Category Archives: For the Birds column

For the Birds: Long live the butterbutt

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Photo by Chris Bosak
Yellow-rumped (Audubon’s) warbler just south of Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.

It has one of the better nicknames in the birding world: butterbutt.

It makes perfect sense too because the yellow butt is a key field mark. Of course, it’s the yellow-rumped warbler, one of New England’s most commonly seen warblers. There are fall days when I’ll see dozens of butterbutts and hardly anything else, except for maybe a few palm warblers.

Yellow-rumped warblers can be tricky in the fall, however, as the flocks are a mixed bag of adult males and females and first-year males and females. All four varieties look fairly similar this time of year.

In the spring, we have adult males and adult females coming up from the south, and they look completely different from each other with males sporting an attractive mix of bluish gray, white, black and yellow. In the fall, they are all much duller than they are in the spring.

Their trademark and namesake is the yellow patch on their rump, which is visible at rest and in flight in all seasons. They also have small yellow patches on their sides. The western subspecies also has a yellow throat while the eastern subspecies sports a white throat.

The yellow-rumped warbler is an interesting study in bird names and splits. It used to be considered two separate species: Audubon’s warbler and myrtle warbler, which are now each considered subspecies of the yellow-rumped warbler. That change took place in 1973. There has been talk for years about splitting them again, but that hasn’t happened yet.

To add to the confusion, there are two more forms of the yellow-rumped warbler: black-fronted from Mexico and Goldman’s of Guatemala. I’ve never seen one in person, but from photos, the Goldman’s form looks like a really cool bird that is mostly black with yellow and white markings.

To add even more confusion, the Audubon’s and myrtle subspecies interbreed where their ranges cross somewhere around the Rocky Mountains. It was there where I saw dozens of yellow-rumps during a recent trip to Grand Teton National Park. It being fall, it was difficult to tell males from females and adults from immatures, but they were definitely yellow-rumped warblers. Whether they were the Audubon’s or myrtle subspecies is another question. I believe they were Audubon’s based on the yellow throats.

Who knows when or if the split will take place again. In the last few years, the American Ornithologists’ Union seems to be on a splitting kick. I wrote recently about the splitting of the warbling vireo, house wren and yellow warbler ─ all common New England birds.

In a way, I’d prefer the bird to remain a single species. Yellow-rumped warbler is much more fun to say than Audubon’s warbler or myrtle warbler. Either way, butterbutt remains a fitting nickname, so there’s that.

For the Birds: Big animals highlight trip out west

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Photo by Chris Bosak
Bull moose in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.

If the trip took place somewhere in New England, I would get a year’s worth of columns out. But, since the trip took place far from New England, I’ll jam it all into one column.

I took a trip early this fall to Montana, Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. The goal was to see and photograph moose, elk, bison, pronghorn and bighorn sheep. I was fairly confident about getting elk, bison and pronghorn. My recent lack of luck finding moose in New England made me uncertain about seeing moose out there. I also thought bighorn sheep may be a stretch.

At the end of the trip, I got better moose photos than I ever thought I would, many solid elk photos, a few bison photos but far less than I had thought, a few pronghorn and no bighorn sheep.

The moose photos, of course, were the most exhilarating. I met a group of professional wildlife photographers, and they allowed me to tag along to their secret moose locations. At one point, we watched a bull moose and two cow moose bedded down for more than two hours. We kept a safe and respectable distance away and did not alter the animals’ behavior.

Prior to meeting the professionals, my photo opportunities had been limited to subjects far away and sharing the space with 100 or more other people who had pulled off to the side of the road to see what people were looking at. It was after the summer season, but the parks were still crowded. The campgrounds were full (I had made reservations ahead of time), and the parking lots for popular hikes were overflowing to the point of people parking on the side of the road for nearly a mile in each direction.

