I am a warbler-maniac.....  they are by far my favorite bird to watch/photograph/track/anything.  The difficulty of finding one, identifying it, and photographing it is very high.... which makes it awesome when you find a new one!!  Not to mention the amazing color variations from species to species.... and just the color/plumage variations within species... (female:male, breeding:non-breeding).

Here is my 2008/Life Warbler Checklist (2008 and lifelists are the same for me since I started seriously birding in Feb. of this year.....)

(species are in taxonomic order according to Sibley's....)

-Blue-winged Warbler

-Northern Parula

-Yellow Warbler

-Chestnut-sided Warbler

-Magnolia Warbler

-Blackburnian Warbler

-Black-throated Blue Warbler

-Cerulean Warbler

-Black-throated Green Warbler

-Yellow-rumped Warbler

-Pine Warbler

-Blackpoll Warbler

-Bay-breasted Warbler

-Black-and-white Warbler

-American Redstart

-Worm-eating Warbler

-Common Yellowthroat

-Mourning Warbler

-Northern Waterthrush

-Ovenbird

-Canada Warbler

2008/Life Warbler Total: 21

States: CT, VT, NH, MA, RI

Hello all those 1 people who have read my blogs.....

I just got back from an amazing camping/backpacking trip in the northern Green Mountains in Vermont.  There is a great, primiti9ve and rustic campsite that sits right next to Silver Lake, which is on the other side of RT 53, while the much larger and popular Dunmore Lake is on the other side.... and Fern Lake is before both.

The campground I went to was called Silver Lake campground, and is only accesible by hiking down a 1 mile trail from a parking lot inside Moosamaloo Recreation area (lot #9).  My buddy and I stayed there on night, left just our tent and stuff that we didn't need, and backpacked down Leichester Hollow Trail (4.4m), back up Colchester Ridge Trail (about 4 miles), around Silver Lake (about 1m), down the trail that leads to the Falls of Lana (lame), then about 3 miles onto a Green Mountain National Forest Trail until we found a absolutely unbelievable place to camp.  The rules of the GMNF prohibit camping within 200 feet of a trail, road, body of water, etc...  but we didn't =). Thee was a CRYSTAL clear brook that ran through these woods, and about RIGHT on the back was a perfectly flattened, no rock covered area that would fit both of our one person tents and a fire quite easily.  It was great....falling asleep to the sounds of owls and a truely untouched natural spring.  I put the water through my purifier anyway...but I really don't think I needed to.

When we woke up and had our breakfast, we hiked the 12+ miles back to the campground and floated around Silver Lake in snow tubes fro about 3 hours......until a Bald Eagle started soaring over the lake..... then I had to run back to camp to grab my binoculars.

The birding here was much better than I had expected....  because I have been stuck in a VT birding pattern.  The first trip was great birding, second bad, last trip was great, then this trip should have sucked...but was probably the best, as species go.

Here is a list of species I saw over the weekend....

** = have photo               $ = new bird for my life list

1) Northern Parula (m/f)

2) Black-Throated Blue Warbler (m/f) ** (female only)

3) Common Yellowthroat (m/f) **

4) American Robin

5) Broad-Winged Hawk

6) Scarlet Tanager (m/f) **

7) Barn Swallow

8) Bank Swallow

9) Northern Flicker

10) Eastern Wood-Peewee **

11) Pileated Woodpecker (m)

12) Tree Swallow

13) Black-Capped Chickadee **

14) Tufted Titmouse

15) Swainson's Thrush

16) Hermit Thrush

17) Veery **

18) Chestnut Sided Warbler (m/f) ** (both)

19) American Goldfinch (m/f)

20) House Finch (f)

21) Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (m/f) $

22) Indigo Bunting (m/f) ** (both)

23) Common Grackle

24) Ring-billed Gull

25) Mourning Warbler (m/f) ** (both) $

26) American Crow

27) American Redstart (m/f) ** (both)

28) Belted Kingfisher

29) Northern Mockingbird

30) Blue Jay

31) Canada Warbler  $

32) Blue-Headed Vireo  $

33) Turkey Vulture

34) Hairy Woodpecker

35) Bald Eagle

36) Red-eyed Vireo

37) Philadelphia Vireo  $

38) Golden Crowned Kinglet

39) Cedar Waxwing

40) Wild Turkey

41) Northern Waterthrush  $

42) Yellow-throated Vireo

43) Yellow-rumped Warbler (m) **

44) Yellow Warblers

45) Black Throated Green Warblers (m/f)  $

46) Black and White Warbler (m) **

47) Black Vulture

48) Common Mergansers (one female with 6 offspring)

49) Northern Rough Winged Swallows

Mojo's New Sightings re-cap.....

