Category Archives: Birds of Prey

Yet more Osprey shots

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Photo by Chris Bosak A first-year Osprey sits on the top of a sailboat mast along the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A first-year Osprey sits on the top of a sailboat mast along the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

I had mentioned in the previous post that I was photographing a young Osprey on the top of a sailboat mast when I spotted another Osprey overhead carrying a fish in its talons. Naturally I was more excited about the Osprey carrying a fish so I posted that photo first.

So with that photo out of the way, here are some more Osprey photos that I have taken in the last week — yes, including a few of that young Osprey on the sailboat mast.

Photo by Chris Bosak An Osprey flies with a fish in its talons over the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An Osprey flies with a fish in its talons over the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak An Osprey sits near its nest on Fish's Island off the coast of Darien, Conn., in summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An Osprey sits near its nest on Fish’s Island off the coast of Darien, Conn., in summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak A first-year Osprey sits on the top of a sailboat mast along the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A first-year Osprey sits on the top of a sailboat mast along the Norwalk River in Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak An adult Osprey sits on a piling (left) as a first-year Osprey sits in a nest off the coast of Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An adult Osprey sits on a piling (left) as a first-year Osprey sits in a nest off the coast of Norwalk, Conn., summer 2015.

 

 

Osprey with fish. Can you name the fish?

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Photo by Chris Bosak An Osprey carries a fish along the Norwalk River in Norwalk, CT, summer 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An Osprey carries a fish along the Norwalk River in Norwalk, CT, summer 2015.

I’m pretty good with my birds, but only very average with my fish. I got this photo of an Osprey carrying a fish along the Norwalk River on Friday, Aug. 28, 2015. I was photographing a young Osprey on a sailboat mast when this older Osprey flew by with its prey. The younger Osprey looked up and gave a look as if to say: “I wish I could do that.” The youngster will learn soon enough.

It looks like a fairly good-sized fish, but honestly my fish ID skills are not up to par. Who knows what it is? Thanks for your input.

Good news about Connecticut Audubon Society’s ‘Osprey Nation’

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Photo by Chrisi Bosak An Osprey flies over Veterans Park in Norwalk, Conn., April 29, 2015.

Photo by Chrisi Bosak
An Osprey flies over Veterans Park in Norwalk, Conn., April 29, 2015.

Press release from Connecticut Audubon Society: 

Osprey Nation, the Connecticut Audubon Society’s citizen science program, has grown significantly in its second year, with more volunteer stewards documenting, mapping and monitoring considerably more nests than last year.

Statewide, 134 Connecticut residents are volunteering this nesting season to collect bi-weekly and monthly data on the state’s rapidly increasing Osprey population – 31 more volunteers than last year.

These Osprey Nation volunteers have found 492 nests in 2015, 78 more than last year’s 414 nests. They are monitoring 296 of those nests, 122 more than last year’s 174.

And although it can be difficult to observe the inside of distant nests on raised platforms, data submitted so far indicate that 94 pairs of Osprey Continue reading →

Did the Norwalk eagles have babies yet?

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Hour photo/Chris Bosak Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

Hour photo/Chris Bosak
Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

The answer is a definite “probably.”

I wrote my latest For the Birds column in The Hour newspaper (Norwalk, Conn.) about the topic.

Here’s the start of the column:

By CHRIS BOSAK
For the Birds

Now for the answer to the burning question in the Norwalk birding world: Most likely.

The question, of course, is: Did the Bald Eagles have babies yet?

Again, the answer is “most likely.” Without climbing the tree or somehow hovering above the tree on Chimon Island where the nest is located, it’s hard to tell with all certainty. Since no one is going to climb the tree or otherwise hover above it, it’s basically a waiting game.

The eagles are still out there and one is sitting on the nest at all times. You could see that from Calf Pasture Beach with a spotting scope or good pair of binoculars. In talking with Norwalk’s Larry Flynn, the eagles have been sitting on the nest long enough that eggs would have been laid and hatched by now. Flynn is monitoring the birds for the state DEEP.

The vantage point from Calf Pasture and, indeed, even closer from Long Island Sound, is such that only the adult eagle’s head and maybe part of its body is visible. There is no way to tell what, if anything, it is sitting on.

If there are actually eaglets in the nest, it will be several weeks until they are large enough to be seen in the nest. So we play the waiting the game. Hopefully our patience will pay off and eventually we’ll all get to see fledgings flying about Long

Click here for the rest.

Ospreys at Calf Pasture are back

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Photo by Chris Bosak An Osprey perches atop a light pole and is dwarfed by the huge lights at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Conn., in this April 20015 photo.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An Osprey perches atop a light pole and is dwarfed by the huge lights at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Conn., in this April 20015 photo.

The Osprey(s) at Calf Pasture Beach (Norwalk, Conn.) have returned. I saw one yesterday (Thursday) on top of a light pole next to the pole with the nest. The Ospreys have nested there for several years now and they are comfortable making their home above the bustling activity of the public beach.

I like how the bird _ a large bird of prey _ is dwarfed by the lights.

