There was a great turnout at yesterday’s bird walk at Oak Hills Park in Norwalk. It is a beautiful park and the folks involved with the nature trail area of it should be proud of their work. It was a decent turnout for the birds as well, highlighted by a very cooperative scarlet tanager. I’ll post more photos and a more complete species list later.
If you’re in the area …
A recent walk in block 91A (my area of the Connecticut Bird Atlas) yielded even more eastern towhees than my walk last week. At one point I saw a female eastern towhee carrying a lump of straw in her bill. Good sign!
Later in my walk, after seeing a beautiful coyote cross the trail and disappear into the woods, I saw my first yellow warbler of the year. Yellow warblers are one of the more ubiquitous warblers in New England as they both migrate through and stay to breed Continue reading
Well, it’s cold and rainy in New England … at least it’s not snowing like it is in some parts of the country.
With that said, here are some thoughts of the warm weather ahead and what we can expect to see in our New England yards and woods soon. (Many people are already seeing the rose-breasted grosbeaks and indigo buntings.)
Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you’re Continue reading
I’ve been lucky enough this week to have seen six of the woodpeckers that live in New England. In fact, early in the week I had for the first time a yellow-bellied sapsucker at my feeder. It made two quick visits to a suet feeder and disappeared for good.
The species I saw were downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, northern flicker, red-bellied woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker and pileated woodpecker. Those are the most commonly seen woodpeckers in New England. Red-headed woodpeckers are seen on occasion and a few species (black-backed and three-toed) require a trip to far northern New England to see.
Songbirds, such as warblers and grosbeaks, steal the show during spring, but woodpeckers Continue reading
My foot was feeling up for a short, relatively non-taxing walk yesterday (Thursday) so I grabbed a walking stick and hit a trail. The aching foot enhanced the walk in one fashion as it made me slow down and take in all the sights and sounds of the spring New England woods. Too often when I walk I’m rushing to a destination or point of interest (pond or open field) and don’t take the time to fully absorb all that is around me. Not that I’m hoping the foot keeps hurting, but that was the silver lining in this latest bout of tendonitis.
It was still a bit early for a big warbler count — blue-winged and black-and-white were the only warbler species I found — but eastern towhees were numerous. I’ll expand on the eastern towhee in an upcoming post, but this large sparrow is one of my favorites. The calls and songs of the towhee filled the edge of the woods and I noticed several pairs, which bodes well for a strong breeding season (hopefully.) Above is the male eastern towhee and below is the female. The female is duller in color, but still a striking bird.
I’m still hobbled with tendinitis in my foot so I don’t have any exciting spring migration tales to share or fresh warbler photos to post. I do, however, have a ton of photos to share from a recent trip to Florida. Sure, they are not genuine New England birds but they’re still awesome.
Savanna, Andrew and I spent last week in Florida for Andrew’s spring break. My brother recently retired to Naples and we visited Ed & Deb, as well as my niece Jessy (Ed’s daughter) & Kyle and their beautiful new daughter Raelynn. Yes, that makes me a great uncle for those scoring at home. Yikes!
There wasn’t a ton of time for bird walks, but Ed, Savanna and I did sneak in a few expeditions to the Everglades and local Naples parks. Here are some shots from the trip, jammed into one big blog post.
Back to New England later this week.
And, of course …
I’m laid up with a bum foot on this gorgeous New England spring day (grrrrrr) so tromping through the woods looking for warblers is out of the question. Some colorful visitors, however, have come to the feeders to keep me company. It’s been a finchy day with goldfinches (in bright summer garb) and house finches stopping by. I’m on the lookout for some purple finches.
Since I’m temporarily out of commission, let me know what spring birds you are seeing out there.
Wishing you a great Easter from http://www.birdsofnewengland.com
Coming soon to Birds of New England: photos from a recent visit to Florida and updates and photos of the ongoing spring migration in New England. Warblers and other songbirds are here. Feel free to let me know what you’re seeing out there.
Birders have to follow through on the blotches in the distance.
Usually they end up being plastic bags or Mylar balloons stuck in trees, odd-looking knots on tree trunks or some other strange objects that look out of place. Sometimes, though, they end up being birds, which is why we birders have to do our diligence.
One summer morning while canoeing at Pillsbury State Park, I was excited to see a great horned owl sitting at the edge of the pond. Strange place for a great horned owl, I thought as I continued to slowly paddle in for a closer look.
I closed the distance substantially, and the owl remained at the pond’s edge, looking right at me. I slowly got my camera ready and continued drifting toward the large bird. I lifted the camera to my face and zoomed in, ready to capture my best owl images to date.
As I zoomed in I realized something rather embarrassing. My great horned owl was actually the top of a dead tree at the edge of the pond. This tree was a dead ringer for an owl, complete with ear tufts, eyes and rounded body.
I laughed out loud and was thankful no one else was around to witness my buffoonery.
My stories of mistaking plastic grocery bags for hawks along highway roads are practically endless. Mylar balloons are another oft-seen “bird” in the trees.
Last week, though, I was rewarded by following through on a blotch in the distance. It didn’t turn out to be a rarity or a new bird for me, but it was nice just the same to have a blotch actually turn out to be a bird — a black-crowned night heron, to be exact.
I was driving along one side of a pond in southern Connecticut when I stopped at a stop sign to turn right, away from the pond. As I glanced left to check for oncoming cars, I noticed something gray and upright at the far edge of the pond. I figured it was a stick or large piece of trash. I turned right and started driving away from the pond, but the possibility of the object actually being a bird kept nagging at me.
I hit the brakes, found the next safe place to turn around and returned to the pond. A stone wall prevented me from seeing the edge of the pond where I had previously seen the object. I parked, walked to the pond and found the black-crowned night heron standing in the same exact spot where I had seen it before.
I watched it for a couple of minutes as it stood deadly still, as all waders are so adept at doing. Finally it took two slow, careful steps and plunged its bill into the water. It pulled out a painted turtle and immediately returned the prey to the water.
I grabbed a few photographs — they all turned out lousy as the bird was in a heavily shaded area — and started to return to the car when something else caught my eye. It was a big white object on the far side of the pond. I knew immediately that this object was a great egret, not just a blotch.
As I walked toward the egret, I wondered how I missed it the first time I had driven by the pond. I stood behind a tree watching the impressive white bird stalk the pond’s edge as it lunged its head into the water. The egret caught a small sunfish — much easier prey for a bird to handle than a turtle — and adjusted the fish in its bill before finishing the meal.
I’ve seen plenty of black-crowned night herons and great egrets in my life, but I was happy to see the birds that day. I was glad my instincts paid off and convinced me to turn the car around.
Actually seeing real birds made up for a few of those plastic bag “bird” sightings that I’ve had over the years.
Birds of New England.com 