Connetquot River State Park Preserve

 Yellow-throated Warbler @ Connetquot

 young Eastern Phoebe @ Connetquot

It's been many years since the last time I visited what is now Connetquot River State Park. When I was there last, it still belonged to the old hunting club that was originally responsible for its preservation before it got turned over to the state. Connetquot is another version of Connecticut which is a corruption of the Algonquin word for 'great river'. Just as the Connecticut is the largest river in New England, the Connetquot is the largest river on Long Island. Like all Long Island waterways, the river flow is generated by ground-water springs and not run-off. It is also unique in that its entire watershed -- some 3500 acres -- is protected along with a good portion of the estuarine or tidal part south of Sunrise Highway. Most of the upland portions are oak-and-pine barrens interspersed with extensive fresh wetlands. One of the main features of this preserve is the fish hatchery which helped make and maintain Connetquot as one of the leading trout fishing stations around. However, the hatchery was closed in 2008 due to a trout disease epidemic and is only now being considered for reopening.

This has always been a prime spot for birds with many unusual breeding records including (over the years) Canada Warbler, Brown Creeper, Eastern Bluebird and others. The current starring role in this respect is being played by the Yellow-throated Warbler, a southern species whose range has extended in recent years to southern New Jersey. Apparently there were two singing males this year, one of which we (Eileen Schwinn and myself) heard, saw and even photographed (poorly) shortly after arrival. The loud, insistent song consists of a series of loud repeated (spaced, not trilled) notes sometimes ending in a small flourish. As is often the case with rare birds, the sound led us directly to locate the singer who was working the evergreens around the main group of club buildings. So far there is no breeding evidence but one can always hope. . . .

A walk around the nearby pond and wetlands produced a young Phoebe practicing its insect-catching skills but also pausing long enough to be photographed (note the brown head, mottled breast and yellowish belly, all signs that this was a bird of the year). Also on this stretch was a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers desperately trying to meet the incessant demands of a voracious young Cowbird. An unusual sight was a pair of Cedar Waxwings feeding in an opening along with Barn and Tree Swallows and catching insects with with swallow-like dexterity.

Another truly rara avis was the sight of biologist and birder Shai Mitra further out on one of the woods roads that runs through this park. Shai reported on a couple of birds that we missed: Yellow-throated Vireo and a young Blue Grosbeak sighted in disparate areas of the park; both are uncommon nesters on LI but might well be expected in a beautiful, large, natural area like Connetquot.

Eric Salzman