see if I could elicit a response.  Within a couple seconds I heard the sharp “chink” calls that I am familiar with – it was indeed a Blue Grosbeak (statebird #2).  The bird had flown right in to some trees near me, and although it was getting quite dark, I was able to see all the features of an adult male.  Although there were a few recent Blue Grosbeak reports from Long Island, none seemed like reliable stakeouts, and it appeared like this species was not a regular local breeder at least in significant numbers.  So I was very happy to find this bird listed as a rarity in e-Bird.  Although I still need it in a few of its regular states out west, I’ve seen this species in 37 states, including 5 New England states and now NY as a rarity or accidental.

It was now almost dark so I drove to a small parking area I had found earlier and started my efforts to listen for Whips.  Although I didn’t hear anything right away, I’ve had good success over the years in getting them to respond to tape a bit earlier than when they might start on their own.  So I played some tape and almost instantly one called back in the distance (statebird #3).  Within a couple minutes 4 birds calling simultaneously.  My statebird map for Eastern Whip-poor-will is very spotty as I still need it for a number of states especially in the southern portion of its range.

Then I switched to tape of the Chuck but got no response.  It was a similar story at a second stop – 3 calling Whips but no Chuck.  Though a third stop had no Caprimulgids at all.  Although I had hoped to hear a Chuck-will’s-widow, since the most recent report was almost a month old, and with no specific location provided, I decided to call it quits.  Despite missing this long shot, getting 2 of my expected targets and a bonus bird was a great start to the trip.

Day 2 Morning –

The first of four stops the next morning was at Connetquot State Park where a pair of Yellow-throated Warblers had been singing most of the summer.  This is a rarity for NY, since breeding birds typically get no farther north than central NJ.  The birds had been reported close to the entrance, so I was able to hear and then see one male very quickly (statebird #4).  NY was my 6th state (in addition to 5 New England states) where I’ve seen Yellow-throated Warbler as a rarity.

 

My next stop was a short distance away at Captree State Park where a White-faced Ibis had been reported since spring with a flock of Glossy’s.  I got to the spot where most of the sightings had been posted on e-Bird only to find a very large expanse of suitable saltmarsh habitat.  I would likely need to get real lucky and have the Ibis flock close to me in order to pick out the target bird.  But there were no waders in sight at all.  Finally after some scanning with my scope I noticed a very distant flock of Egrets feeding in the marsh, and then began to pick out some Ibis.  The smaller Ibis were only occasionally visible as they fed, though sometimes a single bird would fly out of the marsh, circle around and then drop back into the flock.  At more than 200 yards, even with a scope, my chances of picking out the White-faced were really slim.  But this bird was a nice breeding plumaged adult with a broad white ring around the face.  I spent the next 10 minutes staring at the flock hoping to see that distinctive face pattern with no luck.  Was I just too far away to see the white pattern?  But finally as I watched one bird drop into the marsh I thought I saw a flash of white on the face.  Over the next couple of minutes this bird briefly raised its head above the grasses several times and again showed the white face pattern.  Success!  (statebird #5).  Never thought I’d be able to pick it out at that distance.  NY was my 22nd state for White-faced Ibis, including the 5th as a rarity.

The next stop was Robert Moses State Park where some recent seawatches had included small number of various pelagic species – multiple shearwaters and Wilson’s Storm-Petrel.  But that morning a nice cold front had just come through, turning the winds around from the south to the northwest.  Although it made for very pleasant weather, it certainly was not the best conditions for pelagic birds to come close to shore.  And not surprisingly, all my scoping across the ocean yielded nothing of interest except a few Common Terns.  So I called it quits after about an hour and headed to the next stop.

The last stop of the morning was at nearby Gardiner’s County Park.  There were a few recent e-Bird reports from the park that included White-eyed Vireos, and an occasional one with an Orchard Oriole.  So even though neither was regular, nor were specific locations mentioned, I thought it was worthwhile to spend at least a little time trying for these 2 targets.  I walked the length of the central trail that goes to the beach, going through a number of wetter areas with thick undergrowth that looked to be good Vireo habitat, but had no luck.  Then on my way back I thought I heard a bit of song that could have been the Vireo.  I walked back into the brush a bit and sure enough heard a White-eyed Vireo singing several times (statebird #6).  NY fills in a big gap in my statebird map for this species.

I was happy to have gotten the Vireo, but none of the habitat I had been in so far seemed good for Orchard Oriole.  When I got back toward the car I noticed more open habitat in the northeast part of the park that could be good for the Oriole.  I got to the area and started to play some songs.  Within just a couple minutes I heard an Oriole give its “chit-chit” call.  The problem though was I couldn’t say for sure it wasn’t a Baltimore Oriole.  And even though I searched the area for the next 15 minutes, I couldn’t find the bird.  One that got away I’m afraid.

