The Bird Migration Continues at a Rapid Pace

Brown Thrasher photo by Paul Fusco




Purple Finch male photo by Bob Stanowski


Since my last postings about the northbound migration of wetland and other birds a slew of new migrants have arrived and passed through. Winds from the southwest this week have been very favorable for moving birds this way. Clear periods some nights have really helped, too. On those nights I heard multiple flight call notes coming from the sky when I was out. Migrant birds seen around White Memorial this week have spanned the taxonomic gamut from loons to finches. Bantam Lake has produced a Red-throated Loon and Long-tailed Duck. Single American Bitterns have been seen at Pt. Folly and Mallard Marsh. Hawks passing over the Property included a Merlin and 2 American Kestrels. Eastern Kingbirds have appeared at Mallard Marsh, Little Pond, and Butternut Brook. Great Crested Flycatchers have been seen at Pt. Folly and around the Museum Area. I saw a Cliff Swallow at Mallard Marsh on Monday, 4/25. A Brown Thrasher was a really nice find along the Little Pond Trail on Friday, 4/22. Warbler numbers and diversity have increased daily, with Yellow-rumped being by far and away the most abundant. We've also seen a lot of Pine, Palm, and Black-and-White Warblers. Yellow Warblers have been seen in low numbers so far at Icehouse and Bantam R. Marshes and Pt. Folly. They will be abundant by next week. I had single Blue-winged Warblers near Chickadee Bridge and at Pine Island Marsh on Tuesday, 4/26. Jim Kandefer had a Blackburnian Warbler along the Little Pond Trail that same day. Northern Waterthrushes were seen along the Interpretive and Lake Trails and in the Pine Island Ditches. A Louisiana Waterthrush was seen along the Bantam River. Our first Common Yellowthroat of the year appeared at Little Pond yesterday, 4/27. White-throated Sparrows have increased in number daily, while the numbers of Dark-eyed Juncos have decreased as they moved north. Purple Finches have been much more common than average for over a week as they stop to bulk-up at bird feeders before continuing northward. This is just a short summary of the migrant birds that have been around White Memorial in the past week. I hope it helps the birders reading this blog to come out and see them for themsleves.

Wetland Birds Are Arriving at White Memorial

Sora photo from wikipedia.edu

Great Blue Heron photographed

at Bantam Lake's North Bay

by Bob Stanowski
Virginia Rail photographed on

White Memorial's Little Pond Boardwalk
by Paul Fusco


Many different types of birds can be found in wetlands, but the ones that we refer to as wetland birds generally fall into the heron and rail families. Virtually all of them spend the winter well-south of Connecticut since they don't have any easy time dealing with ice-covered marshes, swamps, ponds, and lakes. Great Blue Herons are an exception, as many of them have found they can get plenty of fish to eat along rivers and Long Island Sound. They can often be found downstream from hydroelectric dams like Shepaug and Stevenson because the water usually remains open all winter. Their closer proximity to Litchfield and Morris throughout the winter means that Great Blue Herons are the first wetland birds to arrive back here in the spring. In most years their arrival starts around the first of March, but this year we didn't see the first ones until March 15. That had to be due to ice conditions and the awful weather of the previous 4 months. With winter loosening its grip and ice finally melting over the course of the rest of the month more Great Blues appeared. Most of the sightings were initially around Bantam Lake, but they soon expanded to include the Bantam River. The first Great Blues appeared at Little Pond on 3/31 of this year. They are now being seen almost daily at Bantam Lake or somewhere on White Memorial property. A few of the birds at the North Shore Marsh are exhibiting territorial behavior, so they might nest there again this year, as they have for the past 2 years. Unlike many of their kind which choose nesting sites high in dead trees in marshes, our Great Blues seem to prefer to nest low in clumps of live Red Maple trees. That makes them really hard to see, despite their large size. Even harder to see are American Bitterns, Virginia Rails, and Soras; all of which have arrived back at White Memorial this month. Our first (and only so far this year) American Bittern was seen in the N. Shore Marsh adjacent to the Litchfield Town Beach on the 7th. Our first Virginia Rail of 2011 appeared at Little Pond on April 8th. In some past years we have seen our first one as early as March 18th. In the past few days as many as 5 Virginia Rails have been seen or heard there, despite flooded conditions. I had 5 (probably different ones) at Hamill Marsh this past Saturday, 4/23, along with our first Sora of the year. This is the earliest date of spring arrival at White Memorial that I can ever recall. Last year, we saw our first one 4/30. The Virginia Rails will stay here to breed as long as the flooding subsides. They nest low in cattails, so they are very vulnerable to flooding. For the past several years one or two pairs of Soras have exhibited some breeding evidence at Little and/or Cemetery Ponds. About 4 years ago we saw newly fledged young at Cemetery Pond. From 5/1 through 8/31 we try to survey for wetland birds in our marshes. We focus most of our efforts on Little Pond, but we should try to get to all of our marshes over the course of the breeding season. To that end, our readership can help by reporting any wetland birds that they encounter on White Memorial property. I usually go out in the evening to survey for these birds, and I welcome help.






