[CT Birds] Boat-tailed Grackles

[greg hanisek]

>From Greg Hanisek
   
  1/28 Stratford, McKinney NWR - c. 20 BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES. Got these thanks to a tip from Frank Mantlik. He told me that they come to roost in the Phragmites at the entrance to Sikorsky Airport at dusk. We got them there when we did a Big Day in December. I decided to try this evening, but first I walked out the RR trail about 4:30 p.m. There were 8 Killdeer and 2 Greater Yellowlegs on the flats. Then a harrier came by, I heard grackle calls and the whole group popped up into a scraggly line of trees at the end of the RR trail. They stayed there until almost 5, so I decided to drive over to the airport and wait for them there, to see what they did. I waited there until around 5:05. They hadn't shown up, so I decided to take a quick run to Stratford Point (the gun club aka coastal grasslands) to see if I could find a Short-eared Owl. No luck, so I scooted back to the airport. By then it was getting dark fast and I apparently missed most of the grackles going to roost, but
 I saw 4 or 5 dive into the Phragmites just to the right of the entrance.
   
  From Greg Hanisek, Neil Currie, Bill Banks, Randy Domina
   
  1/28 Lyme, Elys Ferry Road - 2 WILSON'S SNIPE at edge of marsh near end of road
  Old Lyme, Binney Road - NORTHERN SHRIKE seen very briefly in tree tops
  Madison, Hammonasset - tried hard for Orange-crowned Warbler without success; Western Tanager was seen by a number of others on and off during the morning and early afternoon