The birds new to me I saw on this trip were the Northern Waterthrush, Philadelphia Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Canda Warbler, Mourning Warbler, and the Yelow-bellied Sapsucker.

I had thought I saw a Sapsucker in CT where I live last winter, but I was very new to birding and was not sure at all....since I started birding in late winter, and the YB Sapsucker leaves my area after winter, I didn't see one until I went north. 

Over the weekend (6/28-29) I decided to take in some of the best nature my home state of Connecticut has to offer.  Kent, Connecticut is located in Litchfiled County and sits in the farthest reaches of the northwestern corner of the state.  The forests of Kent aren't the same as the mojority of the state.... instead of being dominated by oak-hickory trees, it is somewhat of a transitinoal forest between the northern broad-leaf forests of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine and the mixed deciduous oak-hickory forests that cover most of CT and Rhode Island.  It is like a a slice of Vermont on punishment and forced to sit in the corner of lame CT.

Kent has a lot to offer a nature lover..... including a great place called Kent Falls State Park.  Where I went is called the River Road.  It is a narrow dirt road (more of a wide path) that runs for about 2.6 miles along the banks of the Housatonic River.  At the end, the road hooks up with the Appalachian Trail.

I live on the CT shore, a good 65-70 minutes away from Kent.  Unfortunately I had work obligations so I left Sat. night and arrived and was birding by 6:00pm.  As soon as I opend my truck door, a gorgeous male American Redstart greeted me by faning his tail and singing from a tree no more than 10 feet from me.  Throughout my time there, I easily saw 10+ Redstarts.  It could have been repeats, but I know for sure there were at least 6, because I came upon their home.  One trail had a tree down and hikers are re-directed around it.... I, for whatever reason, decided to navigate through the tree....which was a good idea.  The canopy of the tree is what crossed the path, and there was a slight opening in the thickness.....  In this opening were 3 males, 2 females, and one juvenile.  All were chirping away and jumping from twig to twig.  They didn't seem to mind me at all.... in fact, I was fairly certain one male followed me for about an hour.

Saturday night was productive, but not as much so as the next morning.  I finished up birding Sat. night at around 9:30.  During my time that night, I found a good area to set up camp for the night..... and it turned out I hiked a good mile away from that spot.  So, I hiked down the trail (I was on the App. trail by then) and found a good spot to set up my pop-tent and get some rest for the night.  I heard a Barred Owl all night long.....but since I've seen them a few times, and was very tired, I did not persure like I normally would.

The next morning I set my alarm for 4:15am.  I snoozed it a few times and by the time I got up, ate breakfast, and washed up a little, and started birding...it was about 4:45-5am.  The morning on Sunday was much more productive than the previous evening.  The songs of Cerulean Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers, Wood Thrushes, Veerys and Red-eyed Vireos persisted up until I left around 12:30pm.

Here is a list of my bird sightings for the weekend....

1) Cerulean Warblers

2) Yellow Warblers

3) Bay-breatsed Warbler

4) Blackburnian Warbler

5) Yellow-throated Warbler

6) Black-and White Warbler

7) American Redstarts (about 10)

8) Northern Parula

9) Red-eyed Vireos (one of which was feeding a BH Cowbird)

10) Warbling Vireo

11) Yellow-throated Vireo

12) Wood Thrushes (x15-20)

13) Hermit Thrush

14) Veery

15) Scarlet Tanagers (about 5-6)

16) Rose-breasted Grosbeak (female only)

17) Great-blue Heron

18) Pied Grebes (mother with 4 offspring)

19) Common Merganser (mother with 3 offspring)

20) Belted Kingfisher

21) Eastern Kingbird

22) Eastern Phoebe

23) Eastern Wood-Peewee

24) American Robins

25) Downy Woodpeckers

26) Hairy Woodpecker

27) Pileated Woodpecker (female only)

28) Red-bellied Woodpecker

29) Northern Flickers (including juvenile)

30) Red-tailed Hawk

31) Broad-winged Hawk

32) Black Vulture

33) Turkey Vultures

34) American Kestrel (on the drive in...perched on wire fence along field)

35) Ruffed Grouse (on the drive in....sitting in field)

