On Saturday, April 18, around 30 birders and geology enthusiasts participated in the Geology and Birds walk at the Branford Quarry Preserve surrounding the active Stony Creek Granite Quarry. The weather was cool and overcast, but no wind. Stony Creek Granite is a beautiful architectural building stone and widely exposed in the preserve. Participants were also able to watch the live mining activity at the quarry as they were working that morning. We observed 23 species here, including Pileated Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Chipping Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pine Warbler and Louisiana Waterthrush. Some in the group also observed a Great-horned Owl getting harassed by crows. The second location of the trip was in the small urban preserve of Quarry Park in New Haven. Around 10 birders continued on there, and we explored the hand-dug pits from the 1600s through the 1800s that are scattered throughout the park. The New Haven Sandstone from this quarry was widely used as a building stone across New Haven. Quarry Park is also the discovery site for an ancient reptile fossil now on display at the Peabody Museum. Here we observed 12 species, including Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, and Eastern Phoebe. Many thanks to Craig Repasz for managing identification and the eBird list.
Cheryl Cape and Dan May