Connecticut Osprey and how you can help

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Photo by Chris Bosak An Osprey soars over the Norwalk River on Monday, Sept. 1, 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An Osprey soars over the Norwalk River on Monday, Sept. 1, 2014.

Here’s a recent column I wrote for The Hour newspaper in Norwalk, Conn. Most of the Osprey have returned to New England by now and Connecticut Audubon is once again holding its Osprey Nation program whereby citizens monitor the nests of “fish hawks.” There are now dozens of Osprey nests along Continue reading →

Yes, there are eagles out there

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Bald Eagle preches in a tree on Chimon Island off the coast of Norwalk, Conn., March 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Bald Eagle preches in a tree on Chimon Island off the coast of Norwalk, Conn., March 2015.

I tagged along with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officials and staff this week to confirm an active Bald Eagles’ nest on Chimon Island off the coast of Norwalk, Conn. The nest is visible from the coast with binoculars or a spotting scope, so we were all fairly certain of

Hour photo/Chris Bosak Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

Hour photo/Chris Bosak
Rick Potvin, manager of the Stewart B. McKinney NWR, holds a sign before it was posted on Chimon Island on Wednesday. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife officials were on the island to mark off areas to protect a bald eagle nest.

what we’d see anyway, but the confirmation has officially been made. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife staff posted more signage on the island and placed additional barriers to protect the eagles, which are safeguarded by state and federal laws.

Chimon Island is part of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge.

The laws, of course, do not protect the eagles against annoyed

Ospreys, so a battle may be pending. The eagles have taken over a nest that has been used by an Osprey pair for the last four years. The osprey haven’t returned from South America yet, so it could get interested when they do.

The photos aren’t great, I know, but they are indeed the eagles off the coast of Norwalk.

Here are links to some stories I wrote for The Hour newspaper regarding the eagles.

Bald Eagles may be nesting on Norwalk Island

For the Birds: Have the eagles landed?

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirms eagle nest on Chimon Island

A new eagles’ nest in town?

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Photo by Larry Flynn A pair of Bald Eagles flies over Veterans Park in Norwalk in March 2015.

Photo by Larry Flynn
A pair of Bald Eagles flies over Veterans Park in Norwalk in March 2015.

Here’s a story I did for today’s (Tuesday, March 17) The Hour newspaper in Norwalk, Conn. Norwalk is along the southwestern coast of Connecticut and, while on the surface does not seem an ideal place for eagles to nest, the coast and islands off the mainland offer perfect habitat. It is already home to more than a dozen Osprey nests. Now, hopefully the eagles will be successful there, too. Thanks to Larry Flynn for the above photo and keeping me abreast of this news.

Here’s the story:

By CHRIS BOSAK
Hour Staff Writer

NORWALK – The Norwalk Islands may play a part in the remarkable comeback of the Bald Eagle.

Over the last several weeks, a Bald Eagle pair has been exhibiting nesting behavior high atop a dead tree on Chimon Island, which is one of the Norwalk Islands and part of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge. The Bald Eagle has been making a strong comeback after being nearly eliminated from the contiguous United States.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Milan Bull, director of Connecticut Audubon, said. “Who would have thought this would happen several years ago? I think we’ll start seeing eagle nests in a lot of areas.”

Officials from Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge will visit the

To read the rest, click here.

Cooper’s Hawk eating squirrel

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Photo by Chris Bosak A young Cooper's Hawk eats a squirrel in southern New England in Feb. 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A young Cooper’s Hawk eats a squirrel in southern New England in Feb. 2015.

The other day I pulled into my driveway and noticed a clump of brown in my neighbor’s yard. Birders are trained to notice anything out of the ordinary in a scene because it just might be a bird. Often these days it ends up being a plastic bag stuck in a tree, but sure enough, sometimes it is a bird.

Such was the case the other day. That brown clump was a bird, a young Cooper’s Hawk to be exact. Not only that, but the bird was eating (a Gray Squirrel as it turns out.) Cooper’s Hawks eat mainly birds, but small mammals can also fall prey to these quick and agile birds.

I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. (Warning: If you don’t like the bloody side of nature, don’t click “continue reading.” Fair warning.)

Continue reading →

Peregrine Falcon visits in the cold

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Peregrine Falcon rests on the top of a sailboat mast during a frigid day in Feb. 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Peregrine Falcon rests on the top of a sailboat mast during a frigid day in Feb. 2015.

Wicked cold temperatures returned to New England on Monday. (“Wicked” is for all my Boston friends.)

The Peregrine Falcons that I see from my desk at work returned on Monday, too. They frequently visit the Yankee Doodle Bridge (I-95) and the sailboat masts near the building at which I work. I hadn’t seen them in a while, though. But on Monday, with everything frozen solid except for a few tiny pools of water kept open by bubblers near the boats, they returned.

My vantage point from the fourth floor affords me the opportunity to see when one of the falcons comes in for a landing on the sailboat mast. I noticed it swoop in gracefully Continue reading →