On a cold day, make that a very cold day with winds causing discomfort for a former Floridian, I made efforts to observe a reported Barrow’s Goldeneye near Tuxis Island in Connecticut to close my 2016 wildlife observations. I heard from wildlife blogger Hemant Kishan who told me that he has seen Barrow’s Goldeneye on […]
Tag: Great Black-Backed Gull
6th and 13th August – Pennington Marsh
A free Saturday morning on 6th August and I couldn’t resist the pull of Pennington Marsh but a few beers the night before meant a slightly later start so I wasn’t in the car park at Lower Pennington Lane until 08:00 by which time the dog walking hordes had descended. I wandered a short way […]
Saltee Islands – Paradise for Seabirds
The Saltee Islands, St. George’s Channel consisting of the Great and Little Saltee, are situated approximately 5 kilometers off the coast of Kilmore Quay Co.Wexford. The larger island Great Saltee is the most famous bird sanctuary in Ireland and is very popular with both day-trippers and birdwatchers alike. These Islands are privately owned and are […]
Birding By The Sea
Well, this is not actually a post about birding by the sea, but birding by the Long Island Sound at Hammonasset Beach State Park. Images in this post are from a trip to Hammonasset in mid-January when I met world eBirders Julie Hart and Daniel Schlaepfer with four additional visits in February. Julie was kind […]
Two Winter Specialties At Stratford Point
Stratford Point just off I-95 above the Long Island Sound became host to a Short-eared Owl on 2 January according to eBird data. I closely followed reports of the Short-eared Owl on eBird as I had not observed the species in the wild before. As the owl was seen with regularity I began to study […]
Snowy Owl At Long Beach Connecticut
Slightly east of Bridgeport and south of Stratford lies a magnificent wildlife venue called Long Beach. The Snowy Owl above (image 1) was photographed at Long Beach in December 2017. With adjacent Pleasure Beach it is noted that they comprise more than 25% of Connecticut’s remaining undeveloped beachfront property. The Dunlin with Sanderling above (image […]
Feature: Stratford Point, Connecticut
This land offers a stunning coastal grassland area near the mouth of the Housatonic River which has of this writing 282 species of bird observed according to eBird data. It was my hope to visit Stratford Point and observe the LeConte’s and Clay-colored Sparrows seen a day earlier at the venue. The Common Loon above […]
Scotland #3 – Seabird Extravaganza
Back home in Norwich already, but I have some more Scottish tales to tell. On July 31st we went out to sea with my mate Phil from Shetland Seabird Tours. We left Lerwick harbour and headed towards Noss NNR. Phil boat is great – small enough to get close to water level, but sits very […]