Keeping up with the professional photographers was not easy as we hit the woods well before first light, crossed swift-moving streams, bushwhacked through the brush and tried to find each other by following a GPS pin on our phones. The scout of the group was in the woods at 4:30 a.m. with infrared binoculars. It was worth it though. One morning, we watched three cows, three calves and one bull walking in a field. Bulls are notorious for fighting during the rut (fall breeding season), but we saw two cows with their calves cross paths and square off. The altercation lasted about two seconds and consisted of each cow raising onto their hind legs, kind of like when a horse rears, and moving on their way.

It was great to be among moose again. The New England moose population has taken a serious hit from winter ticks and brainworm and they are becoming more difficult to find. For me anyway, a trip to northern New England in the late 1990s would yield a dozen or more moose sightings. Now, it’s been years since I’ve seen a single moose on my trips up north.

The other wildlife highlights in Grand Teton were a coyote hunting in a field and a grizzly bear mother and cub. The bear sighting was nice, of course, but park rangers kept visitors quite a distance away. There was also a huge crowd of people clamoring for a peek.

Then it was northward into Yellowstone on my way to Mammoth with a quick stop to see Old Faithful do its thing. It was around Old Faithful where I had my only bison sightings. I thought I’d see great herds of bison and eventually get tired of seeing them, but I saw only about five lone bulls in total. I did get one photo of a bison with the hot springs near Old Faithful steaming in the background.

Mammoth Campground, on the other hand, was filled with elk. One bull lorded over his harem, which consisted of 30 or more cows and calves. The cows and calves walked among the campground as if it were the most normal thing in the world. They had no fear of humans and were just part of the landscape. At one point, I sat at the picnic table at my site and six elk walked around me like I wasn’t even there. In the evening, the bull started bugling, and everyone (including me) grabbed their cameras and rushed toward the noise.

I saw several pronghorns along the side of the highways, particularly on the drive from Montana to Idaho. Pronghorns are commonly called pronghorn antelope, but they are not officially antelope and are their own distinct species. They are the fastest land animal in North America, reaching speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. They also look completely different than any other animal in the U.S. and look as if they belong on the African savanna instead.

Oh yeah. There were some birds to be seen as well. Among the notable birds were bald eagles, mountain bluebirds, tons of yellow-rumped warblers, yellow-headed blackbirds, redheads, American coots, horned grebes, sandhill cranes, white pelicans, and magpies–lots and lots of magpies.

I could go on and on, of course, but I like to keep this column focused on New England as much as possible. Feel free to visit my other posts on this site for more photos of the trip.

For the Birds: Veery and wood thrush share the title

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A veery stakes out territory in New England, spring 2025.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A wood thrush sings from a branch in New England.

I wrote back in early July that the veery had taken the lead as the Bird of Summer, my very unofficial designation that goes to the bird that I see most frequently, or at least more frequently than usual.

With summer now over, I can officially—or unofficially—name the Bird of Summer. The veery and wood thrush share the distinction. Early in the summer, I saw and heard veeries on every walk. In the middle of summer and into late summer, it was the wood thrush that stood out more. I didn’t always find the often-secretive bird, but I certainly heard the unmistakable flute-like song way more often than I usually do.

It was encouraging to hear the wood thrush so often, as they are one of the many birds that have experienced a sharp population decline in recent decades.

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For the Birds: Spotted lanternflies coming to your town next?

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Photo by Chris Bosak
Author Chris Bosak holds a spotted lanternfly in southern New England, summer 2026.

NOTE: This column was originally written for newspapers in New Hampshire, which has not yet been subjected to an invasion of these insects.

Coming to a town near you? Let’s hope not.

So far, the middle and northern parts of New England have largely been spared of the spotted lanternfly. Let’s hope that continues, but I have a feeling those dastardly insects may work their way up into at least the middle of New England.

My reasoning is as follows:

In the summer and fall of 2023, my son played for the St. Frances Academy high school football team in Baltimore, Maryland. I traveled back and forth from Maryland about a dozen times.

One particular beautiful early fall day in downtown Baltimore, I walked with friends to check out some sites and find a good place to eat. Out of nowhere, something bapped me right in the forehead. What the heck was that? 