36) Tufted Titmouse

37) Black-capped Chickadee

38) Mourning Dove

39) Common Grackle

40) Song Sparrow

41) House Wren

42) Carolina Wren

43) Tree Swallows

44) Bank Swallows

45) Canada Geese

46) Mallards (drakes only)

47) Cedar Waxwings

48) Ovenbird (x2)

49) Catbirds

50) Brown-headed Cowbirds

51) Red-Winged Blackbirds

 Birds not seen in my state of CT are labeled as such.... i.e. (VT), (NY), (MA)

(from 5/21 thru 6/11) 2008 total = 133

Belted Kingfisher

Black Skimmer

Whip-poor-will (VT)

Broad-winged Hawk (VT)

Barred Owl (VT)

Swainson's Thrush (VT)

Green Heron

Cliff Swallow

Purple Martin

Blackpoll

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Northern Parula

Warbling Vireo

Golden Plover

(6/11 thru present) 2008 total = 136

Black Vulture

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Black-Throated Blue Warbler (seen before 6/11 but no positive ID until now)

Yellow-Throated Vireo

List of sighitngs in Vermont (Brattleboro)...

Broad-Winged Hawk, Purple Martin, American Kestrel, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black and White Warbler (female), Black Vulture, Swainson's Thrush, Warbling Vireo, Wood Duck, Barred Owls and Whip-poop-will.

Besides birds....

Moose (x3), Deer, Ring-neck and Garter snakes, 45+ Red Efts (eastern newt terrestrial stage) and about 15 adult Eastern Newts, Green Frogs, Wood Frogs, Bufo Americanus (American Toad), and one (FINALLY!!!!) flying squirrel.

Before I get into anything, I want to first give a little background info on Roosevelt Forest.  (Just a warning....I often ramble I this will be a long read....I would almost suggest just scrolling down to where I actually get into talking about the birds and wildlife I saw.)

First off, it is the ONLY town owned forest in the state of Connecticut.  It dates back to the Great Depression (never knew why that should be capitalized.....) as a part of President Roosevelt's WPA (Works Progress Administration) to create jobs for the masses of unemployed citizens in the whole country, not just Connecticut.  Hence, the name 'Roosevelt Forest'.

The forest sits snuggly in the center of middle/upper class suburbia....and straddles the border of Stratford (Fairfield County) and Shelton (New Haven County).  It is comprised of 250 acres of mixed woods and shrubs.  This time of year (May) there are oodles of beautiful flowering Pink Azaleas that dot the landscape.  Random rows of red pines can be found...usually near one of the several small streams, brooks, and still water swamp areas.  The orange trail leads you through a swamp on a 50+ yard plank walk with 1' deep water on either side.  If one wanted to walk all the trails, the total distance would be about 5 miles.  All the trails are quite easy to hike, which is why locals enjoy mountain biking the trails.  Upon entering the main entrance you come across a small lake on the left, which is where most of the moving water inside the forest drains into.  The main parking area is along this lake, and only a blind person (no offense) could miss the large pavillion and the small playground behind it.

In a seperate area at the very beginning of the park, there is along dirt road that goes to a shooting range that the Stratford Police use for practice.  The park is sometimes closed due to this, however there are other entrances and the location of the range will allow anyone to go completely un-noticed.

Back in the '90s, there was a vollunteer group that held meetings and listened to the public on what needs fixing, improving...or just general ideas for the park.  For whatever reason, that group disbanded and the forest took a turn for the worst.  Well, I can't attest to this, only being 23, but supposedly the park was on the way down starting in the 1970s.  I can, however, tell first hand that from the late 90s through to maybe 2003, the forest was much more a high school party/drinking area than a place to experience the nature one's area has to offer.  The pavillion was turned into party area...with beer cans and broken bottles everywhere...graffiti all over...broken railings and broken picinic tables.....extremely random things being burned in the pavillion's fire place...... all in all a disgrace because of what the place could be.  Although, I must say that I frequented the parties so I am as much to blame as anyone else.  I didn't vandalize for fun like some of my friends and others, and I was couteous to nature...but I was still there.

There was always a park ranger, but he was partying with us too.  At closing time his job is to come down to the main parking area and, if anyone is there, wait until they leave so he can lock the gate.  If we (the locals who knew him and were there everyday) were there, he would kick everyone else out...then come join us.  Eventually he got fired and thing sstarted to look up for the park.  The Stratfor P.D. took notice and most teens were too paraniod to go down there all the time.

