Category Archives: For the Birds column

For the Birds: Fishing, birding: It’s all good outdoors

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Photo by Chris Bosak – A semi-palmated plover rests on a log near Long Island Sound earlier this month.

My oldest son Andrew, who somehow is now a full-blown adult at age 21, recently took up shore fishing as a hobby. I was happy when he told me because any hobby that requires spending a lot of time in the great outdoors away from screens and technology is a good thing.

I was equally happy when he asked me to come along on a recent outing. I have fished on and off throughout my life, but the hobby never really grabbed me in the same way as some other outdoor pursuits. I have great memories of trout fishing with my brother when we were teens and teaching my boys to fish when they were youngsters, but other than that, my fishing experiences are rather few and far between. 

I purchased a few marine fishing licenses online, and Andrew and I headed to the Connecticut coast of Long Island Sound. I brought my camera just in case there happened to be birds there too. 

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For the Birds: A few more myths of the natural world

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Photo by Chris Bosak – Porcupines do not shoot or throw their quills, contrary to popular belief.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about some common myths and misconceptions about the natural world. Dragonflies don’t sting or bite people, tarantulas aren’t deadly, and quicksand is not likely to swallow you up on your next walk in the woods.

In this column, we’ll look at a few more wildlife myths, compliments of readers who wrote in with their thoughts.

Al from Nelson wrote, “We have eight species of frogs in the Monadnock area (bullfrogs, green frogs, wood frogs, gray tree frogs, spring peeper, American toad, pickerel frog, leopard frog) and another three species in other parts of New England. Not one of them makes a ‘ribbit’ sound. I have heard that there is a frog that says ‘ribbit’ in southern California, where many TV shows, movies, and ads are made, and that’s why the media has frogs saying ‘ribbit.’ I don’t know for sure if that’s true, but it makes a nice yarn.”

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For the Birds: Tree frog make rare appearance

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Photo by Chris Bosak – A gray tree frog sits on a trail in New England. Gray tree frogs can change colors (from gray to green) depending on their surroundings.

I nearly stepped on the subject of this column. One more step without looking at the ground, and the critter would have been underfoot. Thankfully, I looked down just in time.

I was taking my daily short walk at work and rounding the final bend when I looked down to see a gray tree frog. It was directly in the middle of the trail, and since tree frogs can change color to match the environment, it was difficult to spot.

To make matters worse, it just sat there instead of hopping away frantically like most frogs encountered in the wild. You’d never see a leopard frog or wood frog just sitting there on the trail. They start scampering away like their feet are on fire long before they are nearly underfoot. But this tree frog just sat there.

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For the Birds: Myths that seem funny now

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Photo by Chris Bosak – Dragonflies are harmless to humans.

In reaction to my column on blue jays from a few weeks ago, John from the Monadnock Region wrote to say that he too grew up hearing that blue jays were “bad birds.” Blue jays warn other birds in the forest of a hunter’s presence (hence essentially ending the chances of a successful hunt) and rob the nests of other birds.

Those are indeed facts about blue jays, but he has since come to appreciate blue jays for their intelligence, vocalization range and beauty. Taking photos of blue jays in flight is a favorite hobby of his. (One of his shots may be found at birdsofnewengland.com on the “reader submitted photos” page.)

The email from John got me thinking about how stories we hear as children can stick with us for a long time, even into adulthood. Whether or not blue jays are “bad birds” is still a matter of opinion, but there are some things we heard way back when that are clearly not true.

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For the Birds: An owl experience to remember

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Photo by Chris Bosak A young Barred Owl rests on a branch in Danbury, Conn., spring 2016.

Owls have always been somewhat of a blind spot for me in terms of finding birds. I love owls (who doesn’t?) and spend inordinate amounts of time in their habitat, but rarely do I see these mystical birds.

It’s not that I never see them. I’ve seen the occasional barred owl and a few great-horned owls in my day, and even snowy owls a handful of times, but the sightings are few and far between.