Double-crested Cormorants

Double-crested Cormorants (13)

loafing on stone blocks in Bantam Lake's N. Bay

Photo by Bob Stanowski


Double-crested Cormorants perched on a

stone block in Bantam Lake's N. Bay

Photo by Leo Kulinski, Jr.



A total of 33 Double-crested Cormorants

swimming and loafing in Bantam Lake's N. Bay
Photo by Leo Kulinski, Jr.,




Double-crested Cormorants are fish-eating birds that have undergone a phenomenal population increase throughout North America over the past 25 years. Prior to that, they were relatively uncommon due to a combination of persecution by humans and environmental contamination by pesticides. With full protection under federal and state laws, coupled with laws forbidding the use of DDT and other pesticides, the populations of D.c. Cormorants, Bald Eagles, Ospreys, and many other birds have rebounded, and then some. The D.c. Cormorants have become so numerous in some places that they have become a problem for some other species. They are colonial nesters, so they like company, not only of other cormorants, but also of herons and egrets. Unfortunately, they have ruined some of these mixed rookeries for other species by their defecating habitats. Their poop is so foul and acidic that it kills the vegetation it coats. Herons and egrets need this foliage to protect their eggs and young from predators and too much sun. Cormorants seem to do okay under the hot sun. They do however suffer losses to predation by Bald Eagles. This has been increasing in Maine for a few years as the eagle population continues to increase and more and more of them find that young cormorants are easy prey. Eagles are also known to eat young herons and egrets and will occasionally take adults, too. Predation is less of a problem when the nests are under a sufficient amount of vegetative cover. Cormorants also annoy fishermen by eating lots of fish. In an effort to address the increasing number of complaints about cormorant behavior and their huge population increase, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has granted special permits to state wildlife agencies to abort eggs either by addling (shaking) or by coating them with natural vegetable or mineral oils. This is a humane way of trying to bring their population under control. This species isn't trying to nest yet at Bantam Lake, but it could. They are common as nesters on Lake Champlain, in some of New York's Finger Lakes, and all around Long Island Sound. They seem to do equally well in freshwater as in saltwater. We have seen a steady increase in the numbers of D.c. Cormorants passing overhead and stopping at Bantam Lake and Little Pond during the spring and fall migrations for the past several years. The total of 33 that we counted in North Bay this past Friday 4/15 might be a record high for Bantam Lake. Every year more and more non-breeding individuals of this species stay throughout the summer at the Lake. It will be interesting to see what happens if they start breeding here. If you see these birds carrying sticks or sitting on definite stick nests on rocks or on the ground or in trees or shrubs (they will nest in all of these situations) please notify me via e-mail, which is dave@whitememorialcc.org.













