Fall Field Trip

Swallow Cruise on the Connecticut River
Friday, September 19
5:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Every year from the end of August through early October, hundreds of thousands of swallows, mostly Tree Swallows, roost in the reeds of Goose Island in the Connecticut River. As the sun heads toward the western horizon swallows appear by the ones and twos from all directions. Soon 40, 50, 100 birds fly in from their daytime foraging areas – up to 50 miles away – and join a growing flight as they fly around above the river. More and more swallows gather to form a flock so large that the sky becomes dark with the swirling birds. As the swallows circle above the river, they form a denser flock over Goose Island. Then as the sun sets and light fades, at some unknown signal one or two swallows drop into the marsh and the others follow forming a tornado-like funnel that races across the island as the birds go to roost. In a minute or less all of the hundreds of thousands of birds have disappeared and the sky is clear.

Tree Swallows above Goose Island, by Patrick Comins

This spectacular event, only discovered in the late 20th century, was described by Roger Tory Peterson as one of the wonders of the bird world. And Menunkatuck Audubon Society and Audubon Connecticut have chartered the RiverQuest for September 19 for a private cruise to watch this amazing extravaganza.

Leaving at 5:00 p.m. from Eagle Landing in Haddam, the RiverQuest will cruise down the Connecticut River while we look for other birds and wildlife as we draw closer to the Goose Island. With commentary by Patrick Comins we will wait as the swallows fly in and marvel at their ability to gather in such huge numbers without crashing into one another. Then in an instant it is over.

During the cruise light refreshments will be available.

Cost for this trip is $40 per person. Space is limited! For questions or to reserve a place email Dennis Riordan at  driordan@snet.net or call 203-387-2167. Upon confirmation of your reservation, please pay by check to Menunkatuck Audubon Society, Swallow Cruise, PO Box 214, Guilford, CT 06437.

The RiverQuest’s berth is at the first parking lot on the left as you enter Eagle Landing State Park in Haddam.

Take Route 9 to Exit 7 (Route 82 East). Follow Route 82 east through Tylerville Center. The park entrance is on your right just after the railroad tracks.. 

Remember! Space is limited! Book early.

(Reprinted from September 2014 Newsletter.)

The Atlantic Flyway

Eastern Tree Swallows follow the Atlantic Flyway to their wintering grounds in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean.

From the Canadian Maritimes and northern New England the swallows will leave their breeding grounds and form loose flocks in the tens and twenties. These flocks join together to form ever larger groups. And in Connecticut they stop to rest and refuel before going on. Goose Island in the lower Connecticut River can have hundreds of thousands of swallows roosting at night. They spend several days flying as many as 50 miles away to northern and western Connecticut and to Long Island to feed on insects and berries, returning to Goose Island each evening to roost in the safety of the numbers.

Each day some of the Tree Swallows will leave the group and be replaced by ones from farther north. As the Tree Swallows migrate farther south they continue to stop in reed beds every 100 miles or so, roosting together at night and foraging separately during the day.

(Reprinted from September 2014 Newsletter.)

Field Trips

Central Park Migrants and Audubon’s Aviary at the New York Historical Society

New York City

Saturday May 3, 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Join Menunkatuck, and Audubon Greenwich at Central Park for a morning walk with “Birding Bob” DeCandido looking for spring migrants. The Park is a major attraction for neotropical migrants, and our walk through the Rambles is sure to feature great views of many warblers as well as tanagers, orioles, and thrushes.

Following lunch, we will go to the New York Historical Society for a guided tour of Audubon watercolors. The trilogy Audubon’s Aviary: The Complete Flock is a once-in-a-lifetime series that will explore the evolution of Audubon’s dazzling watercolors in the order in which they were engraved. Over three years (2013–2015) Audubon’s Aviary will feature all 474 stunning avian watercolors by Audubon in the collection. Engaging state-of-the-art media installations will provide a deeper understanding of the connection between art and nature.

We will be taking the Metro North 6:46 a.m. train from New Haven, arrive at Grand Central at 8:41, and take a bus or the subway to Central Park, arriving around 9:30. We will bird for about three hours, have lunch at the Boathouse, and then go to the NYHS. The return time to New Haven is open. Cost for the bird walk is $10. Train fare, lunch, admission to the NYHS, and any other personal expenses are additional.

Pre-registration is required. To register for this trip, please email nina@menunkatuck.org, visit the Field Trips registration form on the calendar page of our website at menunkatuck.org/index.php/calendar1/.

Birdathon

Various Locations

Saturday, May 10,

6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Join us at Sandy Point in West Haven for beach nesting birds and gulls and terns, East Rock Park in New Haven and the Supply Ponds in Branford for migrating warblers and other neotropical birds, at Hammonasset Beach State Park for more migrants and water birds, and at other local birding spots for our annual all-day birding extravaganza.

The last few years we’ve averaged between 100 and 120 species during Birdathon. Join us for the entire day or at as many hot spots as suits your schedule.

Approximate Schedule

Sandy Point, 6:00 a.m.
East Rock Park, 8:00 a.m.
Supply Ponds, 11:00 a.m.
Shoreline drive, 2:00 p.m.
Hammonasset, 5:00 p.m.

