As past travelers to Block Island, some of you may have had the pleasure of meeting Elise Lapham, the "Bird Lady of Block Island." We will miss her. CLICK HERE: Elise Smith Lapham passes at 99 - - Block Island Times - News, Classifieds, Events and Business in Block Island, RI

Fork-tailed Flycatcher - Dario Sanchez
Northern Lapwing - Noorden Bos
Wow! It's About Time! I know that I keep promising to do better on the blog. I just cannot do it with regularity. Maybe if I don't try to have prophetic submissions then I could write more often. We will see. November was an outstanding month in Connecticut for unusual birds; Fork-tailed Flycatcher, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Rufous Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird, and Northern Lapwing. Outstanding! I had the chance and luck to see all five and laughed with Noble Proctor at the Old Lyme/Old Saybrook Christmas Count about what a month it had been and how we could not remember another November, or any month, quiet as special! I hope you were able to get out and see at least some of these not-so-common birds for Connecticut. Since November, I have been working hard on a number of custom tours including one for Maureen C. and her husband to Galapagos and Machu Picchu. They had a great time and returned with many outstanding photos and memories. We have added a number of new tours to the CAS EcoTravel list and this has been taking much time to workout the logistics. I recently returned from another sucessfull trip to Arkansas and will tell you more in my next post. Let me know if you are reading my blog. I suspect any followers may have given-up. Cheers, AG

Image of Great Shearwater by Patrick Coin

Block Island - Always Something New!
Each year, as I gear-up getting ready for the annual Block Island weekend, I wonder what will make it stand-out from the 20 other times I have been out there in early October in search of birds. Well, this year did not disappoint with the passing of a tropical low just off shore producing our first-ever sightings of Cory's and Great Shearwater and a few ocean swells over ten feet. It was a rough ride for travellers but for some worth the pain. A few shearwaters came in close to the boat, as the spray raced down the sides at over 40mph, drenching those who were not protected behind the cabin.

You know what the difference is between a Sailor and an Old Salt?

The Old Salt puts his rain gear on before he gets wet!

Cheers, AG

Image of Cory's Shearwater by Tom Allmendinger

Image copyright Mark Jankura

Swallow Video
We are nearing the end of the swallow season. Call Connecticut Audubon Society EcoTravel now if you want to see the event here in Connecticut.

Take a look at this swallow video link. Outstanding!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFpKvUIrU5U&feature=related

This is the roost that we will be visiting in late November just north of New Orleans, so if you want to join us, be in touch.

800-996-8747

Image by Jim Denham - Sunrise at Fish Tails

At the Edge of the Shelf
I had the opportunity over the weekend to join some old friends for a trip out the edge of the continental shelf, about 80 miles south of Block Island. We birded an area known as the Fish Tails and a bit further south into 81 degree waters. These warm waters and areas where the waters meet the cooler waters of the north are great places to find seabirds as they search upwellings associated with Gulf Stream eddies for food. We were truly lucky to find Black-capped Petrel (the third record for Rhode Island) and Band-rumped Storm-Petrel, a new record for Rhode Island.
If off-shore trips are of interest to you, let me know and we can try to put one together for Connecticut Audubon or I can hook you up with some already scheduled boats.
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel copyright Frank Mantlik

Long-tailed Jaeger copyright Carlos Pedro

Image by Mark Jankura

The Heart of Swallow Season

We are right in the heart of swallow season with the bird numbers building each night. If you have never seen this amazing display of bird behavior, you really must make it a point to join us soon. Each fall, as much as half-a-million birds congregate at dusk on a communal roust site, preforming an outstanding aerial ballet before settling down for the night.

At EcoTravel, we will be running our boats into the first week of October and now have very limited space. Call now! 1-800-996-8747.

Bird Species Splits
If you have not heard already, Winter Wren and Whip-poor-will have each been split! Winter Wren remains such on the East Coast and has become Pacific Wren in its western range. Whip-poor-will has become Eastern Whip-poor-will in the east and Mexican Whip-poor-will in its western range.

Some details can be found at http://www.sibleyguides.com/

Congratulations to those of you who have added a new species or two to your life lists!

Cheers, AG

(Winter Wren image by Paul Stein)

Up The Creek

It seems that recently I have been spending quite a bit of time up Selden Creek, a lovely side-water of the Connecticut River. A friend of mine Louise M. took this photo as we cruised along what I like to call "The Poor Man's Amazon" due to its similarity to the canals that you run in boats when in the Amazon or places like the Tortuguero in Costa Rica.

