Earlier this week, I wrote about the value to the atlas of searching for house sparrows. The next day I had to drive to Brooklyn, Connecticut, so I took my own advice and looked for blocks with no house sparrow records between my destination and home. Sure enough, there were three, and with only minor detours to drive by farm buildings in each block I was able to find the species in all of them, confirming it in one where I saw a bird with nest material. I also confirmed breeding for house finch in one block, by seeing a female taking nest material into a bush where it was building a nest. Continue reading “In search of pigeons”
Chasing sparrows
House sparrows are rarely a target species for most birders, but while we wait for the spring migrant floodgates to open, now would be a good time to look for them. Continue reading “Chasing sparrows”
Where have all the bobwhites gone?
Recent discussion on the Connecticut Ornithological Associations ctbirds listserve (starting with this post from Tom de Boor) has raised the question of whether northern bobwhites remain in the state. As Dave Provencher and others have pointed out, the species is widely considered to have been extirpated from Connecticut, and there is no longer a wild breeding population. Nonetheless, birds are still seen (or heard) from time to time, as a result of hunting releases. Continue reading “Where have all the bobwhites gone?”
Helpful hints for locating great horned owls nesting sites
The final breeding season for the atlas is underway and although there are only a few species breeding already, great horned owls have been on nests for some time. The maps below, however, show that there are many places where the species was found in the 1980s that have no records from the current atlas: Continue reading “Helpful hints for locating great horned owls nesting sites”