Wildlife Management and Inventorying Activities, 4/14/11

Red-tailed Hawk photo by Leo Kulinski, Jr.

from whalesandwolves.com Sharp-shinned Hawk photo by Darlene Knox Eastern Bluebird photo by Bob Stanowski
Bluebird nest box photo by Dave Rosgen

Yesterday, 4/14/11, Volunteers John Eykelhoff, Jim Kandefer, and Bob Stanowski assisted me with bluebird nest box maintenance and monitoring and a wide variety of wildlife surveying. Most of the time this type of field work is a case of multi-tasking. While working on the bluebird boxes we frequently scanned the skies for raptors, looked around the fields and edges for other birds and mammals, and listened for any birds or frogs than might be calling. Since it was a nice, sunny, warm day there was a constant concert of bird and frog sounds to enjoy. This included our first Northern Leopard Frogs of the season at the Litchfield Town Beach and in the Icehouse Marsh. Our first Common Snapping Turtles of the year also appeared today. Gerri Griswold and Lee Cook saw a huge one moving very slowly in the Bantam River and I saw a big one sticking its head out of Bantam Lake's N. Bay. Our third first-of-the-year animal found this day was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher behind the Campground Store. Hawk migration activity was very good, with the best viewing being from the Bantam River Field. While replacing a rotted wooden bluebird box pole with a new metal one and replacing a cracked bluebird box front door we saw 3 Ospreys, a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a Broad-winged Hawk fly over. Turkey Vultures and the resident pair of Red-tailed Hawks were also circling around overhead. These, and 3 other pairs of Red-tails seen elsewhere this day, were engaged in courtship activity. Migrant songbirds seen included Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Eastern Bluebirds were seen at 4 nest box locations, and one of the boxes had a complete nest in it already. Tree Swallows were abundant everywhere. They were joined by a Barn Swallow in the Icehouse Field and N. Rough-winged Swallows at Wheeler Hill, the Bantam R. Field, and Cemetery Pond. Bantam Lake produced lots of action. This included at least 5 Ospreys fishing. Three of them were successful while we watched them, but one promptly lost its catch of a Northern Pike when an adult female Bald Eagle chased and scared it. The Pike disappeared when it hit the water, and the eagle failed to retrieve it. In addition to this eagle, an adult male (possibly her mate) was perched in a White Pine on the east shore, a 3rd-year immature female was flying around and then perched in a tree in N. Shore Marsh, and a 2nd-year immature male was perched in a White Pine at the tip of Lennox Hill Pt. He was being mobbed by American Crows for awhile. Bob was able to get really good Digiscoped photos of these eagles, so I will use them to do a future blog about the ways to determine the ages of immature and subadult Bald Eagles. While the eagles posed for photos, an immature Northern Harrier flew past us and disappeared into N. Shore Marsh, 7 Rusty and many Red-winged Blackbirds called from trees in the Marsh, 2 Green-winged Teal and 3 Wood Ducks swam along the shoreline, and 21 Double-crested Cormorants lazed on the stone blocks in N. Bay. Finally, we ended the day with 3 American Woodcock calling and displaying at dusk at Cemetery Pond. If you take a trip out to these locations, especially in the late afternoon and evening, you may very well be rewarded with these same sights and sounds of nature.

The Migrants Continue to Pour in to Litchfield

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker photo by

Lloyd Spitalnik via Google Images Savannah Sparrow photo from friendsofsherwoodisland.org via Google Images Brown Thrasher photo from friendsofsherwoodisland.org
via Google Images

