Bird list for May 16-20

Deep in the Connecticut rainforest at West Campus - complete with moss and lianas.

Bird list for the week:
Lynn is away on vacation in coastal California - so the list is shorter for the lack of her usual prolific observations! However Tom contributed many sightings from his outings with school groups this week.

1. Canada Goose
2. Wild Turkey
3. Red-tailed Hawk
4. Osprey
5. Double-crested Cormorant - skein of over sixty
6. Herring Gull
7. Mourning Dove
8. Rock Pigeon
9. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
10. Downy Woodpecker
11. Northern Flicker
12. American Crow
13. Blue Jay
14. American Robin
15. Grey Catbird
16. European Starling
17. Barn Swallow
18. Red-eyed Vireo
19. Warbling Vireo
20. Yellow-throated Vireo, Vireo flavifrons - new for West Campus! I saw two of these, in the woods along the SW perimeter fence, but quite far from each other. One was definitely a female carrying nesting material!
22. Black-capped Chickadee
23. Tufted Titmouse
24. Carolina Wren
25. House Wren
26. Yellow Warbler
27. Northern Parula
28. Common Yellowthroat
29. Ovenbird
30. Northern Cardinal
31. Song Sparrow
32. American Goldfinch
33. House Finch
34. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
35. Common Grackle
36. Brown-headed Cowbird
37. Baltimore Oriole
38. Scarlet Tanager
39. House Sparrow
40. and Chipping Sparrow

Seemed like the sun was out just for me at noon. The wet leaves dripped and sparkled, the ground was soft and damp underfoot, and apparently I surprised a few of our larger mammals.


Coyote parent with three pups. One is visible here. Two were blonde like the one in the photo, and the third was quite a dark brindled gray.

In addition to the coyotes, other mammals on my quiet lunchtime walk were a white-tailed deer who bounded off from quite nearby and several chipmunks and squirrels who scolded me from the safety of their hidey-holes.


This large mole was abandoned by something - maybe the coyote family?

Looks like my photo isn't good enough for a positive ID, but I'm going with Star-nosed mole, Condylura cristata, on the basis of the rather long tail. The other options for moles in Connecticut are Eastern mole, Scalopus aquaticus, with a very short tail, and Hairy-tailed mole, Parascalops breweri, with a hairy tail shorter than this guy's.

Wow, you can really see my bird bias. Can't identify a mole when there are only three to choose from.
Hey - have a great weekend - maybe we'll get a little more sunshine.