Birding by canoe | Birds of New England.com

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Common Loon in transitional plumage swims on a pond in northern New Hampshire in early October 2014.

I recently took my annual trip to northern New England in the hopes of seeing moose and few boreal bird species. The moose were scarce _ I saw a grand total of zero _ and Gray Jays were the only real boreal species of birds I saw. Nonetheless I did see plenty of Common Loons, which makes for a successful trip in my book. My latest For the Birds column addresses loons and their summer and winter plumage (and in-between plumage).
The full column may be seen here.

Over the next several days I’ll post photos from the trip, which included stops in central Maine and northern New Hampshire.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Purple Sandpiper on rocky island off the coast of Darien, CT. (Dec. 2013)

Snowy Owls and a Fork-tailed Flycatcher are grabbing all the headlines in Connecticut this week _ and deservedly so. Snowy Owls are being found up and down the coast and that flycatcher has been entertaining birders in Hadlyme.

I haven’t seen either species yet this fall/winter, but I thoroughly enjoyed a canoe trip on Long Island Sound this weekend. I launched from Pear Tree Point in Darien and canoed over to Green’s Ledge Lighthouse and back along the Darien coast. Common and Red-throated Loons were abundant. Long-tailed Ducks were constant companions and even uttered their unique song over and over.

But, for me, the highlight was Purple Sandpipers. I came across two flocks _ one a sizable flock of about two dozen; the other just two birds. Purple Sandpipers are hearty birds that live on rocky islands and breed in the Arctic. They winter on isolated rocks off the coast of New England, including Long Island Sound.

(Way more photos below. Click on “continue reading.”)

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