Just this year, the Friends of Roosevelt Forest (the old vollenteer group) is reforming to help out the forest.  I vollenteered my time and will be re-blazing the trails, building small plank walks where streams of swampy areas have over-run the trails, and will (I hope) be a part of blazing an entirely new trail.  I also vollenteer at my local Connecticut Audubon Soceity and am in a bird catching/banding group at the center at Milford Point in Milford, Connecticut.  The group and I are going to be banding birds at Roosevelt so I decided to do a walk through and survey what we might expect.  Since I distanced myself from my previous lifestyle, I hadn't been to the forest in over 4 years....and I am proud to say there is a drastic difference in how clean and full of wildlife it is now compared to 4-5 years ago.

So here goes......(I apologize for the long preamble.....I often rant and ramble on my forum posts....).  I got to the forest at around 8:15am (couldn't stop hitting the snooze button...wanted to be there at 7) amd left around 1:00 pm.

Yesterday (5/22), the Stratford Police were using their shooting range so the park was closed.  So, I entered in a secondary entrance so I didn't have to drive past all the cops....because the entrance to the range comes up before the main parking lot.

Going along this trail (yellow) I immediately saw two chipmunks...and heard about another 50 making their single 'squeek/peep' noise.  It can easily be confused as a bird call.  About a ten minute walk on the yellow trail and I heard an Eastern Wood-Peewee in the distance.   When I stopped to try and locate the direction of the Peewee, a pair of Black-capped Chickadees landed on a stump and begain their cute foraging.  One got close enough that I could have lunged and grabbed it if I wanted to.  I snapped a couple decent shots of the Chickadees when a small bird landed on a branch about half way up a large tree.  It was the Peewee! I had only seen one once before this, although I have heard them plenty.  He stayed perched as if he was posing for me.....and I got two excellent shots of him. 

Once the Peewee flew away I put the lens cover back on my camera and started back on my hike.....until two Ovenbirds swooped down right passed me.  This was the only visual I got of them, but I heard their 'teach-er teach-ER TEACH-ER!' call (getting louder every note) the whole while I was in the forest.  Behind the loudness of the Ovenbird's calls, I heard the pleasing song of a Wood Thrush....I didn't see him, but very shortly after I saw/photographed a Hermit Thrush.  Almost as if they planned it, when the Hermit Thrush flew away, the Wood Thrush's stopped his pretty song and started the loud 'pit pit Pit Pit PIT PIT!'......and then I didn't see/hear either the rest of the day.

I followed the yellow trail until it reaches the intersection og the longest trail, the blue trail.  I took a right and on the path itself a few yards up were a couple of American Robins....... and in the same spot up in the trees there were 2 male Northern Cardinals singing to a lone female.  About a ten minute walk later I came upon a pair of White-Breatsed Nuthatches going from tree trunk to tree trunk.  Lucky for me, the Nuthatches forced me to look in that direction....where a Black Rat Snake was relaxing on a rocky outcrop.  The Black Rat Snake is the largest species of snake in Connecticut....reaching 8 feet in length.  The tall deciduous trees of this area dwarf a decent sized area of thickets that includeds Azaleas.....in there is where I heard the warbler-like songs of a trio of Gray Catbirds.  Unlike the Catbirds in my woods (I live maybe 3/4 of a mile away from Roosevelt.....) they mided their own business.  The ones in my woods seriously seem to follow me all over.

I continued on the blue trail and it goes through an area with a lot of dead trees......woodpecker heaven.  I saw a Red-Bellied Woodpecker enter its nesting sight (I heard the little squeeks of babies) in a large dead tree (one of 3 Red-Bellys I saw throught the day), the cutest Downy Woodpecker I've ever seen was no more than 25 yards away going to town on a downed tree trunk, and maybe 200 yards away there were three Northern Flickers sending out their loud, monotone call to each other. 

