Was finally able to get back outside consistently for the first time this year and decided to try my hand at some more serious birding than I traditionally have done.
I got a tip that a very rare Ross' Gull had made its way south to one of my favorite birding beaches in CT on Saturday, causing a flurry of birders to rush down from the coast from within and outside the state. When I heard about it, it was a bit too late to drop everything and rush down but I made plans to try my luck at the break of dawn the next morning. When I arrived the parking lot was already flooded with birders attempting the same as me. Last anyone spotted the gull, it was more or less a speck on the horizon heading towards Long Island but we hoped that the strong southernly winds blowing towards the beach would have pushed the gull back onto shore. Unfortunately, and expectedly, it did not and as far as I've heard no birders in and around the Long Island Sound have spotted it since. I visited again the day after just in case, but still no luck. Likely a one day only event bird, but oh well. eBird lists only one prior record of the species in CT from back in 1984.
Today I made my second excursion out, this time further north to a spruce forest where Pine Grosbeak, Red Crossbill, White-Winged Crossbill, Red-Breasted Nuthatch, and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker have all been spotted consistently of late. The possibility of Ruffed Grouse was present as well. As with the beach, I arrived at the park shortly before opening to find that the entire property including its trails had been swallowed by the snowfall a few days prior. Unfortunately, I was not dressed appropriately to go trekking into the woods through snow without any idea as to where the trails were (there weren't any signs marking them). Lucky for me, though, at the very least the grosbeaks had been consistently found near the visitor center and along the road that runs adjacent to the park. Unfortunately for me, though, the weather was not on my side. Temps stayed below 20F all morning and the forest remains almost completely silent. I bumped into two other birders (including one who was lucky enough to have nabbed the gull on that first day), one of which had arrived before dawn and had trekked aimlessly through the snow to no avail. After a couple hours are searching around separately, we bumped into each other again and none of us reported anything other than a single titmouse, two starlings, a raven, and the call of a White-Breasted Nuthatch. Shortly afterwards a surprise flurry blew in and began to cover the road with snow, telling me it was time to give up and head out.
It took about 20 minutes of driving before I finally regained cell service, at which point I decided to make my way to a small wildlife refuge about 45 minutes away where both Common and Hoary Redpolls* had been hanging around for about a week. The one birder who had seen the Ross' Gull told me she had just been to see the redpolls the day before and that they were hanging out in a housing development next to the park as opposed to the area of brush they'd been at for over a week. I got to the park, checked the housing community, checked the known spot, checked the brook nearby, checked the meadow nearby, checked the known spot again, checked on the other side of the brook, checked the known spot one last time, checked the nearby parking lot, and checked the housing community one last time before eventually admitting defeat and heading home. I've since read comments on eBird saying the small flock had last been seen the afternoon before flying across town lines.
*I know they're not a valid species but I've never seen Common Redpoll either so.
All of that said, I've had decent luck finding some other birds along the way, so small mercies and all that.
First the backyard birds:
1) House Sparrow Passer domesticus
2) Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis
3) Blue Jay Cyanocitta cirstata
4) Rock Dove Columba livia
5) Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura
6) Black-Capped Chickadee Poecile attricapillus
7) Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor
8) White-Breasted Nuthatch Sitta carolinensis
9) Northern Mockingbird Mimus polyglottos
10) Dark-Eyed Junco Junco hyemalis
Hammonasset Beach State Park
11) Great Blue Heron Ardeola herodias
12) Red-Tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis
13) Mallard Anas platyrhynchos
14) Canada Goose Branta canadensis
15) Brant Goose Branta bernicla
16) Common Eider Somateria mollissima
17) Surf Scoter Melanitta perspicillata
18) Long-Tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis
19) Greater Scaup Aythya marila
20) Red-Breasted Merganser Mergus serrator
21) Ring-Billed Gull Larus delawarensis
22) American Herring Gull Larus smithsonianus
23) Greater Black-Backed Gull Larus marinus
24) Iceland Gull Larus glaucoides
25) Horned Grebe Podiceps auritus
Great Mountain Forest
X) SNOW
Nod Brook Wildlife Management Area
26) American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos
27) American Tree Sparrow Spizelloides arborea
28) Swamp Sparrow Melospiza georgiana
29) Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pileatus
Mammals
1) Eastern Grey Squirrel Sciurus (Neosciurus) carolinensis
2) Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus
~Thylo
