Author Archives: Chris Bosak

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About Chris Bosak

Bird columnist and nature photographer based in New England.

Snow goose concludes Duck Week

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Photo by Chris Bosak Snow goose in New England, March 2025.

I know, same as yesterday, geese are not ducks. They are close enough for this very unofficial birdsofnewengland.com Duck Week celebration. Snow geese gather in massive numbers in some parts of the Atlantic flyway. In many cases, they are uncountable because there are so many. In other parts, however, snow geese are a fairly rare sighting. I live in a part of New England where snow geese are not seen often. In fact, this one I saw at a beach was the first one I had seen in years. Usually, when they are seen where I live, it is a single snow goose within a flock of Canada geese. This one, however, was alone near the beach. I hope it finds more of its kind during migration.

Click here for more information about the snow goose.

Thanks for checking out Duck Week at http://www.birdsofnewengland.com

Brant continue Duck Week

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Photo by Chris Bosak Brant in New England, March 2025.

I know, geese aren’t ducks. But they’re close enough for Duck Week. Brant may be found in huge numbers along the coast of Long Island Sound during the winter. From a distance, or to the untrained eye, they may be mistaken for Canada geese. Closer inspection reveals that brant are much smaller and lack the pronounced chin strap of the Canada goose. Brant are a treat to observe each winter in New England.

For more information on brant, click here.

Photo by Chris Bosak Brant on Long Island Sound, March 2025.

Scaup continue Duck Week

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Photo by Chris Bosak
Lesser scaup drake in a river bay in New England, March 2025.

Scaup congregate in large numbers off the coast of Long Island Sound and its tributary rivers during the winter months. The flocks can be several hundred individuals strong, including drakes and hens. On occasion, a redhead may be found within the flock. Greater and lesser scaup are commonly seen in large numbers throughout New England in the winter.

Click here for more information about the greater scaup.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Scaup in a river bay in New England, March 2025.

Ring-necked duck continues Duck Week

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Photo by Chris Bosak Male ring-necked ducks swim in a pond in New England, March 2025.

The ring-necked duck is next up for birdsofnewengland.com’s Duck Week. This duck may have been better suited to being called ring-billed duck because the ring on its bill is a much easier field mark to see than the one on its neck. But it isn’t, so we’re stuck with ring-necked duck. Just like the hooded merganser, which kicked off Duck Week on Monday, I’ve seen a ton of ring-necked ducks this winter. They were seemingly on every unfrozen fresh-water body a few weeks ago.

For more information on the ring-necked duck, click here.

Photo by Chris Bosak Male ring-necked ducks swim in a pond in New England, March 2025.

Northern pintail continues “Duck Week”

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Photo by Chris Bosak Northern pintail pair at a pond in New England, March 2025.

The northern pintail is the next fowl up for birdsofnewengland’s Duck Week, a very unofficial declaration made by me because I have a lot of recent duck photos that need to be shared. Pintail drakes are one of the most handsome ducks we have in New England. If you missed the first Duck Week post, click here to meet the hooded merganser.

For more information about the northern pintail, click here.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Here is that pintail pair with an American wigeon pair swimming behind them, March 2025.

Hooded merganser kicks off “Duck Week”

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Photo by Chris Bosak Male hooded merganser in New England, March 2025.

Welcome to Duck Week, birdsofnewengland.com’s very unofficial declaration to celebrate the spring duck migration. Duck Week will be a collection of duck photos I have snapped over the last few weeks. Now seems like a good time, as I’m starting to see fewer ducks as they make their way north to their breeding grounds.

I’ll start with the hooded merganser, one of my favorite birds of all time. I saw a ton of hooded mergansers this late winter/early spring. Look for them in fresh or brackish water, including relatively small bodies of water.

Click here for more information on the hooded merganser.

Photo by Chris Bosak Female hooded merganser, March 2025.

One more bonus photo …

Photo by Chris Bosak Two male hooded mergansers pass each other in a small pond in New England, March 2025.

For the Birds: Good and bad news in latest State of the Birds Report

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The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and other bird conservation organizations released the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds Report last week. Not surprisingly, the news was rather somber and highlighted alarming decreases in bird populations over the last 50 years. 

It largely echoes the 2019 study that showed the loss of three billion birds in North America since 1970. Unfortunately, the news has gotten worse for many birds in the five years since that landmark study.

Rather than recapping the press release here, I wanted to point out some of the figures that jumped out at me personally. The full news release may be found online by searching for “2025 U.S. State of the Birds Report” or by visiting birdsofnewengland.com. 

Like many studies, there is good news and bad news to be found. This study, sadly, is mostly bad news, but we’ll take a look at both sides.

It’s good news that 489 (68 percent) of the assessed bird species are listed as low concern. That doesn’t necessarily mean that these species are increasing or thriving; in fact, many are declining in number, but they haven’t reached the threshold for priority conservation planning.

Continue reading →

Bald eagle in flight

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Photo by Chris Bosak Bald eagle in New England, March 2025.

Saw this beauty the other day in New England by a reservoir. It’s so nice to see bald eagles more frequently now.

For the Birds: Odd ducks are fun to find

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Redhead swims alongside a Ring-necked Duck in Darien in March 2014.

It’s always good to know where a little open water exists.

Whether the water doesn’t freeze during the winter because of a dam, waterfall, fountain or otherwise, these spots are great for duck watching on even the coldest of days. In fact, the coldest days may be the best time to visit these spots, as very little open water exists elsewhere, and the ducks concentrate in these little oases.

I find it interesting when different species of ducks that usually are not found together congregate in these pools of open water. I’ve seen huge rafts of scaup on Long Island Sound and some large lakes throughout the Northeast. The ducks usually stick with their own kind on these large bodies of water. But when a freeze forces them to find open water, it is not uncommon to see scaups swimming among goldeneyes, buffleheads and redheads.

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State of the Birds rings some alarms

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Below is the press release (without edits or opinion from me) for the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds report. Commentary will come in a later post. …

The release of the 2025 U.S. State of the Birds report was announced today (Thursday, March 13, 2025) at the 90th annual North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The report, produced by a coalition of leading science and conservation organizations, reveals continued widespread declines in American bird populations across all mainland and marine habitats, with 229 species requiring urgent conservation action. The report comes five years after the landmark 2019 study that documented the loss of 3 billion birds in North America over 50 years.

Key findings from the new report show that more than one-third of U.S. bird species are of high or moderate conservation concern, including 112 Tipping Point species that have lost more than 50% of their populations in the last 50 years. That includes 42 red-alert species facing perilously low populations, such as Allen’s Hummingbird, Tricolored Blackbird, and Saltmarsh Sparrow—birds that are at risk without immediate intervention. 

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