The weather in central Connecticut this morning was almost a carbon copy of yesterday’s: clear, still, and cold. The critters, however, were taking a rest day. I did glimpse the barred owl again, but it was much farther away, and soon swooped off its perch after something before I could line up a shot. The otters and red-shouldered hawks, on the other hand, were nowhere to be found.
In fact, I had already turned around and was on my way back home before I took my first picture. I was walking passed the spot where I took the blue jay picture last Thursday, and I heard quite a squawk from above, which almost sounded like a mammal in distress. I quickly fired up the Merlin app on my phone to help me identify this strange new sound, and it suggested “northern mockingbird”, of all things, which really got me excited because I hadn’t seen one yet on this trip. Sure enough, the squawker soon appeared, and led me on a little chase. Thankfully, it never hopped far, and soon posed perfectly in the warm morning sun. Perhaps that was its plan all along.
Interestingly, at least for me, I read that “the oldest Northern Mockingbird on record was at least 14 years, 10 months old when it was found in Texas,” so this bird could definitely be the exact same individual I saw two years ago, also in December, in the exact same spot. Ha! “Hello, old friend and thanks for the heads-up!”
Finally, since I didn’t take a single other picture worth sharing this morning, here’s another look at a trio of black vultures from the committee I saw on the Vic House yesterday.
Signs of Life in Estabrook Park 