[CT Birds] Pine Grosbeaks in Pomfret

[Steve Morytko]

Seth Rifkin and I covered the Trailwood CBC "Pomfret" territory including sections of Pomfret and Brooklyn bounded roughly by Rte97, Fox Hill Rd., Rte169, and Rte6 on Sunday. We had a very good day with 43 species and 1499 birds. Some of you might not appreciate how hard it is to get blackbirds in NE CT - we saw none except starlings. Other significant misses included: Wild Turkey, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (we had one 3 prior years in the same location); Pileated Woodpecker; and Brown Creeper. We have very little water in our territory and there was very little open water but the warming conditions open a few spots.

I was out owling alone and it was a very productive early morning with 9 Great Horned Owls and 3 Eastern Screech-Owls. The GHOW were often hooting in pairs - mating season is in full swing.

We had some good finds and some lingering tough guys including:

American Black Duck - 2
Northern Harrier - 1; Wolf Den State Park
Eastern Phoebe - 1; Babbitt Hill Rd.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1; Wolf Den State Park
Hermit Thrush - 1; Babbitt Hill Rd.
Gray Catbird - 1; Babbitt Hill Rd.
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1; Fox Hill Rd.
Pine Grosbeak - 6; 3 males

The bad news about the Pine Grosbeaks is that they are in a sensitive spot and I'm not able to share the location. However, I'll say that there is a lot of crabapple north of Rte 44 and near the Vanilla Bean on Rte 244 which is a great food stop if you're in the area. 

I do have a few pictures of one of the male Pine Grosbeak which can be seen at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/smorytko/

BTW - the Red-headed Woodpecker is still present in our yard in case you need it for your January list.

 From Steve Morytko
12/30 - Pomfret -- 6 PINE GROSBEAK (3 males), 1 Northern Harrier, 1 Eastern Phoebe, 1 Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, 1 Gray Catbird, 1 Yellow-rumped Warbler - all during Trailwood CBC.
Steve
 
Steve Morytko
288 Varga Rd.
Ashford, CT 06278 USA
smorytko at yahoo.com