Migrant birds have continued to pour into and through Litchfield County for the past few days. My previous blog post covered the first waves, and this post will talk about the next waves that have arrived. The earlier migrants were mostly waterfowl and other birds associated with water. They began to appear even before much ice had melted on Bantam Lake and our ponds. Now that the ice is all gone from them, even more birds in this category are moving through. A lot of them are fish-eaters. Common Mergansers have been here for over a month, but now they number around 400 at Bantam Lake. They have been joined by 4 Red-breasted Mergansers, which are very uncommon at inland bodies of water. Common Loons normally migrate through Connecticut in April, with one or two being seen daily at Bantam Lake. Imagine Mike Doyle's surprise last Wednesday, 4/6, when he counted a whopping 44 at the Lake. This could be a record high number for any inland body of water in this state. The next day, 23 were still there. Their numbers have dropped slowly since then to 9 as of yesterday as more of them continue their migration northward. During this same time span Double-crested Cormorants have appeared and increased in number to 20 as of 4/8. The fish-eaters have also included 2 Horned Grebes and a Red-necked Grebe (which is rare here) in the central section of the Lake on the 7th. Hunting from above have been many Bald Eagles and Ospreys. On the shore, the number of Great Blue Herons continues to increase daily, and an American Bittern appeared at the Litchfield Town Beach on the 7th. A Bonaparte's Gull was a rare find at the Lake's N. Bay on the 8th. Gull numbers, in general, are suddenly way up at the Lake.

Terrestrial birds have also been on the move. Swallows, especially, have seen a big increase in number in the past couple of days. We counted approximately 200 Tree Swallows at Bantam Lake on the 7th and about 100 at Little Pond yesterday. This latter count also included a Northern Rough-winged Swallow and a Barn Swallow. In the trees, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers have surged in numbers since 4/7. On the ground, sparrow numbers and diversity have increased substantially lately. Fox Sparrows have been numerous at the Museum's feeders for a month, with 7 being counted there on 4/8. Savannah Sparrows have been seen at the Sutton's Bridge section of the Little Pond Boardwalk for the past 3 days, and one was seen a couple of hours ago on the west lawn of the Museum. Chipping Sparrows have been around the Museum for about 5 days. Song Sparrows have become quite numerous. Dark-eyed Juncos are everywhere! Best of all, a Brown Thrasher appeared in the Activity Field this morning. It sang from the tops of the Hawthorns for quite a while. This species has become very rare in Litchfield County, so it was a real treat to see it.

A Flood of New Migrant Birds in Litchfield

Wilson's Snipe photo by Bob Stanowski
Pied-billed Grebe photo by Bob Stanowski
Fox Sparrow photo by Leo Kulinski
American Woodcock photo by Bob Stanowski
The photos above depict but a few of the many species of birds which have migrated back to, or are migrating through, White Memorial this week. Even though the weather conditions haven't been particularly favorable for migration, the birds have been moving anyway. Some, like the American Woodcock and Fox Sparrow, have been present here for 3 weeks, but their numbers have increased quite a bit in the past week. Others, like Blue-winged Teal, Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Osprey, Wilson's Snipe, Palm and Pine Warblers, and Swamp Sparrow have just arrived this week. Most of these birds have settled in, at least for awhile, so readers of this blog have some time to go out and look for them. Bantam Lake continues to produce a really good number and variety of birds. These include the aforementioned Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, and Osprey plus Bald Eagle, Bufflehead, and hoards of Common Mergansers. The best places to view these birds are from the Pt. Folly and Lake Trail observation platforms. Little Pond has become increasingly productive in the past week. That's where the Blue-winged Teal and one of the Wilson's Snipes were observed, along with Northern Harriers, Ospreys, Bald Eagle, and Killdeer. The Little Pond Trail leading in from White's Woods Rd. produced the Palm and Pine Warblers. Palm Warblers were also seen at Pt. Folly along with Swamp Sparrows. Cemetery Pond is producing American Woodcock every evening after sunset. It was also the location of our second Wilson's Snipe sighting. Most of the Fox Sparrow sightings have been at the Museum Feeders and along the Ongley Pond Trail. Please remember to report sightings of these and other birds to us either directly at my e-mail dave (at) whitememorialcc.org or indirectly through the share mechansim at http://www.ebird.org/. By typing in my email address after clicking "share" on the ebird report, a copy of your report will be sent to the White Memorial Foundation Archives. This will really help the bird migration monitoring efforts.

