Following up on a lead posted by one of our birding club members, I, along with three other Mearns members, took the relatively short drive to Cove Island Park in Stamford, CT to find the very rare Fork-tailed flycatcher. This bird breeds and usually lives in South America, but will on rare occasions find its way up along the east coast of North America. When we arrived, a departing birder said, "Still here! Just follow the trail down to where all the cameras and scopes are." Sure enough. It just doesn't get much easier than this.
This handsome bird was perched right out in the open, and although he took to the air
on numerous occasions, he always returned to the treetop where he was easily
visible for over an hour. When we departed, the flycatcher had moved to a new
perch, but was still easily seen by all. He certainly seemed quite content
where he was and chances are pretty good that he will still be on site for some time to come. We consider ourselves fortunate to have been able to see this lost traveller.
While manning our post up on the Bear Mountain Hawkwatch today, we were thrilled to have a banner day with 4 Golden eagles making an appearance. The first was spotted by one of our number and then followed and positively identified as a Golden. By the time I got my camera on the bird, it was low and behind the trees making a decent shot impossible. I was "bummed" as you can imagine, but within 30 seconds a second Golden made its appearance flying in from the direction of "Anthony's Nose" (that's a mountain across the river from Bear Mt......not one of our spotters!)
This was a young bird with a lot of white showing beneath the wings. This bird was in good light and close enough to afford good photos. While we were all excited about two Golden eagles on the same day, a third and then a fourth appeared within the next 5 minutes. These eagles came from the same general area and were making a strong flight south. It was only a matter of minutes before one would disappear far to the south when the next appeared at some distance to the north. Four separate Golden eagles....no doubt about it! I've posted several shots of many that I was able to get....the first photos I've ever been able to shoot of this magnificent bird. In the Peterson Field Guide, it uses the term "majestic" to describe the bird and there is no better way to describe it!
