[CT Birds] '96 Boreal story

[The Audubon Shop]

Hey Clay Taylor and Scott Henckel,
Couldn't resist refreshing your memories re Boreal at Hammo 11/1/96.  
The three of us agreed to meet the entrance to Hammo at 8 AM to look 
for Saw-whets.   I arrived 15 min. early, before the gate opened, hiked 
in to rotary woods, and found what I thought was a Saw-whet.  I quickly 
returned to the meeting place to find you guys waiting.  I mentioned 
that I already found a Saw-whet, and one of you half-jokingly asked, 
"It didn't have a light-colored bill, spots on the forehead, did it?"  
Up until that point the chance that it could be a Boreal had not even 
occurred to me.  My reaction  "It just might have had a pale bill..." 
raised my heart rate.  We hurried back to the bird, and after a close 
look and some discussion, agreed it was a Boreal - a lifer for us all 
and a second CT record.
Jerry Connolly


The Audubon Shop
907 Boston Post Rd.
Madison, CT  06443