Many recent messages on the CTbirds listserv have mentioned the use of nest boxes, and just this week the chickadees nesting by my backdoor hatched their young. It’s a good time, then, to remember that nest boxes can make it easy to confirm breeding for a variety of species. And, that incidental records of birds in boxes can really help fill gaps for a number of species. Continue reading “Nest boxes”
Cuckoos: declining, but increasing?
In a post on the CTbirds listserv yesterday, Will Schenck described watching a yellow-billed cuckoo at Greenwich Point Park. Cuckoos are species that I long thought of as relatively hard to find in Connecticut. In the past 3-4 years, however, I have been seeing them much more often. In fact, right now, I usually see or hear multiple cuckoos, and often both species, any morning I go birding in deciduous forest or open shrubby habitat. Part of the apparent increase may just be that I’m spending more time birding in those habitats than I used to, especially with all the atlas field work I’ve been doing. But I have assumed that the gypsy moth outbreak of recent years has also played a role and increased the numbers of these caterpillar specialists. Continue reading “Cuckoos: declining, but increasing?”
Tips on confirming breeding
Now that we are well into the breeding season, a major focus of atlas field work should be to try to confirm breeding for as many species as possible. In terms of the atlas, “confirmation” requires observing nests or behaviors linked to the confirmed breeding codes described on the atlas web page here. Most birds are breeding right now, which means that there are nests everywhere, and birds are exhibiting these behaviors all the time. Nonetheless, observing these things can be hard, especially if you are not used to looking for them. So, here are some tips on how to see the things that let you confirm breeding. Continue reading “Tips on confirming breeding”
Atlasing at the brewery?
Determining which breeding codes apply to which birds seen while atlasing is generally not too hard. There are exceptions, though, and one of the trickiest species is chimney swift. Continue reading “Atlasing at the brewery?”
NHBC block-busts Voluntown and Jewett City
One of the challenges with any atlas project is completing survey work in areas where few birders live. In Connecticut, the far north and the eastern third of the state, are the challenges, as shown in the two maps below: Continue reading “NHBC block-busts Voluntown and Jewett City”
Confirming common forest migrants
Most of my birding this spring has been focused on visiting unclaimed blocks with no data from 2018. This morning, though, I did not have a lot of time, so I set out on a more specific quest. Continue reading “Confirming common forest migrants”