Day 2 Afternoon -

The family outing for the afternoon was a trip to Greenport near the northeast fork of Long Island for some shopping.  As we headed east along SR 25A we soon got into rural habitat with farms and the occasional home surrounded by a few planted deciduous trees.  I had just remarked to myself that this could be good Orchard Oriole habitat when I thought I saw one fly from one tree to another surrounding one of the farmsteads.  Maybe I just wanted to see an Orchard Oriole.  But just in case I made a mental note of the location and wondered about maybe stopping at this spot on the way back at the end of the day.

We eventually made it to Greenport, and I dropped the family off for shopping as I headed to Orient Point for a bit of birding.  My key target there was Roseate Tern - there were a number of e-Bird posts of the Tern apparently nesting on Plumb Island off the point, and sometimes they were seen in small numbers with larger numbers of Commons from the point.  I made it to Orient Point County Park and took the half mile walk to the point.  As the water came into view I could see a number of Terns feeding off the point in the rips – I guessed maybe 60 birds.  It took a while, but eventually I picked out a paler tern in the distance.  As it came closer it was easy to identify this very pale tern as a Roseate with the longer tail and mostly dark bill (statebird #7).  With a little more time I found 3 other Roseates that eventually came quite close to the point.  I’ve now seen this species in all of its regular nesting states (both in the northeast and FL) and in DE as a migrant.

Other notable birds at the point were a pair of Oystercatchers and a Piping Plover, along with 2 out-of-season Great Cormorants.

After rejoining the family for a bit of shopping, we headed back west to the hotel.  Along the way I kept my eyes open for the location where I may have seen an Orchard Oriole earlier in the day.  Amazingly I found the same group of trees where I had seen the bird, and got out of the car to try to re-find it.  My first thought was to play some Oriole tape, but with excessive road noise I quickly gave up on that idea.  So instead I started to walk over to the tree where I had seen the bird.  Just then a bird flew out of the tree and right over my head – it was a juvenile oriole.  And a then a second bird followed it.  I had found a family of Orchard Orioles (statebird #8).  Seeing it in NY fills a big hole in my statebird map – WI is the last state in its regular range where I still need this species.

Day 3 Morning –

My plan for the last morning was to bird two adjacent locations on the coast - Cupsogue Beach County Park and Moriches Bay Inlet.  Good numbers of terns had recently been reported at both sites, with occasional sightings of Royals, Arctics, and Roseates mixed in with the Commons.  I arrived shortly after dawn, parked in the large parking lot for the County Park, and then started my hike west toward the inlet.  There was a strong northerly wind that morning which made it almost chilly, and which also meant that I would be looking into the wind to scope the flats to the north. 

When I got to the inlet the tide was very high but dropping, with few flats exposed for roosting birds.  There was a distant island with many nesting gulls and a few Oystercatchers, but there were few terns to be seen.  And a small flock of Dowitchers with a couple Willets were the only other shorebirds in sight.  Not the best of starts.  But as the tide dropped the exposed flats attracted more birds - the Dowitcher flock grew to over 100, 5 Piping Plovers were running about, and at least a few Common Terns were now roosting on the sand.  I continued to scan the expanding flats and suddenly I came upon a roosting Royal Tern in full breeding plumage (statebird #9).  I certainly hadn’t seen it on my many earlier scans so it must have just flown in.  And less than a minute later it took off and disappeared up the bay to the east.  I was able to get this phone-scoped photo as it took off.

 I’ve now seen Royal Tern in every Atlantic and Gulf coastal state as well as CA.

I spent a little more time at the inlet but didn’t see much of anything else of interest.  So I headed over to the beach for a bit of a seawatch, but again saw nothing notable.  Even a passing fishing trawler had only attracted gulls and a few terns.  So I headed back to the County Park and scoped the newly exposed mudflats from the parking lot.  There were quite a number of roosting Common Terns along with 1 Roseate.  And the mudflats had at least 100 Dowitchers, along with a few Semi and Least Sands and both Yellowlegs, but nothing spectacular.  But after having seen 3 Tern species including the Royal I was very pleased with my morning’s results, and I decided to call it a day.

All in all this was a most successful trip, adding 9 NY statebirds including just about every reasonably likely possibility.  Not only did I fill in some glaring gaps in my NY list (now at 276), and holes in my statebird maps, but also found a few rarities.  Plus I was able to squeeze in the birding time without taking too much time away from the family.