The offender lay at my feet. I can’t remember if it was stunned or dead. Either way, it was a spotted lanternfly. If you are not familiar with spotted lanternflies, they are invasive insects native to Asia. They feed on the sap of a wide variety of plants, causing severe agricultural and ecological damage. They are now pervasive in ….

They are not flies, despite their name, and they are not moths, despite their resemblance. Rather, they are a planthopper-type of insect.

The bap to the forehead knocked some awareness into me, and I suddenly realized those things were all over the place. On the sidewalks, on the buildings, on the trees. Everywhere.

Baltimore was infested with them. I didn’t know much about the species at the time, but I recall that I had at least heard of them and knew they were not desirable. I also recalled that the guidance at the time was to swash them on sight.

Squashing them proved to be more difficult than I would have thought. They are surprisingly quick. My stomping foot often came up empty as the insects utilized their spring-loaded back legs to propel themselves and fly or glide to safety.

Fast forward three years, and the spotted lanternfly is now infesting parts of southern New England, namely Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. I was in southern Connecticut recently and spotted lanternflies were numerous. It didn’t reach the infestation levels I had observed in Baltimore, but even a short walk yielded several sightings. A glance out the window more often than not resulted in at least one sighting.

New Hampshire would be next if the lanternfly maintains its northward movement. In fact, officials in New Hampshire recorded its first sighting last month in Salem. From what I could find and as of this writing, there haven’t been any confirmed sightings in Vermont.

Are the Twin States next? I guess we’ll see in the years to come. Perhaps even next year.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but spotted lanternflies would be pretty cool to have around if they were native and beneficial instead of invasive and destructive. Adult lanternflies are about an inch long (fairly large compared to most insects in New England) with pinkish or gray wings covered in black spots. When in flight, the bright red hindwings (also adorned with black dots) offer a flash of color.

In the life stages leading up to adulthood, lanternflies are black with white spots and then red and black with white spots.

Birds have helped control the invasion somewhat. From what I’ve read, birds such as cardinals, blue jays, catbirds, and woodpeckers have been seen preying upon them. Interestingly, chickens seem to love them. Although spotted lanternflies damage a variety of trees and shrubs, their preferred food source is tree of heaven, another invasive native of Asia. This may make the insects bitter and undesirable to some predators.

Here’s hoping the northward march of the spotted lanternfly stops in southern New England. It will be an interesting story to follow in the years ahead.

If you find a spotted lanternfly, report the sighting at www.nhbugs.org/reporting-form.

For the Birds: Towhee saves the quest

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Photo by Chris Bosak – An eastern towhee perches on a tree branch in New England, August 2026.

I got home at 6 o’clock in the evening and had two hours of daylight left.

Did I have enough time to change and get to the park for a bird walk? Or should I sit around the house and do nothing?

I wouldn’t be writing a bird column about that evening if I chose the latter, so yes, I decided I did have enough time to look for some birds before it got dark.

It had been a long time since I had taken a decent bird photo, so my goal was to get one on this walk despite not having a lot of time. I didn’t care what bird it was, I just wanted to capture a good image. 

As I pulled into the parking lot, I started making odds in my head about what bird would present itself for a good photo opportunity first. I was about 90 percent sure it would be a catbird. They are reliable sightings all throughout the summer and often are not shy about being seen. If not a catbird, I thought, perhaps a song sparrow, mourning dove or cardinal. But catbird was definitely my best shot, I figured.

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For the Birds: Female birds have a more subtle beauty

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A female bobolink perches in a field in Brookfield, Connecticut, summer 2026.

Every spring I head out to the same field to photograph bobolinks.

I know the hotspots to find them and wait patiently on the trails that cut through the fields for one to perch within reach of my zoom lens.

Even as I write this, several months after my latest adventure, I am picturing a male bobolink with its amazing black and white plumage accented by a large yellow patch on the back of his head. New England boasts many colorful birds, especially in the spring, and bobolinks certainly fit that bill.

As I was walking out of the field, I noticed a female bobolink perched among the tall grasses. I stopped in my tracks and snapped several photos of the willing subject. She didn’t have the striking colors or patterns of the male, but she had a subtle, understated beauty nonetheless. 

