[CT Birds] 12/22 - NW Corner; BOHEMIAN WAXWINGS

[Nick Bonomo]

Roy Harvey, Dori Sosensky and I spent much of the day birding various
parts of northwestern CT. We started in East Hartland where we were
unsuccessful in finding the Pine Grosbeaks (which were found soon
after we left). While passing through Norfolk we stopped at Shepard
Road where Andy Brand had grosbeaks this past week, and we were
rewarded with a flock of 13 PINE GROSBEAKS in the area of the Norfolk
Lions Club Ambulance building and the retirement housing diagonally
across the street. Then onto Falls Village, where we birded along
Housatonic River Road. As you come in from the south end, about 2.2
miles up (per Dori) you will come to an open hillside with a few
scattered crabapple trees on your left. It was here that Roy spotted a
single BOHEMIAN WAXWING teed-up atop a deciduous tree. After a couple
of minutes, that bird flew off to the east and far out of sight. Just
a couple minutes later Roy spotted what was probably a different
BOHEMIAN with one or two Cedar Waxwings. These birds soon took off,
also heading far out to the east. Given how the first bird did a
bee-line until it disappeared into the distance, and the
almost-immediate second sighting, we're pretty sure that there were 2
different birds involved. After seeing today's reports from
Massachusetts, where all of a sudden there are dozens to hundreds
along the North Shore, the presence of two birds doesn't seem so
unlikely! Much like the Pine Grosbeak situation from a month ago, this
could be the first of very many Bohemian Waxwings in the state this
winter. At least we hope so. Also along this road were a Pileated
Woodpecker, 8 flyby COMMON REDPOLLS and several Purple Finches. We
then birded Under Mountain Road in Canaan and found another 5 PINE
GROSBEAKS along the north part of the road, along with a nice flock of
Cedar Waxwings.

To see some downright awful photos of the Bohemians, which are sure to
make any real photographer cringe, click here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/nbonomo

Nick Bonomo
Orange, CT