Death, taxes and bird photos from http://www.birdsofnewengland.com every time it snows. Yes, New England is getting another snow storm and here are some new bird photos to prove it.
Feel free to send me yours at birdsofnewengland@gmail.com. I’ll post them on this site.
I posted several photos of the cedar waxwings I saw last week following an overnight snowfall. Here are a few shots of another bird I saw that day among the snowy brush. Hermit thrushes are somewhat of a rare sighting during the winter in New England so I figured I’d give them their own post.
Cedar waxwings are a favorite bird of many people as they are one of the more interesting-looking birds we have in New England. Many people may wonder where it gets its unique name. As the photo shows, the wingtips look as if they are dipped in red wax, hence the name.
Here are a few more shots of the cedar waxwings I found during an early morning walk yesterday.
My first bird walk of the new year proved to be a good one. A fresh but thin blanket of snow covered southern New England on Monday morning making for a quintessential winter scene. I got up with the sun and headed to the nearest park. As I walked along a trail, a large flock of small birds settled into the tall, leafless trees around me. Before I could lift my binoculars to see what they were, they descended upon the berry-covered brush on either side of the trail. Cedar waxwings, lots of them — at least 100. Usually when something like this happens, I don’t have my camera with me for whatever reason. I was prepared this time. A good start to 2021.
Parts of New England got varying degrees of snow during this week’s storm. I got about a foot of the white stuff, but I’ve heard from friends throughout the region of much more and much less. At any rate, the birds came out to eat during and after the storm. Here’s proof.
More snow photos from the other day. Here’s a female cardinal sharing a platform feeder with a chickadee and a male looking sharp in his red plumage.
Quick facts: Did you know that fewer than 40 percent of cardinal nests actually fledge young? That’s according to the folks at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The Lab’s NestWatch team studied cardinals and came up with some interesting results. For instance, despite that low success rate, cardinals are a successful species overall. A long breeding season and occupying a variety of habitats are part of the reason.
The article on the NestWatch website also looks at why male cardinals are so darn colorful. Hint: Yes, it has to do with impressing female cardinals. Here’s a link to the insightful story.
After my latest bird column published in The Keene Sentinel this week, I received a few additional photos of barred owls from readers in SW New Hampshire. Funny how they are showing up on feeding poles so often.
Here is the column explaining the Year of the Barred Owl.
First (below) is the original photo I received and then two additional ones.
Here is a short series of photos showing a tufted titmouse contemplating and ultimately deciding to make off with a peanut, which looks comically large in the bird’s tiny bill. Good thing titmice don’t swallow their food whole.
My attempt to go live from my feeders today was, well, a learning experience. The video quality looked much better on my iPhone screen than how it translated onto the big screen next to me. Also, Facebook live makes you shoot vertically (not how you’re supposed to do it!) so the first several minutes appeared sideways. Who knew?
The birds were fairly cooperative during the 15-minute live shoot. A group of pine siskins covered the tube feeder while mourning doves, titmice, chickadees, goldfinches, juncos, downy woodpeckers, and white-breasted nuthatches visited the various other feeders. A song sparrow, an irregular visitor at my feeders anyway, also showed up and took seeds from the platform feeder.
What was somewhat expected but didn’t show up were blue jays, cardinals, and red-bellied woodpeckers.
I guess it’s time to look into a new camera capable of streaming live video. The iPhone just didn’t cut it – at least for this experiment. Thanks to those who did tune in. Next time will be better.
In the meantime, here are some more photos from the action Continue reading
Birds of New England.com 