Milford and Stratford

I tend to wake up in the wee hours most days - generally have to wait for the clock to finally tick over to 5 am. This morning I overslept, managing to wake up a little after 6 am. After days of overcast skies, it was surprising to awaken with the sunshine already pouring in through the window. 

Three Catbirds were squawking loudly outside my window. 

And this Downy Woodpecker waited patiently for one of the Catbirds to leave the birdfeeder.

I decided to get out early, so off we went for breakfast at a local café before heading down toward the shore.

We decided to visit some old favorite spots in Milford and Stratford. The first couple of places we stopped at were pretty much a bust. There were no interesting birds to see at Mondo Pond, but it is a pretty walk around the pond. After that, we went to Silver Sands Beach - another letdown. There is too much construction there being done by the state, as they put in place some new park admission booths and I think maybe some concession stands (?) I think Silver Sands is about to be scratched off our list of good nature spots. What a shame. It used to be a great place for songbirds, wading birds, fox, and deer.  Feeling disappointed, we headed over to Milford Audubon. Again - nothing interesting.  Maybe we shouldn't have bothered with driving an hour to get there. 

Did I say deer? Ha!  As we were leaving Audubon, we drove out into a neighborhood and... this! 

This little fox was relaxed and making itself at home in someone's front yard

I don't know what it was looking at

A crop of the above photo. What a beautiful little beastie. 

We left the fox, (or come to think of it, maybe it left us) and we headed to Birdseye Boat Ramp in Stratford where we saw some Brants. Sometimes when we go there, we stop by a nearby diner to grab a sandwich to-go, and eat while watching the birds at the ramp. The small eateries are just  a short distance down the road. The boat ramp is not the prettiest place, but you can get close to the water and often see birds there.

We also saw some Cormorants (I wish the light hadn't been so glaring)

Some Gulls were dotted around the rocks. This one looked relaxed.

There were two Mute Swans. The other one was sleeping on a nest. I want to go back to see if there are cygnets yet. We stopped by the old Stratford Shakespeare Theater to see if we could spot some Monk Parakeets, but didn't have any luck this time.

There were Mallards at Bond Dock. We left there and took the little road by Macs Harbor. 

There were so many Yellow-Crowned Night Herons at Macs Harbor that I lost count. Sometimes these urban areas offer some surprising wildlife and nature. You just have to remember to look. 

After that, we took a spin over to Long Beach (we skipped Short Beach). Nada.  We stopped by Stratford Point (Audubon.) By now, I had lost interest, so I remained in the car while my husband took a walk and came back with some pictures of Black Bellied Plovers. It figures!  

We headed home. I checked the ABA CT Birds list and there were some great sightings! That's the way it is sometimes. You win some. You lose some. 

Still... a good day. 😊