Game Camera Along Bantam River at Haight Parcel

A series of videos and images captured on a game camera set along the Bantam River at White Memorial Foundation's Haight Parcel in Litchfield, CT, USA

An Evening at Little Pond

Gray Catbird photo from www.tringa.org

Pileated Woodpecker photo by

Leo Kulinski, Jr. from http://www.whalesandwolves.com/

Least Sandpiper photo from http://www.tringa.org/

Killdeer photo from www.gpnc.org

Great Blue Heron photo by Sean Casini

This past Saturday, 7/23/11, 6 intrepid souls braved hot, humid weather, a million mosquitoes, and thousands of Deer Flies to go on an adventure around the Little Pond Boardwalk with me from 6 p.m. until dark. We went in from the end of S. Lake St. on the boardwalk connector. Gray Catbirds were abundant along this stretch, as well as along much of the main boardwalk. Many of them were feeding fledglings. Large numbers of adult and juvenile American Robins and adult Cedar Waxwings were also found in these places dominated by berry-producing bushes. When we got to the main boardwalk we turned left and followed it clockwise around the pond. The east side produced the aforementioned species and other common birds. The south side, especially near Sutton's Bridge, produced lots of Swamp Sparrows with fledglings, an Alder Flycatcher, a couple of Willow Flycatchers, a pair of very feisty Eastern Kingbirds with fledglings, 16 flyover Killdeer, a fly-over Wood Duck and Pileated Woodpecker, a Fish Crow, a Muskrat, and a juvenile Northern Leopard Frog. Bird life along the west side mirrored that found along the east side. The north side produced the most action, as it always does. With my spotting scope we watched a hen Common Merganser with 4 young feeding out in the Pond, and 9 Killdeer, a Spotted Sandpiper, 4 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and 4 Least Sandpipers feeding in the mud between the Bantam River's inlet and outlet. Right along the boardwalk we saw more Willow and Alder Flycatchers, Eastern Kingbirds, Cedar Waxwings, and Swamp Sparrows, plus 5 Marsh Wrens and a Purple Finch. We heard a juvenile Virginia Rail calling from the big patch of sedge hummocks, but didn't see it. Two Great Blue Herons kept a respectable distance between each other along the Pond's shoreline. At dusk a total of 5 Beavers traversed various parts of the pond. At that point we exited to S. Lake St., hot, sweaty, and bit-up, but satisfied to have seen and/or heard 51 species of birds plus plenty of other wildlife and plants. All-in-all it was a successful and educational field trip.

Recent waterfowl surveys at Bantam Lake

Greater White-fronted Goose photo from

dfw.state.or.us via Google Images

Male Wood Duck photo by Bob Stanowski

Male Hooded Merganser photo by

Bob Stanowski

Waterfowl surveying at Bantam Lake's Outlet, which is on N. Shore Rd., has produced an increasing number and variety of birds this week. On Tuesday, 3/8, I focused on counting ducks and geese as they came in to roost between 5:15 p.m. and dark. Most of these birds had spent the day feeding in cornfields around Litchfield, Morris, Bethlehem, and Warren. Among the 1,650 Canada Geese that came in were a Greater White-fronted Goose, a Canada x Greater White-fronted Goose Hybrid, and a Cackling Goose. These are all quite rare in Connecticut. Also seen were 3 Wood Ducks, 45 American Black Ducks, 100 Mallards, 14 Ring-necked Ducks, 26 Hooded Mergansers, and 25 Common Mergansers. Things were a little different when I conducted the survey between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday, 3/11. Most of the Canada Geese were probably still out feeding in area cornfields, as only 325 were counted at the Outlet. These were mostly feeding in the flooded bottomland downstream from the Outlet bridge. With them were 16 Wood Ducks, 185 Mallards, and 1 American Black Duck. The open water closer to Pt. Folly held our first Bufflehead and 2 Common Goldeneyes of 2011. Also there, were 34 Ring-necked Ducks, 5 Hooded Mergansers, and 17 Common Mergansers. Since the bulk of the northbound spring waterfowl migration occurs in March it will be interesting to see what surveys every few days turn up. These will be expanded as the month progresses (and as ice diminishes) to include all of Bantam Lake, plus Little and Cemetery Ponds. Any help with this effort from our readership would be much-appreciated.