[CT Birds] Pomfret area, 3/18/08 - hawk flight?

[Clay Taylor]

Hey Dan -

Cool sightings - what direction were they traveling?    We tend to think of 
raptor migration in CT as purely a fall event (someone once said something 
like "In the spring, the hawks take a bus back to their breeding areas"), 
but on days without a northerly wind, and preferably a SW wind, we can 
definitely see migrating raptors here.   I know guys like Neil Currie and 
Gerry Mercereau and Seth Kellogg put in lots of hours looking for CT spots 
that tended to concentrate migrating spring raptors.

BTW, if any of you want to scratch that "Hawk Jones" itch, there are two 
world-class spring hawk watches in NY - Derby Hill in Moscow, NY and 
Braddock Bay in Rochester, NY.    Having been a Rochester birder in my 
college days, and later started hawk banding there, I am partial to 
Braddock, just for the incredible diversity of migrating raptors, waterfowl, 
and later in the season, warblers and passerines.   I brought the Sibley 
boys up there one spring, and they thought that the warbler action at 4:40pm 
was better than they had ever seen at East Rock on a great spring morning.

Those two lookout sites are about a 6-hour drive from here (yeah, I know, at 
$3.35/gallon), so it's not a spur-of-the-moment trip.   BUT, if you go on 
the weather websites and see a big warm front approaching Lake Ontario from 
the south, with south or SW winds indicated for a few days, I predict that 
you will have the time of your birding life in Rochester for the next couple 
of days.  It's THAT good.

Closer to home, my good friend and FL native Dane Ferrell is counting hawks 
atop Bradbury Mountain outside of Yarmouth, ME (probably shivering, too). 
His first birds sighted this year were two adult Goshawks and a Bald Eagle - 
not a bad way to kick off the season.   The Bradbury Mtn. hawkwatch was put 
together by Derek Lovich of the Wild Bird Center in Yarmouth, and last year 
recorded a Black Vulture in early May!    If you are taking a trip to ME in 
the next two months, stop by and say Hi to Dane (maybe bring him a hot 
chocolate or a coffee, too.)

Clay Taylor
Moodus, CT
ctaylor at att.net

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Mntncougar at aol.com>
To: <ctbirds at lists.ctbirding.org>
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 7:01 PM
Subject: [CT Birds] Pomfret area, 3/18/08


> CAS Tuesday bird walk ( with Andy R):
> Numerous Wood Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Common Mergansers,  Hooded 
> Mergansers
> C Geese, Belted Kingfisher, Coopers Hawk, Brown Creeper and a  2nd yr BALD
> EAGLE flying in front of us over the road as we were returning to  the 
> Nature
> Center.   I returned later and found pairs of Green-winged  Teal and 
> Blue-winged
> Teal in a hard-to-reach spot.
>
> Chase Reservoir (Killingly) 1 F Bufflehead, Hooded  Mergansers, a few C 
> Geese
> and many Common Mergansers
>
> Pomfret CAS 2:30 pm, Duck Marsh near the south end of Day  Road.  I had a
> very interesting 10 minutes or so as I scanned the skyline  (hawk-watch 
> style)
> after finding nothing of interest in close.  2 Turkey  Vultures appeared 
> and
> circled at a distance for a minute or so.  The a  Red-tailed Hawk came up 
> from
> behind the tree line and gave me a chance to  practice following him with 
> my
> scope.  As he finally cut off to the left I  noticed another bird, behind 
> him,
> higher and much farther out, and definitely  not a TV.  As it came closer 
> it
> remained almost jet black, and I realized  it was another imm. Bald Eagle. 
> When
> it was close enough to see without  the scope, I looked up and realized it 
> was
> flying wing to an 2nd Bald eagle,  also jet black and so probably both 
> were
> 3rd year. The 2 birds soared directly  over my head and out of sight to 
> the
> south without either 1 ever flapping a  wing.
> 1st time I've seen 3 BE in 1 day other than at Southbury or the  Ct River.
> After they passed I scanned the area and found another Hawk  which I 
> thought
> might have been the Red-tail, but turned out to be a Coopers  Hawk.  All 
> the
> above in about 10 minutes, and no light house in  sight.
>
> Don Morgan, Coventry
>
>
>
> **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
> Home.
> (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolhom00030000000001)
> _______________________________________________
> This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) 
> for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
> For subscription information visit 
> http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org