Before the blue trail lead me to the orange trail I walked past a family of Blue-jays, another Cardinal, and a pair of Tufted Titmice.  Where the orange trail meets the blue trail, there is a small (miniscule) pond that leaks out into a swampy area that is riddled with skunk cabbage.  Here is where I got to add a new bird to my checklist.  I heard a single, somewhat buzzy/trilly 'wzeep'....repeated every 1-15 seconds of so.  I really had no clue what it was at first.....I though it might have been some sort of Vireo.  I snapped a few semi-decent photos and posted them here on Whatbird........ it was a Great Crested Flycatcher.  What an awesome bird.  I was underneath so I only got glimpses of the rufous-ness on the back when it jumped from branch to branch.  But what I did see what the striking lime green/yellow belly.  I stayed around watching him through my binocs until he flew away.  So I started hikin again until I came upon a small row of pine trees that were about 15 yards away from another swamp.  Here I was semi-veiwing another Robin and all of a sudden it went silent and still.  It was a sunny and cloudy day, and at this particular moment the sun was out.  Second sfter the Robin went dumb and paralized, I saw a huge shadow gliding across the ground.  I looked up but the canopy was too thick to see much more than an outline.....until I heard the unmistakeable  'keeeeee---eerrrr!!' of a Red-tailed Hawk.  I do not know how big their territories are, but I have a resident family of Red-tails in my woods less than a mile away.  I wonder if it was 'my' hawk or if it was another one. (Also later in my hike I startled one that was perched about 1/3 of the way up a tree...it screamed about 4 times as it gracefully, and quite easily, navigated its way through/around/over and under the dense forest trees.)

Soon after I heard the hawk's scream, activity resumed and the Robin continued on it's day.  Soon after, two White-tailed Deer made their way passed me.  At this time, I decided it was time to have an apple, and while I was eating and surveying the upper canopy, I saw a flash of the second new bird on my checklist......a male Scarlet Tanager.  There was a lot of branches in my way so my photos aren't very good....but you can easily tell what it is.  Such a DEEP red and contrasting black wings.....all in all....a gorgeous bird.

Once I saw the Tanager a storm rolled in and it rained pretty hard for a good 30 minutes.  During this time I saw practically nothing as I finished the orange trail and started on the red trail......and then finished the red trail and back on the blue trail.  The rain wasn't letting up so I decided to head out.  Since I practically grew up in the park (boy scouts, teen partying, mature nature loving) I know my way around without the trails so I just started on a direct route back to my truck. 

Running through the forest is an opening about 15 yards wide for a high-pressure gas line.  It is just like a power-line opening.....and many birders know that power-line opening, or any long openings in the woods are a great place for birds.  My direct route took me to this opening where I began flipping rocks looking for salamanders.  I didn't see any....but I did see the biggest wolf spider I've ever seen in my life.....all I saw at first was a white ball about 1cm in diameter.  I lightly nugged the ball to see what it was, and then suddenly the ball started running away!!  The spider was soooo well hidden that it scared the bejesus out of me when the egg sack started running away.

The gas-line opening runs the length of the forest, and then some.  The yellow path I started on cuts through here, so I took the opening down to the yellow trail.  This is when I saw one of the most beautiful birds I've seen (physically seen) in my life.  I was watching a few more Titmice in the top 1/4 of the large deciduous trees bordering the opening when I saw a flash of bright orange.  It had just flew past and I was angry that it didn't stick around......I waited about 5 minutes and then I saw the flash again...but this time it landed.  I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots of the amazingly colored Blackburnian Warbler.  After taking some pictures and while I was viewing it through my binocs, I heard a song that I had heard a lot throughout my time in the forest.

I followed the song and eventually found the last of the 4 new birds added to my checklist.  It had a very pleasing song, and behaved similar to a warbler....yet it was bigger and was moving slower.  For instance, say a warbler jumps from branch to branch only sitting on one branch for 1.5 seconds.....well this bird was doing the exact same thing but sitting for like 5 seconds.  It had a very noticeably eye stripe and was quite attractive......but I couldn't figure out what species.  I knew it was some sort of Vireo, but didn't find out for sure that it was a Red-Eyed Vireo until I posted it here on the forum.

All in all, my trip to Roosevelt got my spirits up.  I (try) to get in atleast one hike a week when the weather permits, and I had skipped over Roosevelt everytime...remembering how it was when I used to hang out there.  And I wouldn't have gone unless one of the woman in the bird banding group hadn't mentioned it.  I am glad that I did.

Here is a list of bird species I saw, and other animals...

BIRDS:

Northern Cardinal (2 males, 1 female)

White Breasted Nuthatch (x2)

Wood Thrush, Hermit Thrush

Blue Jay (x3)

Scarlet Tanager (male)

Black-Capped Chickadee (x2 on two occasions)

Gray Catbird (x3)

Great Crested Flycatcher

Red-Eyed Vireo

Eastern Wood-Peewee

Ovenbird (x2)

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (x3)

Nothern (yellow-shafted) Flicker (x3)

Downy Woodpecker (female)

American Robin (several)

Tufted Titmouse (5+)

OTHER:

Chipmunks (minimum 5)

Gray Squirrels (4+)

Wolf Spider

Black Rat Snake

White-tail Deer (x2)