East Rock

Saturday May 13 5 birders assembled at East Rock Park New Haven/Hamden for my annual trip there. Viewing conditions were horrible with heavy cloud cover but at least it was dry and not windy. We started off at the lower level where we spotted 3 Great Egrets, a very late (probably sick) sleeping drake Common Merganser, many Northern Rough Winged Swallows and a Rose Breasted Grosbeak. However, warblers were very hard to come by and of the 7 species noted some were only heard.

We next drove to the upper level where the best birds were 2 rather close Common Ravens and a good look at a Swainson’s Thrush. We observed an American Robin on the nest and had a nice look at a Wood Thrush feeding on the ground. Although the Wood Thrush is a rather common bird one does not always get a good look at them since they are shy. With the sky becoming darker we decided to call it quits at 10:30. We tallied a total of 48 species. Under better conditions we could have achieved probably 60 or more species.

Respectfully submitted,
Paul Desjardins