September 9:  Hammonassset State Park in Madison, CT has long been a prime birding site along the Connecticut shore, but unfortunately the State Department of Devolopment seems to be continually doing its best to permanently chase away the wildlife in favor of ever more building, parking, and human activity. There has always been a delicate balance but sadly we are at a tipping point and the powers that be don’t seem to care one whit despite voluminous input from the environmentally concerned.

But all is not lost quite yet. This is the time of year when migrant shorebirds show up, including some of the less common ones such as this Stilt Sandpiper currently keeping company with a few “peeps” in the boulder pond at Meigs Point.

I also paid a visit to Comstock Park in Ivoryton early yesterday morning, but migrants there have been few and far between because the weather has been so good. There is one big snag there that always seems to have an interesting occupant. Yesterday it happened to be this female Merlin, bathed in the early morning sunlight.