2015 Birding Firsts!

2015 was a great Urban Birding Year!

You never know what you are going to see when you head out birding in New Haven. You may see something as large as an eagle or as small as a Kinglet.

Cheryl and I are looking forward to another great year of Birding in New Haven and Connecticut. We also are planning a trip to Delaware to bird in the spring. 

Also, we have two private birding tours this year also. I am sure there will be plenty of photos to follow!  

One of the most rewarding aspects of birding comes from your "firsts". That is, the first time you see a bird in your life! It's very exciting and we saw plenty this year. We hope to have many more in 2016!

Enjoy our firsts for 2015!

Believe it or not, I had not seen a Eastern Bluebird
until late 2015. What a beauty, Cheryl 
had seen them before.

We did see a belted kingfisher in 2014 through
a scope on a birding trip. Last year we 
saw this on the Connecticut River with
our naked eyes and exhibiting behaviors. Fun!

Got this little guy in action!

Eastern Willets Delighted!

Swamp Sparrow at Lighthouse point

A first for the Eastern Phoebe, then 
we saw a whole bunch a Lighthouse Park

Eastern Phoebe 

Another special treat straight from the
arctic circle. Eastern Brants can only be
seen along the East Coast in the Winter.
These were of Fort Hale Park in New Haven.

If you didn't read the post on Clam Island,
it is a must. I saw three new species
all together at the same time.
The chick above is from the Least 
Tern Below. Who is hanging with...

These Semipalmated Plovers.

And treated by an American Oystercatcher flyby,
another 2015 first.

American Oystercatcher

Least Tern with minnow

Red Breasted Merganser
New Haven Harbor

Male and Female Lesser Scaups
New Haven Harbor, City Point

This guy got Captain Mark all excited on
Riverquest on the Connecticut River.
A Laughing Gull

Another New Haven Harbor treat, Least Sandpipers.

You'll recognize the Osprey on the left.
Behind it is another gull first!
The largest, The Black Backed Gull is
chasing the Osprey for it's fish!
The Black Backed Gull's wingspan is 
that of a bald eagle.
Lighthouse Point

Then we saw these Green Winged Teals nearby.

Wooster Square, New Haven treat!
A Chipping Sparrow!

Common Mergansers Connecticut River

In East Shore Park, New Haven, we found
a small gathering of these yellow beauties!
Yellow Warblers!

Elusive but stunning!

Another Wooster Square treat!
A fairly rare Ruby Crowned Kinglet!

Hold on to your seats for another
great year of birding and photos!

Birds Rule!

Court Street Royalty in the Heart of Wooster Square!

Ruby Crowned Kinglet!

Birding can be funny. We recently moved, but just across Wooster Square Park. Court Street dissects the park on the east side. Each side is lined by Historic Brownstones. I was heading off to the gym and was taking photos for the Wooster Square Blossom Blog. 

Court Street

Then I see it, a tiny bird fliting in and out of bushes.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my 400mm, but this little guy let me get close enough with  my 28-135mm.

A first for me. 

Why is birding funny? Well, you don't go looking for birds and there one is. Yesterday I saw a falcon for the third day in a row, I quickly outfitted the camera and out the door. Nothing. All the way to the gym, not a one tiny peep! Didn't see any birds!  

Enjoy this little birding on Court Street, New Haven.

Birds Rule!

 

Anniversary Birding and Fall Migration!

Urban Birding at its bountiful best!

Cheryl asked me what we wanted to do for our anniversary, of course I said let's go birding! Fall, here in New Haven (the #gscia, Greatest Small city in America), we have abundant aviary ascending and assemblage. 

Urban Wonderland

At Lighthouse Point Park, at the mouth of New Haven Harbor, you will strike Migration Mania! Lighthouse is even manned daily as an Audubon Hawk/Raptor watch. They count the eagles, osprey, and such! Always a good reference if you need some help identifying birds. Of course, my go to source on the go is the Cornell labs Merlin, an app you can get from apple and android. But be aware, a separate memory card should be used because the file is huge!

Mostly, I identify birds when I get back, or on the spot. Cheryl and I are relatively new at birding, but have always had an interest. When I found shooting them with the camera, I have time to see the bird and consult my books for identification. Enough talk, here are a bunch of photos. some not so great, as I had to tweak them to show the species better or just plain get in closer by cropping!

Enjoy!

Cormorant looking at me as he flies over

Swamp Sparrow, some migrate, some stay!

These next group are all a group of 

Eastern Phoebes, a small flycatcher

migrating through New Haven.

In action!

Hawk Watchers

Yellow Warbler in East Shore Park

Many monarchs migrate through New Haven too.

And one day biking in East Shore Park, I caught these geese that are fairly rare. The breed in the arctic and winter along the east and west coasts. They are called Brants!

Surfing USA!

Catbird

Tree Swallow Migrating has a bee in its beak!

Then a Northern Harrier flew by...

A check on our Eagles in Hamden found this

Great Blue Heron perched.

In trees nearby was an adult Bald Eagle

and a juvenile

Nobody move! I dropped a contact!

Finally, the Great Blue took off and landed on 
its nest, then the juvenile bald eagle 
flew by so I could get some nice fall shots!

Thanks for stopping by the Urban Birding Blog!

Birds Rule!
(Butterflies are cool too)