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology describes the female bobolink as “warm buffy brown, streaked with dark brown on the back and flanks, and bold brown stripes on the crown.” That sounds about right. It must be a tough job having to write descriptions of brownish birds and capturing the subtle beauty they each possess.

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For the Birds: Turnstones and plovers add excitement to fishing trip

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A ruddy turnstone looks for food at Milford Point, Connecticut, summer 2026.

My son Andrew and I moved quickly along the beach to the fishing spot several hundred yards away. He lugged the heavy bag with a cooler, fishing supplies, and snacks. I carried the rods and chairs.

We passed dozens of shorebirds on the way to our spot at the mouth of a river that feeds into Long Island Sound. I noted mostly piping plovers, but there were also ruddy turnstones and a few American oystercatchers.

Normally, I would drop everything and obsess over trying to get photos of the birds, but we had this day planned for a while, and I didn’t want my hobby to take over the father-son time. Maybe I’ll stop for a few photos on the way back, I thought.

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For the Birds: Loons and eagles highlight trip up north

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A common loon rests on a pond in northern New Hampshire, summer 2026.

It was a scene you might see in the opening frames of a movie.

The mist was thick coming off the water, and the sunrise peaking over the distant mountain painted the eastern sky a brilliant orange. Tall pines marked the edge of the pond, and a pair of loons silently floated on the mirror-like water.

Heather and I slowly paddled toward the loons but kept a respectable distance so as to not disturb their morning routine, which seemed to be not much more than sitting still on the water. Neither one of the loons made any of their iconic sounds, but the scene was still quintessential New England regardless.

As we paddled east toward the rising and slowly brightening sun, belted kingfishers on either side of the pond rattled simultaneously, creating a stereo effect among the din of birdsong that filled the morning air. Based on what we heard, common yellowthroats, Swainson’s thrushes, red-winged blackbirds and red-breasted nuthatches were the dominant songbirds hiding in the thick woods.

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For the Birds: Rain or not, birds have to eat

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A soggy blue jay visits a feeder during a heavy rain in New England.

A major storm blew through New England the evening of the Fourth of July, but it was the weather event that happened two days later that caught my attention.

It was a work-from-home day, so I had a front-row seat to the feeders all day. I thought it was going to be a slow day as it rained heavily all day. And the action was slow, at first.

After a few hours of relentless teeming rain, the birds started coming again. Not surprisingly, the first birds to show up in the rain were cardinals. They are usually the first to show up in the morning and the last ones left as darkness settles in, so it was only fitting that they would appear first on this wet, soggy day.

The blue jays appeared not long after. Then the catbirds, then the chickadees and titmice. At this point, all of the birds appeared at the feeder looking like drowned rats. Remember, this wasn’t a gentle shower where the water would bead up nicely on the birds’ oily feathers and eventually roll away. This was a driving rain that soaked right through the layers of feathers.

So why were the birds out during this rain? Why not remain hunkered down until the rain passed? 

The answer, of course, is that they were hungry. Birds have a high metabolism and need to eat a lot to get through the hours and days. It is estimated that small songbirds eat between 25 and 35 percent of their body weight each day. The rain had been steady for hours and wasn’t going to let up anytime soon. 

Birds face many risk-reward dilemmas in their lifetimes. Migrate and face the inherent dangers of traveling great distances, or remain up north and risk freezing during the winter? Fight, flight, or hide when a predator is near?

In this case, the possibility of starving finally outweighed the potential pitfalls of venturing out in a heavy rain. Other than their ragged appearance, the birds did not appear stressed. It was business as usual.

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For the Birds: Yellow warbler no more; warbling vireo no more

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A warbling vireo sings from a perch in New England.

Last year I wrote about finding a house wren and not being able to find it on the eBird list only to discover that the name of the bird had been officially changed to northern house wren.

Well, this year, there were two more similar name changes. First, the yellow warbler is now the northern yellow warbler. I think most people will continue to call it yellow warbler for years to come, but the familiar, loquacious yellow bird that nests throughout New England is, indeed, now the northern yellow warbler. 

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