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Connecticut (1 Viewer)

streatham

Well-known member
My CT hotspot has been my Garden. Especially during migration - I've had Golden-Winged, Bay Breasted, Nashville and Tennessee Warblers Pass through as well as a Philadelphia Vireo. Fall was amazing with regular mornings with over 100 warblers, vireos etc flitting around in the pines at the bottom of my garden. I've just had a Pine Siskin at my feeder - just keeping my fingers crossed for redpolls and other northern finches this year.

OK thought I'd edit this to make it of more use to CT begginers or those visiting the State (I must preface this by saying my bias is towards the western half of the state as these are my local areas).

As a general overview of a year birding in CT: In winter most attention is directed towards the coastal areas - although open inland water can be good for Gulls,Waterfowl and associated Bald Eagle) - Bantam Lake in Litchfield held Barrow's Goldeneye last winter) actually getting to the coast is not always easy as much of the coastline is privately owned . Long Island also deters most of the sea going birds from entering CT waters, thus making Eiders, Harlequin Ducks, Fulmars, Kittiwakes and Alcid's difficult to find. It's worth keeping an eye on the CT Rare Bird Alert at: www.virtualbirder.com

Places to try in winter are:

Sherwood Island State Park(Westport)

Long & Short Beaches (Stratford)

Hammonasset State Park (Madison) which is one of CT's premier birding sites throughout the year,

New Haven Harbour (anywhere you can access the coast - often good for Eurasian Wigeon)

Penfield Reef (Fairfield - only exposed at high tide),

Greenwich Point Park (Greenwich)

It is also worth keeping an eye on the RBA's of northern states such as Vermont NH and MA to see if there are any movements of winter finches (Grosbeaks, Crossbills and Bohemian Waxings)

As spring migration arrives (Late March will see the return of early passerine arrivals such as Pine Warbler and Eastern Phoebe but the main passage will be from mid April through to the first week of June - late birds such as Mourning Warbler and Olive Sided Flycatcher) attention switches slowly from Coastal Sites towards inland sites and famous land bird Migrant Traps. The main thing is to just get out and bird as often and as early in the morning as possible, wherever you can get to have a look as you never know what is going to show up. Places that deserve a planned visit are:

River Road - Kent (a premier migrant trap and also good for breeding Cerulean, Hooded and probably one of the last sites for Golden-winged Warbler)

East Rock Park - Hamden - CT's best migrant trap - similar to the Central Park NY or Mt Auburn Cemetry MA experience - which are definitely both worth a visit if you want to head out of state.

Bent in the River - Southbury

TBC...
 
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Hi Streatham,

Welcome to BirdForum!

Never been to CT, but it sounds good - there's five lifers for me in that list alone . . .

Just moved to the US - where before? Guessing Uruguay, from your flag? (another place - well a whole continent - where I've never been)

Michael
 
Thanks for the warm welcome. Nothing so exciting I'm afraid - I'm from the UK it must have been just to close to Uruguay when I was making my profile - oops. CT is great Michael especially in spring and fall when we get great migrating birds. Winter is not so good - not quite right here for winter finches and Long Island tends to not to attract many sea birds or winter waterfowl for some reason - tends to leave you fairly happy just to turn up anything a little interesting between December and March. If you get the chance to get out to the US I thoroughly recommend doing it.

Luke
 
Whereabouts in CT are you Luke? I have a friend in Harwinton and I've had some memorable spring and fall birding in the state. White Memorial, Hammonasset, Naugatuk Forest, Mohawk Mountain, Kent, Nepaug... fond memories! Golden-wing and Philly Vireo are good state birds I think. Cape May was the one that always eluded me, so have you seen any of them in your garden?
 
I too was plagued with a misrepresent flag for a while. Somebody was kind enough to fix it for me. I think i had a flag from Botswanna or something.
 
Hi Aquila - happy new year and sorry for the slow response - i'm in Wilton (south west) CT. I've never seen Cape Mays in my garden - in fact I haven't seen them in CT only in Central Park - and if it hadn't have been for some friendly birders there I would still be waiting to see them. The places you mention are all fantastic spots for birding although my local patches are also worth a visit. Sherwood Island State Park, CP Huntington State Park, as well as the myriad of Nature Conservancy and town parks in Redding, Ridgefield, Norwalk and Danbury. Unfortunately it's getting kind of tough to find much around at the moment - I'm hoping to head somewhere a little further north this weekend and see what I can find in Cape Cod & Boston.
 
Great post
I'm one town away from Hammonasset. Great, Great birding. Easy access.
Fort Hale park in New Haven is also great for the fall Hawk Migration
Summers here bring to mind lots of Warblers. And don't forget our owl population. Pilliated Woodpeckers too for fans of them.
Were close to RI as well which offers some first class birding.



http://www.shorelinewildlife.com
 
I'm new to the forum, and fairly new to CT. Can anyone tell me the best places to look for owls? I've heard rumors that there are snowys out there, but I'd love to see any kind...
 
Hi Pensativa,
I haven't seen a Snowy but we have a lot of Barred, Great Horned, Saw Whets, Screechs and Less of Barns and long eared.
One place that is great to look for them is Hammonaset park in Madison.
posts sticking up in the marsh are perchs for them and you should be able to see some there if you put in the effort.
Again, Barred are everywhere it seems.
For several years in late November when Deer hunting and In the woods before first light, I would hear a Great Gray Owl sounding off. This was in Clinton CT. The last time I hunted that spot I did not hear it, maybe 5-6 years ago now but I got to where I would look foward to hearing it every year. It was a great experience.

http://www.shorelinewildlife.com
 
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