[CT Birds] Tundra Swan and Redpolls

[Mntncougar at aol.com]

I stopped at the Stratford Marsh today and saw the  Tundra Swan. Good view 
with the scope, with perfect lighting.  Would  have been a bit far with just the 
binoculars.  It was with 4 Mute  Swans.  
I think I had 1 of the earlier incursions of redpolls, around  Dec 7th, and 
it's probably safe to say, the largest in eastern Ct.  The  largest count I had 
was 105.  The flock included  at least 2 Hoaries,  and quite a few members of 
this list visited to see  them.    I believe  they were the first positively 
ID'd  this year.   
For a while  I was going through 25 lbs of nyjer every 2  or 3 weeks at $25 a 
bag from Ocean State.  By the end of January, they  seemed to have slowed 
down some, and the Hoaries were gone.   I  still had 57 one day for the GBBC 
though.  However they were slowly  disappearing  and the most I had seen recently 
was around 41 one day last  week.
Sad to say, in the last few days they really seem to have  left.  The day of 
the last storm I expected them to be  here in force,  but instead, the nyjer 
was hardly touched.  I have not seen the flock  since, although there are still 
a few stragglers.  For several weeks there  have been a few (3-5) birds that 
just hang around the feeders and they did not  move with the flock.  They 
don't really seem to be sick, as they eat  continually, and drink (aka eat snow in 
the case of redpolls) often.  They  can and do fly ok, although they will let 
me approach pretty close before they  do, and they quickly come back.  I 
suspect they are just weak, old, or  possibly injured.  I have never found a dead 
1.  I'm sorry to see them  gone, but I know I have been priviledged to have 
them here with me for so  long.
 
Don Morgan
Coventry, Ct




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