Ospreys have returned to Bantam Lake

Juvenile Osprey photographed by

Bob Stanowski at Bantam Lake's Outlet

in October, 2010

Adult Osprey with a Northern Pike

photographed by Bob Stanowski

at White Memorial's Pike Marsh

in April, 2007


Adult Osprey photographed by

Darlene Knox in Florida

in March, 2011

We recorded White Memorial's first Osprey sighting of 2011 this past Saturday, 4/2, at the Litchfield Town Beach. The bird flew in from the Bantam Lake Inlet with a 12" (or so) fish that appeared to be a White Sucker. We think that this was the correct identification of this fish species, even though we didn't see its head, because its body was slim, and it had a white belly, greenish-brown sides, and a deeply forked tail. This latter body part flapped up and down for close to 10 minutes while we watched the Osprey slowly consume the fish from the head on back while it perched on a tree branch about 100' from us. Unfortunately, neither of us had a camera with us. An Osprey that was seen in the same area the next day and frequently yesterday could have either been this bird or a different one. We also have no way of knowing whether this bird is a resident back on territory or a migrant passing through since very few of these birds are fitted with colored and lettered or numbered leg bands. Though many young Ospreys are banded as nestlings at coastal sites from Maine to Florida every year, they are only fitted with a silver U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service band on the right leg. They do carry serial numbers, but the bands are next to impossible to read, even with the best spotting scopes. By contrast, some of the colored leg bands on Bald Eagles do have letter and number combinations that can be read with a good scope. Also, a sizable and increasing number of young Ospreys are being produced from nesting pairs at inland bodies of water, especially in New York, northern New England, and Canada. These birds are seldom banded due to the combination of the shear number of birds involved, nest site accessability issues, and a low number of Federally-licensed banders. Getting back to the Ospreys at Bantam Lake and elsewhere around White Memorial, it is interesting to note that we almost always see our first one of the year around 4/1, give or take 3 days. This has been the case for the past 15 years. Over this time span we have seen a steadily increasing number of these birds passing through here northbound in the spring and southbound in the fall. Starting about 6 years ago, one or two Ospreys were seen with some regularity around Bantam Lake's N. Bay during the months of June and July. Since the breeding season for these birds is typically from early April through late July in CT., the birds around here could have been establishing a breeding territory. That was confirmed in late April of 2009 when I saw them carrying sticks into a clump of rather short Red Maples in the N. Shore Marsh. For such large birds with a large nest they remained amazingly well-hidden. We didn't find out the outcome of this nesting attempt until late July when a fledgling appeared with the adults on the east side of this marsh. They were seen a few times before they departed in late August. In 2010, the Ospreys returned, but moved farther up the Bantam River from Bantam Lake by at least a quarter mile. This may have been due to the pair of Bald Eagles becoming increasingly territorial at the Lake. Bald Eagles and Ospreys do not get along well with each other. We saw stick-carrying by the Ospreys in late April, and a fledgling with them a few times in late July and early August, indicating a second year of successful nesting by these birds. It will be interesting to see if they threepeat in 2011.

Living Fossil Discovered at White Memorial!

The Giant North American Beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) was discovered living on the property!  We estimate that the animal is approximately 8 ft. long and weights at least 150 pounds.  This is the first documented evidence of a living animal since the last ice age (~12,000 years ago) during the Pleistocene Epoch.  Further details of our discovery can be found below.

Chewed stumps from North American Beaver (Castor canandensis), left,
while the tall stump to the right is evidence from Giant North American Beaver (Castoroides ohioensis).  
Camera caught image of Giant North American Beaver on White Memorial Property.

















April Fools!  The tall stump is the remains of a tree gnawed by a North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) while standing on two feet of snow this past winter on the property.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castoroides_ohioensis