Author Archives: Chris Bosak

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About Chris Bosak

Bird columnist and nature photographer based in New England.

Get ready for the storm! Send me your photos

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Dark-eyed Junco eats a sunflower seedsthe day following a snow storm in New England, Jan. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Dark-eyed Junco eats a sunflower seedsthe day following a snow storm in New England, Jan. 2016.

A snow storm is coming to New England. It makes for one of my favorite times to photograph birds in the backyard and beyond.

If you haven’t already, fill your feeders. You don’t want to wake up to several inches of snow and realize your feeders aren’t filled. Do it now, even in the dark. I just got done with mine. Sunflower seeds, suet cakes, bark butter and peanut nuggets. I also filled a sizable Tupperware container with seeds and brought it inside. That way I can toss some seeds out the window tomorrow at various times as the snow comes down. Many birds will eat seeds off the ground during these storms.

Please send me any photos you get tomorrow (Thursday) during the storm. I’ll post them on this site. It’s not a photo competition; just for fun. Send them to bozclark@earthlink.net.

Thanks and enjoy the storm.

 

Latest For the Birds column: Little birds make up “The Big Three”

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Here is the latest For the Birds column, which runs weekly in several New England newspapers.

A White-breasted Nuthatch perches near a birdfeeding station in Danbury, Conn., Oct. 2016.

A White-breasted Nuthatch perches near a birdfeeding station in Danbury, Conn., Oct. 2016.

I call them the Big Three.

In order to make it easier to keep track of the number of bird species I see in my backyard, I lump together black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches and tufted titmice. They count, of course, as three different species, but it’s just easier to group them.

On any given day I can count on seeing those three birds. Cardinals, downy woodpeckers, juncos, white-throated sparrows and mourning doves are nearly as reliable in the winter, but The Big Three just seem to logically belong together.

Continue reading →

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, bird style

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Well, the Falcon part is easy. The Patriot part is a bit more difficult. But I guess you have to go with the bald eagle if you are going to try to represent both Super Bowl teams with a bird.

So tonight we have:

 

Photo by Chris Bosak A young Peregrine Falcon flies overhead in Norwalk, CT, Dec. 2013.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A young Peregrine Falcon flies overhead in Norwalk, CT, Dec. 2013.

Falcons 

vs. 

Patriots

Photo by Chris Bosak A Bald Eaglea fies over Little Merganser Lake in Danbury, Conn., Sept. 2016.

 

 

Have fun tonight.

Birding quiz answer; yes, the majority got it right

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quiz

I should know better than to try to fool my viewers. Once again you passed the birding quiz with flying colors as 56 percent of you got the right answer. It is a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It it colored nothing like the flashy male, but the overall shape and bill size and shape are similar to the male.

Good job everyone! Til next time …

Easy birding quiz for your winter weekend

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quiz

Here’s an easy birding quiz to warm up this cold New England weekend. (I shouldn’t say it’s easy. I wouldn’t have known it when I first starting birding.)

Two hints:

  1. It’s not a seasonal appropriate photo. (They aren’t around these parts in the winter.)
  2. Remember many birds are sexually dimorphic.

So what it is it?

Latest For the Birds column: Owls of winter

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Jeannie Merwin of Marlow got this shot of a Barred Owl in her yard. She said the owl returns to her yard every January.

Jeannie Merwin of Marlow got this shot of a Barred Owl in her yard. She said the owl returns to her yard every January.

Here’s the latest For the Birds column, which runs in several New England newspapers:

…

I’ve never had great luck finding owls, but I always enjoy hearing when other people do.

Such was the case last week when New Hampshire resident Jeannie Merwin let me know that the Barred Owl that returns to her yard each year on Jan. 1 was a few days late and arrived on Jan. 4. She sent a great photo of the beautiful bird and added another photo of the owl with a Downy Woodpecker and Black-capped Chickadee also in the frame. So much for the big, bad owl.

