Waterbird Migration Picks Up

Horned Grebe photo by Nancy Johnston

from www.nejohnston.org

Common Gallinule photo by Darlene Knox

Northern Shoveler photo by Paul Fusco

from www.PaulFuscoWildlifePhotography.com

Ruddy Duck photo from www.en.wikipedia.org

Surf Scoter photo by Paul Fusco

from www.PaulFuscoWildlifePhotography.com

Black Scoters photo by Paul Fusco

from www.PaulFuscoWildlifePhotography.com

Migration activity by waterbirds has really picked up in northwest Connecticut since 10/15. Since Bantam Lake and Little Pond are two of the best places in this part of the state to see waterbirds I and many other birders have been checking them almost daily this month. During this time we have been seeing a steady stream of Mallards, American Black Ducks, Wood Ducks, and Blue-winged and Green-winged Teal moving through. This past Tuesday, 10/18, they were joined by a pair of Northern Shovelers at Little Pond. Because the male is exhibiting a very distinctive transitional molt plumage we are sure that the pair of shovelers that we saw at Bantam Lake's Pt. Folly on the 21st and 23rd and back at Little Pond on the 20th and 22nd were the same birds. During this same time span the number of American Coots visiting Little Pond increased to 62. On 10/19 and 20 Mike Doyle saw a Common Gallinule mixed in with them. Mike, and later, Ray Belding also saw 5 White-winged Scoters at this pond on the 20th. This has been a good period of time to find scoters (as it usually is) because Mike saw White-winged, Black, and Surf Scoters on Bantam Lake on the 20th. Two days later, Samantha Foster and I saw a Black and a Surf Scoter on the Lake's N. Bay, along with a Horned Grebe feeding close to Litchfield Town Beach. That day also produced 2 American Wigeons for us at Pt. Folly. The wigeons were still there the next day when John and Tracy Eykelhoff joined me to look for ducks. We also saw a Surf and a White-winged Scoter swimming together in the Lake's central section. Every day during this period has produced between one and four Ruddy Ducks on Little Pond, and a couple of reports of up to 11 of them on Bantam Lake. Other species of water-oriented birds seen on these bodies of water during the past week have included an American Bittern at Little Pond, Common Mergansers, Pied-billed Grebes, quite a few Great Blue Herons and Double-crested Cormorants, an Osprey at Bantam Lake's S. Bay, Belted Kingfishers, and lots of Canada Geese and Ring-billed Gulls. The next 6 weeks should bring even more waterbirds moving through here.

Peregrine Falcons over WMF Hawk Watch, 9/30/11

Peregrine Falcon adult in flight

by Jim Burns from www.azgfd.gov

The weather finally improved enough on Friday, 9/30/11, to conduct a hawk watch around the Museum Area between 11:00 a.m. and 3 p.m. Since the winds were out of the southeast, south, and southwest at a sustained 20 m.p.h., conditions were not really good for hawk migration, but 30 members of this group flew over our site, anyway. I wouldn't have bothered to engage in hawk watching/counting this day if it hadn't started with a gorgeous adult Peregrine Falcon flying low over us. It went from north to south without showing any difficulty in dealing with the headwind. Soon after that the first of 8 high-flying migrant Red-tailed Hawks went over. This species doesn't usually migrate until later in October or November, but these birds had to be migrants because of their altitude and their direct flight from northeast to southwest. The rest of this day's migrant raptors consisted of 4 immature Bald Eagles, 6 Ospreys, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 4 Cooper's Hawks, 1 late Broad-winged Hawk, and an immature Peregrine Falcon. We, and the hawks, quit when the sky became overcast. So far this fall's hawk watching hasn't been particularly good at White Memorial because the weather has been unfavorable, and quite often downright awful, for most of the month of September. We've only been able to put in 4 days of effort, which has yielded a grand total of 412 hawks. This breaks down to 354 Broad-winged Hawks, 14 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 9 Bald Eagles, 8 Ospreys, 8 Cooper's Hawks, 8 Red-tailed Hawks, 4 Red-shouldered Hawks, 4 Black Vultures, 2 Peregrine Falcons, and 1 N. Harrier. It is amazing that we haven't seen any American Kestrels, yet. We hope to have at least one more day of good hawk watching conditions before their migration season ends. Last year, we counted a total of 905 hawks passing over our site on 15 favorable days, so we don't expect to come anywhere close to that figure, but it would be nice to end this year with a total around 450. If the weather forecasts are correct, we might be in for more movement later this week.

Hawk Watch results from White Memorial for 9/16, 17, & 19/2011

Broad-winged Hawk photo by Ron Austing

from www.borealbirds.org

Northern Harrier from http://www.allaboutbirds.org/

Sharp-shinned Hawk photo by Darlene Knox

Osprey photo by Bob Stanowski

Bald Eagle adult photo by Paul Fusco

from http://www.paulfuscowildlifephotography.com/

Red-shouldered Hawk adult

photo by Darlene Knox

Cooper's Hawk immature

photo from http://www.njwildlifetrails.org/

The White Memorial hawk watch started its 2011 season on September 16th with a good showing of birds. The weather for much of the month prior to this was too lousy for hawk migration to occur. By contrast, the weather on the 16th was sunny, very cool, and with a steady 20 - 30 m.p.h. wind from the northwest. These conditions were optimal for hawk migration along the coast, as many birds were blown that far. I saw reports from Lighthouse Pt. in New Haven of 3,000 hawks and from Greenwich Audubon Center of 6,000 hawks that day. Inland sites, like White Memorial did o.k., but the results were not nearly as impressive as those from coastal sites. We counted a total of 259 hawks passing over the Museum Area between 10:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. The vast majority of these (255) were Broad-winged Hawks. The biggest kettle (or group) of Broad-wings consisted of 40 birds circling around overhead at one time. We also saw 1 Osprey, 2 Bald Eagles, and 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk. The next day, 9/17, was our "official" hawk watch day for the public. About 20 people attended at various times between 10:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. and were rewarded with a total of 107 hawks passing overhead. Of these, 93 were Broad-winged Hawks, including 50 in one kettle. We also saw 2 Black Vultures, 1 Osprey, 3 Bald Eagles, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, and 3 Red-shouldered Hawks. No one manned our hawk watch site on Sunday, 9/18, but judging from observations from other places, we didn't miss much. Winds were coming from out of the south, and hawks weren't moving. The next day, 9/19, the winds shifted around to the west, and a few hawks started moving in the afternoon. Between 2 and 5:15 p.m. we counted a total of 16 hawks passing over the Museum Area. These consisted of 2 Black Vultures, 1 Northern Harrier, 5 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, 1 Red-shouldered Hawk, and 5 Broad-winged Hawks. The weather since this day has been too lousy for hawk migration to occur.

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.

http://www.whalesandwolves.com/

A total of 33 Double-crested Cormorants

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

http://www.whalesandwolves.com/

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.

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.