At EcoTravel, we are just about to jump into the heart of our swallow season. If you have not joined us in the past (or want to see it again - as many do!) give us a call so you can be amazed by the 500,000 Tree Swallows and their aeriel ballet as they come into roost each night during the month of September. Famous ornithologist, Roger Tory Peterson thought this to be one of the best displays of bird behavior he had ever seen. Don't miss this!

King Rail x Clapper Rail

A friend recently sent me a couple of photos of what he told me was a Clapper Rail at Hammonasset Beach State Park. I took a look and immediately thought this bird looked like a good candidate for a hybrid of King and Clapper, a phenomenon that is not all that uncommon, at least in some places. This hybridization has been well documented and is generally thought to occur where salinity readings average 5,670ppm; Kings preferring lower salinity and Clapper higher.

I sent the pictures to a couple of expert friends and they concur that this is indeed a hybrid bird exhibiting a characteristic mottled appearance. Interesting! AG

Early Calling Katydids

Each year in the first few days of August, southeastern Connecticut can expect to hear the first katydids of the year calling, a sign of summer being well on its way and a symphony for those who enjoy the sounds of nature.

Interestingly, last night I hear katydids calling in three or four locations about four miles north of Long Island Sound. This is about 11 or 12 days earlier than I have heard them. Amazing! I suspect that the timing of our "heat wave" has something to do with it.

Have any of your noticed this early calling? What dates in the past and this year have you noticed the start of their nightly chorus? Another indicator or global warming?

AG

More With Comparisons

Here is one of my favorite photos comparing Canada Goose and Cackling Goose. It makes you wonder how you could ever mistake one for the other. Also, check-out the Mallards in the background for a size comparison. I remember when taking the photo that a woman walking nearby said, "Oh...look at the baby goose!" Totally understandable.

Warbler Troubles?

If you have ever worked over Louisiana and Northern Waterthrush with frustration, these photos from my acquaintance Kim G. on Block Island might help. Nice to have a side-by-side comparison once in a while. Comparing Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, Black-bellied Plover and American Golden-Plover, and Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers as pairs and side-by-side are always welcome too. Doesn't always happen! I especially like the fellow in the background with the look of trepidation. Looks like he is working hard to drive the comparison home for good.

White-eyed Vireo copyright Alastair Rae

Great Local Birding

Nice to be out early in the day and see what the rest to the creatures are doing! Was up at 530AM and spent most of the day with like-minded adventurers, rewarded with many great looks at old avian friends including Hooded Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, 8+ Worm-eating Warblers, and many others. I cannot remember a day where I/we ever found so many nests! Birds in nests or building nests included Baltimore Oriole, Scarlet Tanager, American Redstart, and Prairie Warbler. So fun!

Inspired by
Jane Goodall

I was invited by a good friend to join in a special VIP event to meet Dr. Jane Goodall up at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI on Saturday. Wow! How could one not be seriously in awe of Jane Goodall? She really is in a league with people like Roger Tory Peterson, Steven J. Gould, and Steven Hawking. Being in her presence was all a bit surreal. She spoke for a little over a half hour about her Roots and Shoots program, a great way to get young people involved in conservation, and then made herself available to sign books. As VIPs we were right at the front of the line and I mustered the nerve to have a brief conversation with her. I said, "I was once watching a group of crows chase a Great Horned Owl. They all landed in a spruce tree and the crows began breaking off sprigs of the spruce and dropping them on the owl." Jane responded, "Aren't they so smart!" I then pointed out, "They are not only tool makers but also bomb makers." She said, "That really is something." And as I walked away she commented, "They were missile makers." "Yes," I said. "Missile makers." Jane Goodall is by far at the top of my list of celebrities with which I have interacted (which includes Roger Tory Peterson, E.O. Wilson, Phil Donahue, Marlo Thomas, Katherine Hepburn, Dr. Andrew Weil, and Ann Coulter). I am still living in the glow!