Imagine having an owl show up at your yard like clockwork each year. I would look forward to it months ahead of time.

Barred Owls are one of New England’s most common owls, along with Great-horned Owls and Eastern Screech Owls. In my years of watching birds in this region, I’ve had decent luck finding Barred Owls, poor luck finding Great-horned Owls and almost no luck finding Eastern Screech Owls. Lucky and observant birdwatchers may also find Northern Saw-whet Owls and Barn Owls in New England.

Winter brings sightings of Snowy Owls, Long-eared Owls and Short-eared Owls and the very rare sightings of Great Gray Owls or Northern Hawk Owls. I’ve seen my share Continue reading →

Latest For the Birds column: Keep an eye out for rarities

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Here is the latest For the Birds column, which runs in several newspapers in New England.

Photo by David Hoitt This Varied Thrush has been seen in Swanzey since Dec. 12.

Photo by David Hoitt
This Varied Thrush has been seen in Swanzey since Dec. 12.

Different seasons bring their own rarities.

Rarities, for the purpose of this column, are birds that are typically not seen in our region. It is not necessarily a bird that is rarely seen – it may be quite common in other parts of the country or world – but rather a bird that only every once in a while ventures into New England for one reason or another. In fact, it can also be a typical New England bird, but just seen in a season in which it is usually far away from here.

Winter is a good time for rarities because they stick out so much better. There are only so many birds that haven’t migrated for us to look at in winter, so when something different appears, it really sticks out.

Participants in the annual Christmas Bird Counts crave rarities. The point of the volunteer bird census is to count all the birds they see to contribute to a long-running data base so ornithologists can track bird population trends. There is no competition involved; no awards given. But the unwritten and unspoken truth is: CBC participants want to tally more species than the other counts held throughout the state.

So when a rarity shows up a week or two before Continue reading →

More Blue Jays at the feeder taking peanuts

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Blue Jay grabs a peanut from a feeder in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Blue Jay grabs a peanut from a feeder in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

Here are a few more shots of the Blue Jays eating peanuts from the feeder that my friend Lorna gave me. Click here for more of that story.

I don’t know why, but I get a kick out of watching birds carrying away whole peanuts.

Photo by Chris Bosak A Blue Jay grabs a peanut from a feeder in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Blue Jay grabs a peanut from a feeder in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

Chipping Sparrow with crest raised

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Chipping Sparrow raises its crest while standing on a log in Danbury, Conn., summer2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Chipping Sparrow raises its crest while standing on a log in Danbury, Conn., summer2016.

Here are a few more leftover photos from 2016. I like these photos because they show an interesting bird behavior.

My new home in the woods is popular among Chipping Sparrows. They are very common in the immediate area, much to my delight. They visit my feeders and hang out among my trees.

Sometimes, however, one gets agitated about something or another. Maybe my cat got out and was around; maybe Blue Jays or crows were around; maybe it knew I was close by with a camera. Whatever the reason, this guy or girl wasn’t happy at the moment.

Photo by Chris Bosak A Chipping Sparrow raises its crest while standing on a log in Danbury, Conn., summer2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Chipping Sparrow raises its crest while standing on a log in Danbury, Conn., summer2016.

More photos leftover from 2016: Male and female downies

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Photo by Chris Bosak A male Downy Woodpecker eats from a homemade platform feeder in Danbury, Conn., fall 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A male Downy Woodpecker eats from a homemade platform feeder in Danbury, Conn., fall 2016.

Here are a few more photos that I took in 2016 that never saw the light of day. These photos are good for showing the difference between male and female Downy Woodpeckers. With many woodpeckers, the male shows more red than the female. In the case of the downy (and hairy), the female lack red altogether.

Photo by Chris Bosak A female Downy Woodpecker eats from a homemade platform feeder in Danbury, Conn., fall 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A female Downy Woodpecker eats from a homemade platform feeder in Danbury, Conn., fall 2016.