Photo by Michael Audette
Field Trips & Bird Walks
~ November 26, 2023 Sunday – Duck Ramble round Bantam Lake with Buzz Devine.
Meet in the parking lot at White Memorial (off Rte 202 in Litchfield) at 9:00 am – we’ll then carpool and wander round the lake until there are no more places to check, ducks and geese to be found – or the snow rolls in, whichever. Dress warmly and bring a scope as well as binoculars!
Past Field Trips & Bird Walks
~ A Saturated Sparrow Slog – October 15, 2023 - by Russ Naylor
Our Sparrow Search at the Swendsen Preserve in Bethlehem was a wet wayfaring into weedy fields over soggy soil saturated even on hilltop cornfields due to the recent excess of heavy rains. Nonetheless, the weed and seed crop available drew a generous wave of recent sparrow arrivals - song, swamp and white-throated. It is amazing how song sparrows can vary in size and color shade. The swampies on their part showed up with a high preponderance of juveniles – must have been a good breeding year for these wetland denizens. Other field and thicket treats – Carolina wrens by the pair, brown creeper, robins, gray catbirds, and plenty of palm and yellow- rumped warblers. In the skies above, local ravens flew about on Sunday errands amid Canada geese winging from place to place in migratory restlessness prior to skeining south for good. Smaller migrants also streamed by under clearing skies – robins, flickers, blue jays and even one itinerant mockingbird (yes, even some mockers engage in short-distance passage in fall). Two bald eagles, two Cooper’s hawks and a high- hovering kestrel kept smaller migrants on guard. A blue-headed vireo inspected us with his built-in spectacles, while a few Savannah sparrows popped up to chip at us for attention. Would that all sparrows were so obliging! Our morning foray finished with a ruby-crowned kinglet flicking into view to glean fall aphids, and an eastern towhee sweetly encouraged us to “drink your tea” of whatever flavor – a nice way to end to a tally of 47 species that previews later migratory waves to come.
~ Note the date – June 3-4, 2023 - Woodbury-Roxbury Summer Bird Count
The annual June Bird Count will be held officially on Sunday, June 4, but alternatively Saturday, June 3. Or now you can count different areas on both days! To participate or for more information, call Russ Naylor, 203-841-7779 and leave a message.
~ Sunday, May 21, 2023 – this will be the Annual Meeting and Picnic, to be held at the Bent of the River Sanctuary in Southbury
Time: 1st bird walk: 8:00 AM, leader Angela Dimmitt
2nd bird walk: 10:00 AM, leader Larry Fischer
11:30 AM - Meeting for the election of Officers and Picnic on the balcony. Meet: at the Barn
Parking – drive in past the visitors’ parking lot all the way to the top lot beyond the barn. Bring your own lunch; water, plates and utensils, and a fruit salad will be provided.
For more information, contact Angela Dimmitt, as above.
~ Sunday, May 21, 2023 – Chimney Swift Spring Swirl – Mitchell School, Woodbury Time: 7:30 PM
Meet: Canfield Corner Pharmacy at junction of Rte 6 (Main Street North, Woodbury) and Rte 47. For details, call Russ Naylor at 203-841-7779. Leave a message for return call.
~Sunday, April 16, 2023 – Milford Point, Milford – Shorebirds, waterfowl, early migrants
Time: 8:30 AM
Meet: the parking lot, CT Audubon’s Milford Point Coastal Center For further information, contact Angela Dimmitt, 860-355-3429 or [email protected]
~ Shepaug Dam Bald Eagle Update
The Shepaug Dam Bald Eagle Observatory in Southbury will once more be open for visitation this winter – 12/24/2022 to 3/12/23. It will be back on regular schedule: Wednesday, Saturday and Sundays, 9 AM to 1 PM. To schedule a reservation (required to visit this site), one can go online at www.firstlightpower.com – go to Recreation on accessing this website.
~ Speaking of Eagles – On Sunday, February 5, 2023, weather permitting, Russ Naylor will be leading a trip to Shepaug Dam for the WCBC to see not only our national bird, but gatherings of black ducks, common mergansers and other waterfowl, plus ravens, red-tailed hawks, bluebirds and other winter wings awandering, as the earliest “spring” migrants begin their movement north. Rarities are possible – we’ve had peregrines, rusty blackbird, vesper sparrow, Iceland gull and others. Call soon – group size limited to 10, first come, first served basis.
Date: Sunday, February 5, 2023
Meet: 9:00 AM at the Bent of the River Audubon Center, visitor parking lot, 185 East Flat Hill Road, Southbury
Please call Russ Naylor at 203-841-7779 and leave a message – he will get back to you for details
~ Woodbury-Roxbury Christmas Bird Count – Saturday, December 17, 2022
For information, contact Ken Elkins at [email protected]
Past Hawk Watch
Sept. 10 - 25th - Botsford Hill, Roxbury/Bridgewater
Renee Baade will once again be covering this site from about September 10 through the 25th or so, depending on the winds and intensity of the broad-winged hawks’ migration patterns this year. She may not be up there every day, but if the winds look good (strong NW following a cold front), she will definitely go. Please call Renee’s cell before coming – 203-526-7667.
On September 15 , a peak day in years past, Angela Dimmitt will be covering for Renee – please call her in advance at 860-355-3429, or in the field, cell 203-417- 8669.
Sept. 11 - 25th - Chestnut Hill, Litchfield
Dave Babington hopes to start on Saturday September 10, weather permitting, until about the 25th. Time depends on if the hawks are flying or not. He usually gets going at 11 AM but sometimes earlier. The main migrating raptors are the broad-winged hawks, but there may be others, and he also counts migrating Monarch Butterflies. The Hawk Watch is located at the intersection of Chestnut Hill Road and Camp Dutton Road and the best way to get there is to turn off Rte 118 in Litchfield onto Chestnut Hill Road (Camp Dutton Road is currently closed). Dave can be reached at [email protected] or his cell 860-307-4441.