Due to the combined effects of work-related responsibilities, geographic realities and lingering concerns about the pandemic, our family Thanksgiving gathering was postponed to this weekend. That freed us up to do some birding today and, as the day approached, we figured we’d go out for a few hours, most likely along the coast, given the forecast for little wind and seasonable temperatures. Then, in the past few days, we heard about the Townsend’s Solitaire at Hammo and the flock of Sandhill Cranes that came to roost last night in nearby Konold’s Pond. So, we decided to go to those two places and then a few more to see how many species we could see on Thanksgiving Day. Turns out it was 77 species, with the Solitaire and the Cranes being the highlights, but there were several other nice birds we saw along the way including Ruddy Duck and Am. Coot in Konolds Pond, American Bittern, Least Sandpiper, Lapland Longspur, Snow Bunting, Horned Lark, and Fox, White-crowned and American Tree Sparrow at Hammo, Horned Grebe at East Wharf Park and Palm Warbler at the Branford Treatment Plant. We ended the day seeing and hearing Clapper Rail in the marsh at Silver Sands SP in Milford. All in all, it was a fine way to spend Turkey Day! Warm wishes to all of our friends in the CT birding community for a happy and birdy Thanksgiving holiday weekend! Chris Loscalzo and Marianne Vahey, Woodbridge (full reports on ebird) Sent from Mail for Windows