(photo copyright Matt MacGillivray)

Getting Out
I actually got out of the office last evening and took a group in search of calling and displaying American Woodcock. The day didn't look so good with significant winds and intermittent showers even up to the the time we arrived on site. Earlier, I was thinking of hedging my bets and rescheduling for an evening later in the week, but I thought that if I did, I would later regret it on a number of fronts. Well, as it turned out, the winds subsided to nothing, the rain ended, and a nice sunset spread across the woodlands and fields. After some great views of very crisply plumaged White-throated Sparrows and a vocalizing, territorial Brown Thrasher, the woodcock gave us an outstanding show of calls, spirals, and dive bombs; the best show by this species I have ever seen! Glad I didn't cancel! If you want ot go out, I am happy to give you a private tour.

Now, I am back in the office working on a few new itineraries including one to Myanmar, the former Burma. Nestled between China, India, Laos, Bangladesh, and Thailand, Myanmar really is an often overlooked birding destination. It shouldn't be, because it touts over a thousand bird species, many rare species, and four endemics. This is a very cool place with lots of birds, history, great sight seeing, and culture. Let me know if I can send you the itinerary. Our local guide is Dr. Htin Hla, considered Myanmar's foremost ornithologist with outstanding rediscoveries of numerous bird species not seen in years (90+ years in one case). The escort from Connecticut Audubon will be Frank Gallo, a superb birder and the Director at the CAS Coastal Center.

Spring Birding

It is almost here! In the next couple of weeks the flood gates will be opened and we can expect the colorful birds of spring to arrive in, let's hope, good numbers. Be sure to join me out in the field. If you have never been on our Lyme Loop tour, this is the one not to miss. We have many repeat participants each year, as this is one of the best spring birding spots in the state, host to the State's largest concentration of Worm-eating Warbler and outstanding numbers of Hooded and Cerulean Warbler.

Take a look at our Day Trip listings to see all the great birding destinations for this migration. I will try to post what we are seeing after each event for which I am the leader.

Link to Day Trips!

Return From Cuba

I just returned from my third trip to Cuba as part of the ongoing migratory bird survey that has been going on there now for nearly 15 years. This very important survey helps to monitor the many songbird, wading bird, and raptor populations that use Cuba as a flyway or wintering site. As a bonus to the the many hours in the field counting North American birds are the sightings of 22 out of 23 endemic species. The only one we missed was the Zapata Rail which would have taken some incredible luck seeing as one of the Cuban authors of the Birds of Cuba has never seen one himself. If you would like to help us with next years survey, please be in touch.

(Photos: Bee Hummingbird, Zapata Sparrow, and Cuban Tody)

Long Island Birding and Sightseeing
I recently had the chance to jump across to Long Island's North Fork for some birding. The weather was so nice one day a few weeks ago, my small birding group decided to skip going to Napatree Point and make a ferry run over to Orient. The doors of the ferry opened and a fine Glaucous Gull greeted us instantly, perched like a sentry on the rooftop of the nearest building. The number of Long-tailed Ducks was impressive for near shore viewing with 400+ along with ample numbers of the three scoter species. We ended the day with a lovely sunset cruise back across the sound and a scrumptious dinner at Paul's Pasta in Groton. If you have not been, join us for our next Rhode Island or Southeast Connecticut trip as we often end up at Paul's.

Eagle Season

We are now in the midst of another eagle season and have had some good quality encounters. RiverQuest, the boat we work with, is now departing from Haddam at Eagle Landing State Park, just across from the Goodspeed Opera House. This is a great location in allowing us greater access to more northern stretches of the river. The eagles are always giving us something different each trip so you never know what you might see. I am still hoping for that Stellar's Seaeagle someday!

Return from Arkansas
Got back recently from our trip and I know you all cannot wait to know if we saw the bird! Well, I would not be stupid enough to tell you if I did, unless I had a great photo. Let's leave it at that.

We did have many special moments including a lunch with our mystery guest, David Luneau, the person who took the video upon which Cornell based its argument supporting the existence of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in Arkansas. David is a very kind, intelligent, and interesting person and we all enjoyed our time with him over a meal of pulled-pork and catfish. We hope our paths will cross again.

The trip as always produced some great birds including multiple Henslow's Sparrow, Smith's Longspur, and thousands of ducks, Snow Geese and Ross's Geese. The evening sunsets with clouds of geese settling in for the night on the fields is always ethereal. Not to be missed!

The highlight for many on the trip was our encounter with an armadillo. I hope you enjoy this sequence of Heidi O. with the delightful critter.