It's Saturday again, and we went out to one of my favorite nearby birding places, the Quinebaug Valley State Trout Hatchery. There's always something there - like Horsebarn Hill, there are local specialties, not necessarily unusual, but special anyway. You can always see a kingfisher, several species of ducks, a few different sparrows, and today we both had a "lifer"! But today's kingfisher reminded me that I missed one in my series of Coraciiformes a while back - so here today, is your Common Kingfisher, which I've placed beside the Arda River in Madzharovo, Bulgaria, where we saw it in September.

Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis
Arda River, Madzharovo Bulgaria, September 10, 2024

When we finish our January challenge a few days from now, I think I will share all of the photos Jorge took but didn't have space for here in our 31 days. Today was one of those days, so we chose the bird I mentioned above - a double-lifer! The Rusty Blackbird had been seen at the fish hatchery earlier this week and we hoped it would still be around today - our lucky day. This was a new species for both of us and we had great views!

Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinus
Quinebaug Valley State Trout Hatchery, Plainville Connecticut