Most of the flowers in my gardens have long wilted and disappeared, even though this has been a mild autumn by New England standards.
The coneflower and Black-eyed Susan heads are still available for goldfinches and kinglets but the colorful pedals are gone. Well, mostly gone. Here are a few die-hards still hanging in there. Feel free to share your New England mid-November garden photos.
Pincushion
Dianthus
Black-eyed Susan
Finally, coneflower.
Here’s my For the Birds column from last week. Another big Snowy Owl irruption year? We’ll see …
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Snowy Owl flies across the beach at The Coastal Center at Milford Point in early March 2014.
The historic Snowy Owl irruption of the 2013-14 winter is still fresh in many people’s minds. I know it’s still on the top of my mind. Could we be in store for another one this winter?
We’ll have to wait and see, of course, but if what is happening in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan already is any indication, the chances are pretty good. We’ve barely turned the calendar over to November and sightings in those states are booming. Typically it is mid to late November when the Snowy Owls start showing up.
The Snowy Owl that delighted hundreds of visitors at Calf Pasture Beach in 2008, however, showed up in early November. This year the sightings in the Midwest came even earlier, starting as early as Oct. 20, according to the folks at eBird. eBird is an online database of bird sightings with much of the data submitted by citizen scientists.
Here’s an email I received recently from The Cornell Lab or Ornithology. With my new home buzzing with bird activity, I’m going to join this important citizen science project this year. Here are the details should you be thinking about it, too, or learning of the project for the first time here:
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Here’s the view from my office desk today. I didn’t get much writing done. Tomorrow I’ll write ….
Photo by Chris Bosak
Pine Warblers squabble over a birdfeeder in Danbury, Conn., during fall 2015.
Last post about the Pine Warblers that visited my feeders recently, I promise. I did an original post and followed that up with a post that included several more photos. I’ll conclude with my favorite (previously unpublished) photo I took of the warblers.
The warblers were there for a total of three days. On day one it was one Pine Warbler, on day two it was three and on day three it was back to only one. At one point all three landed on the feeder at once. From the photo above, you can tell they didn’t like sharing.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Pine Warbler sits on a deck railing in New England this fall.
I posted some photos last week of Pine Warblers that visited my feeders. It was a nice sighting because warblers typically do not visit feeders. If you do get lucky enough to have warblers visit your feeding station, it’s usually Pine Warblers in the fall. I was fortunate enough to have three visit this fall. To complement those photos, here are some more … Continue reading
The snow, ice and freezing temperatures are on the way, but until then, New England has this …
Photo by Chris Bosak
Fall colors at Little Merganser Lake in Connecticut, fall 2015.
More photos below.
Here’s a video of a canoe ride I took this morning (Oct. 20, 2015) on Merganser Lake in Connecticut. Again, slow bird day but nice fall colors.
I stepped away from the feeders, which were bustling with the usual suspects, and took a quick walk to Little Merganser Lake. The birding activity was nothing to write home about, or write a blog post about for that matter, but the fall colors were pretty spectacular.
It was in the 30s this morning. The water in the birdbath was frozen. Later in the week it is supposed to be in the 70s. That’s New England for you.
(More photos below)
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Pine Warbler visits a feeder in New England in fall 2015.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Pine Warbler visits a feeder in New England, fall 2015.
Never at any of my former homes where I’ve maintained birdfeeders had I seen a warbler at the feeder. A few weeks at Merganser Lake and today alone I had three.
Birds of New England.com 