COA Gull Workshop

Today was the COA's Gull Workshop with Nick Bonomo! We had a great day looking for gulls, with 2 Kumlien's Gulls (Iceland Gull subspecies). No Bonaparte's Gulls, but they will become more common in the next 1-2 weeks in CT. First, after a 90 minute presentation on gulls, we went birding at Stratford Point.

Here are the Stratford Point birds*:
3 Great cormorants, 3 White-winged Scoters, 2 Gadwalls, MANY Atlantic Brant (including a possible Black Brant), 1 Eastern Meadowlark, 1 Osprey, 2 American Oystercatchers (on sandbars near Milford Point), 1 Tree Swallow, not too many gulls, and probably are highlight  was an Ipswich Sparrow (the very local subspecies of Savannah Sparrow, winters in CT). Besides birds we had a Red Fox that was hunting in the fields, allowed us to get good looks and photos.

*NOT ALL BIRDS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS BLOG POST

Then after, we went to Long Beach.
Birds at Long Beach:
2 Kumlien's Gulls (Iceland Gull subspecies), many Herring Gulls (of all ages), Ring-billed Gulls, many Atlantic Brant, 3 Northern Gannets, Long-tailed Ducks, 1 Common Raven, and 8 flyover Great Blue Herons.

Ipswich Sparrow: See how pale this birds, a key mark for identifying Ipswich Sparrows

Red Fox

Eastern Meadowlark

Red Fox

Tree Swallow

                                                                     No Thayer's Gull this year!
                                                                                        
                                                                             - Tony