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On my way one early morning in mid-April to meet some members of the New Haven Bird Club for a walk around the perimeter of Six Lakes, I rode my bike down Waite Street where it divides Lake Whitney, near the edge of the Olin property. I saw great blue herons, twigs in beaks, flying to their nests atop the white pines, and an osprey sitting on its nest on the platform across the road. Also swans in the water, red-winged blackbirds in the air. All of this was a good omen for finding more birds when I met up with Chris Howe, president of the bird club. We parked in the shopping center lot off Putnam and headed north up the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail.
Right away we heard the sweet song of the white-throated sparrow, and a moment later we saw a house sparrow building its nest in a somewhat unlikely spot – a hole in the back of a store in the shopping center, maybe some kind of vent. “House sparrows nest opportunistically near people,” Chris said. “There it goes, carrying a twig.” I always considered sparrows and other small, less colorful birds “LBBs,” or Little Brown Birds. A good birder can tell each and every one apart.
We saw mourning doves, cardinals and chickadees. Chris had brought her spotting scope, which she set up on the edge of the Six Lakes property outside the fence, facing one of the ponds, and we spotted two teal wing ducks near the shore. Since they weren’t flying, I didn’t see any teal on their wings, but they do have beautiful rusty-colored heads. This is the first bird I’ve observed through a spotting scope, and it took a bit of adjustment, since one is looking down into the magnifier instead of straight out with binoculars. We saw a swan sitting on its nest surrounded by water. Chris also saw some wood ducks, which have beautiful, multi-colored feathers, and which are more common than I realized, but alas, I missed them.
The advantage of going out in early spring is the trees were still bare, making it easier to see the birds. The disadvantage is the migrant songbirds have not returned yet, so we didn’t see any of those mostly tiny, jeweled creatures.
There is a citizen science data base called eBird that allows bird watchers to record their sightings. Chris says that the Six Lakes area is considered a hot spot, and any birds observed around the fenced-off site (like along the Canal Trail) can also be included in that hot spot.
Chris and Bird Club members Molly and Bill, who joined us, are all adept at identifying birds by sound as well as by sight. My audio skills are limited to cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, mourning doves, ospreys, Carolina wrens and crows – the American crow, to be specific. I learned the fish crow, which looks the same, is also common in these parts, but has a very different call. Instead of “caw, caw,” it is more nasal.
Many of us rely on and love Merlin, the free bird ID app from the Cornell Ornithology Lab, but these expert birders said to use caution, because it makes mistakes. Bill said he relied on his own ears and only turned to Merlin’s sound recordings if his response to a bird song or call was, “What was that?”
After spending some time on the west side of the property, we made our way to Whitney Center on the east side, where we met up with Flo McBride, who lives there and who has volunteered with school groups and others for decades to get others hooked on birding.
An overlook of the Six Lakes property is open for people to enjoy in the back of the residential buildings, where birds can be spotted on the nearby pond and where feeders attract others. We walked along for a short time more, enjoying the brisk but sunny day and watching the trees just beginning to leaf out, promising more good birding when the migrants return. |