Follow our progress and keep up with our sightings throughout the day by checking our Facebook page, facebook.com/menunkatuckaudubonsociety.

In the Works for July

There are several possible trips in the planning stages for July. One is a boat trip to Outer Island in the Thimble Islands off Stony Creek. Outer Island is a unit of the Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge. There are fabulous photographic opportunities on the island with wave-smoothed pink granite outcroppings and erratic boulders, numerous tidal pools, and common and roseate terns, nesting green herons, and other shorebirds. A picnic lunch is likely on the schedule.

Also being considered is a multi-Chapter kayak/canoe paddle at a lake or pond that is most convenient to the Chapters participating.

Topsmead State Forest in Litchfield is another possible destination. The trails at Topsmead pass through large meadows with nesting bobolinks and through small wooded areas with forest birds more common to northern Connecticut. Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the patio of the Chase summer house before we tour the home.

Another trip being planned for September is a sunset cruise on the Connecticut River to view the tree swallows returning to Goose Island for their overnight roost. Each evening from late August through early October hundreds of thousands of tree swallows gather in a swirling cloud and in an instant they drop into the marsh for the night.

Details on summer trips will be in the July newsletter.

Menunkatuck’s Been Getting Ready for Spring with Cleanups and New Nest Boxes

Ospreys like to decorate their nests with colorful trash, including balloons, plastic bags, rope, fishing line, and the like. To lessen the possibility or them getting entangled, the nests at Hammonasset Beach State Park were cleaned out while the birds were wintering in South America.

A new purple martin house was installed at Hammonasset to accommodate the increasing numbers of matins in the colonies. The houses at the Nature Center were moved closer to the marsh in preparation for the new Nature Center building.

With all 31 tree swallow nest boxes at Hammonasset used last year and tree swallows trying to nest in the purple martin house at the Guilford Salt Meadow Sanctuary, we installed 14 new boxes at Hammonasset and nine at the Sanctuary. The boxes use John Picard’s starling-proof design with a top slit instead of a traditional hole.

(From the May, 2014 newsletter.)

Tree Swallow, Purple Martin Egg Laying Is Up at Hammonasset, Fledging Is Down

Top line - Number of eggs laid; bottom - Number fledged

Bad weather just as Hammonasset’s tree swallow and purple martin chicks were about to fledge resulted in the deaths of many of the young birds. As a result the number of nest box success rate was down for the summer.

Of 183 tree swallow eggs that were laid, 143 hatched and 114 young fledged.

The Bridgeport Wildlife Guards, a team of students learning and teaching about conservation in Bridgeport, CT, came to Hammonasset to learn about nest box monitoring. They were able to see the difference between the purple martins’ bayberry leaf-lined nest and the tree swallows’ feather-lined nest.

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The Bridgeport Wildlife Guards, a team of students learning and teaching about conservation in Bridgeport, CT, came to Hammonasset to learn about nest box monitoring. They were able to see the difference between the purple martins’ bayberry leaf-lined nest and the tree swallows’ feather-lined nest.

(From the November, 2013 Newsletter)

Purple martins and tree swallows have another year of successful breeding

Stringent monitoring of the purple martin and tree swallow nest boxes at Hammonasset Beach State Park continue to pay dividends with the number of young birds fledging increasing once again.

For the first year all 31 tree swallow boxes were occupied with swallow pairs producing eggs. After five years of increases the number of fledglings fell slightly last summer. This year there was a 27% increase over last, with 151 tree swallows fledging.

Top line - number of laid
Bottom line - number of fledglings

Purple martins were just as successful. For the fifth straight year, the number of nesting pairs, eggs laid, and fledglings increased. Forty-four of the 48 compartments in the four martin houses were occupied, an astonishing 230 eggs were laid, and the adult martins were able to successfully raise 180 fledglings.

Top line - number of laid
Bottom line - number of fledglings

Again this year DEEP wildlife biologists spent one July morning banding the young purple martins. Using silver Federal numbered bands and colony-specific colored bands, one hundred fifty-seven young were weighed, aged, and banded. Twenty other martins were either too young or too old for banding.

Derrick Hendy (third from left), Assistant Warden at the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, participated in the DEEP banding. He spent two months at Audubon Sharon learning banding, bird census, and other monitoring techniques to be used in his staff position with Belize Audubon. The training program is part of Audubon’s International Alliances Program.
More photos of the banding.

John Picard, Menunkatuck Vice-president and Conservation Chair, is responsible for the increase in fledgling success rates. He keeps the nest boxes closed until a number of tree swallows and purple martins have arrived from their winter homes. Neither bird begins nesting when they arrive, sometimes waiting a week or longer. When the birds start to show nesting behavior John opens the nest boxes. He continues to monitor them during nest building and evicts any house sparrows that might try to compete with the swallows and martins. After the birds have laid eggs, John still monitors the boxes – house sparrows can continue to be a problem. The results of John’s persistent monitoring are evident.

With the increased number of purple martins nesting at Hammonasset, Menunkatuck plans to install a fifth purple martin house at the Chase (Swan) Pond colony in Spring, 2013, in time for next year’s breeding season.