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The White-tailed Kite is gone…but there are many other wonderful species to find at Stratford Point on any given day. I filmed this American Pipit in the high-definition video below last Wednesday, October 13. American Pipit from Connecticut Audubon Society. The species is only usually seen in migration in Connecticut, and is rather scarce even […]

Earlier this week I visited our Croft preserve in Goshen to evaluate some of our habitat management areas. The crisp 34 degree temperature at the start of my hike and the gorgeous fall colors made it very clear that summer is over. Those of you who regularly read this blog may remember that sometime in […]

This afternoon, as our first noreaster of the season was ominously looming overhead, American Kestrel aficionado Tom Sayers dropped by to install a nest box in the coastal grassland management area at Stratford Point. Tom has placed numerous Kestrel boxes throughout the state in the past three years and his efforts are paying off. Last […]

It appears that the White-tailed Kite has left town. It has been well over 72 hours since it was seen by anyone. If you came by Stratford Point to see it, or even followed it closely on this blog, you know the kite is a very conspicuous raptor. It relied heavily on the coastal grasslands […]

Late this morning our friend, and expert birder, Frank Mantlik and I were walking through Stratford’s community gardens on Connors Lane. The Boothe Park Hawk Watch had proven fruitless, once again, as southwest winds stopped any raptor movement. Despite a light migration at best the night before, the garden was full of sparrows. We saw […]

On Friday October 8, dozens of scientists, students, school children and volunteers descended on Stratford again for the 4th BioBlitz, organized by the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, Connecticut Audubon Society and Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. The goal of a BioBlitz is to find as many species as possible, ranging from birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, […]

On Monday, October 4, an odd confluence of weather conditions came together in Stratford and Shelton. Around 2PM I thought I saw ice falling from the sky mixed in with the rain. I was ill and at home, and believed I was losing my mind for a minute before realizing, yes, this was hail. It […]

A special message – click here to open or save the .doc file pledge form for the Big Sit! This year our Connecticut “Big Sit!” champion team, the B.W. Surf Scopers, (Jim Dugan, Patrick Dugan, Frank Gallo, Tina Green, and Frank Mantlik) will defend, and attempt to break, their own Connecticut “Big Sit!” birding record–101 […]

We’re in for a weekend full of bird-related activities. Apart from the Stratford BioBlitz on Saturday and Milford Point’s Big Sit on Sunday, there will also be a Hawk talk and walk by Milan Bull, CAS Senior Director of Science & Conservation, on Saturday morning at our Center on Burr Street in Fairfield. See below […]

On October 8 and 9 the Yale Peabody Museum’s BioBlitz will take place in Stratford for the fifth time in four years. A BioBlitz is a 24-hour effort by scientists, researchers, and experienced volunteers to find every single living thing in a given area – and in this case, the entire town of Stratford. This […]

Yesterday marked the 60th day the White-tailed Kite has been with us in Stratford and, occasionally, Milford. Tomorrow will be the third different month for the raptor, and with the remnants of tropical storm Nicole passing over bringing heavy rain and strong winds, it will not be going anywhere. It seems to be doing quite […]

Jumping ahead to Sunday, the second Boothe Park Hawk Watch of the Great Stratford Bird Festival went much better than the first. I realized when I started writing this entry I did not take any pictures during this event – and while I wish that was not the case, it demonstrates the busy day we […]

I ran the Boothe Park Hawk Watch as an event for the Great Stratford Bird Festival from 11-2 on Saturday. A big crowd joined me the next day, but Sunday deserves its own entry. So far, in the fall of 2010 we, primarily I and expert birder Charles Barnard Jr., have put in 80.25 hours […]

The Great Stratford Bird Festival continued after the Saturday morning bird banding with many more attractions. Several vendors set up at Stratford Point with everything from magnificent paintings, beautiful photography, birding equipment and books. The duck carving exhibits were opened to the public. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had set up their traveling exhibit […]

One of the first events of the Great Stratford Bird Festival was bird banding at Stratford Point. Director of the CAS Coastal Center at Milford Point, Frank Gallo, opened the mist nets at 7AM to see what we could catch. He is an expert on not only the birds of Connecticut but banding as well. […]

Early Thursday morning the amazing banding crew at the Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary in Fairfield captured a female Connecticut Warbler in their mist nets. This is the prime time for the species to be heading through the state. Despite the name, they are rare in Connecticut, for the most part occurring only in September and […]

The White-tailed Kite is still at Stratford Point. I know many people from other New England states, the Mid-Atlantic, and maybe even some in Connecticut have not seen the raptor and are still looking for the time. There have been people from all over the nation still coming for their first visit. This weekend is […]

Nocturnal passerine migrants continue to pour into Connecticut. Though I have not had the chance to go out and find these birds on the move most mornings, it is obvious that the Red-breasted Nuthatch is in the middle of an irruption. An irruption is a rapid and often seasonal population increase in areas where a […]

Here is an account of a hawk watching day at Boothe Park in Stratford. The following data and information is from yesterday, September 20. This ended up being a remarkable day because of the late afternoon. It shows how much very specific weather conditions impact every single part of diurnal migration. Day’s Raptor Counts BV […]

The White-tailed Kite is still at Stratford Point for day 45, showing no immediate signs of departure. However, Tuesday night lead to some more craziness there, and another possible mega east coast rarity – this time from Europe. Unfortunately, the possible White Wagtail was not rediscovered today. I was not there for this one, arriving […]