There was a winter a few years back when everyone was seeing barred owls. I was able to see a few during that spurt. Remember the “winter of the snowy owl?” The Arctic birds were showing up everywhere along the coast and even inland. I saw three snowy owls that winter. Then there was the great gray owl that delighted birders in Newport in 2017. I saw that one too. Under “normal” circumstances, however, my owl sightings are rare.

With my actual owl sightings at a minimum, I was happy to vicariously experience a neat owl experience relayed to me by Mary Ellen of Keene. Mind you, she and her family live not far from downtown Keene.

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For the Birds: House sitting is not such a bad gig after all

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Photo by Chris Bosak An Eastern Bluebird rests on a birdhouse at Mather Meadows in Darien, Conn., April 2015.
Photo by Chris Bosak – Bluebirds were a common sighting during a house- and dog-sitting experience in New England.

I agreed to house- and dog-sit for a friend recently. I had never been to the house before so when I parked in the driveway, I did what I always do upon visiting a house for the first time: evaluate the birding potential of the yard.

When I visit a home in a city or busy part of a suburb, I don’t expect much but remain optimistic. Sometimes I’m disappointed and sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised. If the house is in a rural area, I assume the best and expect to spend many enjoyable hours on the porch or deck listening to and watching birds.

This particular house was in “the country” and lived up to all expectations.

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For the Birds: Warbling vireo lives up to its name

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A warbling vireo does what it does best: sing from a branch of a deciduous tree.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently added a story on their website about the red-eyed vireo and mentioned, jokingly, that it is sometimes referred to as “the bird that doesn’t shut up.” The short post says the bird can sing more than 20,000 times per day and that their “incessant singing” makes up for their rather drab plumage.

I can’t dispute what the article says, as red-eyed vireos do indeed sing a lot, and I’ve heard them frequently throughout this spring and early summer. But this year, I’ve been more taken by the red-eyed vireo’s cousin, the warbling vireo.

Seemingly every walk I’ve taken this year from late April on has included a sighting of a warbling vireo. Well, maybe not always a sighting, but at least a hearing. It is usually the first bird I hear as I approach the woods. “Yup, another warbling vireo” has been a frequent refrain on my walks this year.

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For the Birds: Blue jays need to eat too

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Photo by Chris Bosak A blue jay perches on a branch in New England.

It’s no secret that Facebook is rife with links to a lot of really dumb articles. Many of the links are either clickbait or gateways to completely useless drivel. 

I learned a long time ago to not even bother clicking on the links because they inevitably lead to disappointment. But, I came across an article on Facebook the other day that I just had to click on. The headline for the post read, “Why You Should Avoid Inviting Blue Jays into Your Yard.”

I know some people have issues with blue jays, but I had never seen an article devoted to keeping blue jays out of people’s backyards. I’ve seen plenty of articles on how to keep squirrels, bears, house sparrows and grackles away from feeders, but never blue jays.

Blue Jays are strikingly beautiful birds and native to the U.S. Why would anyone want to keep blue jays away from feeders?

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For the Birds: Spring lives up to the hype

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Photo by Chris Bosak – A chestnut-sided warbler perches in the brush in New England, spring 2024.

It was one of the better spring migrations I’ve had in a long time. I got out there more than in previous years and visited a greater variety of places.

The big week, of course, was the visit to Erie, Pennsylvania, during the peak of the migration season. I was there for my niece’s wedding but arrived several days in advance of the event to stay with my brother and visit Presque Isle State Park, a birding hot spot. We saw over 70 species of birds over the three separate visits.

I also hit my local New England spots several times a week during migration, starting in late March and going into June. It’s always interesting to see how the spring migration starts with a trickle of very few species and peaks with several dozen species all moving through at once. 

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For the Birds: gnatcatcher nest find highlights walk

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Photo by Chris Bosak – A blue-gray gnatcatcher collecting material for its nest, Presque Isle, 2024.

The birdwatching had already been fantastic as Baltimore orioles, gray catbirds, yellow warblers, and even bay-breasted warblers were overly abundant. The walk got even more exciting as we watched a blue-gray gnatcatcher fly back and forth from a branch to a bush about 30 yards away.

A nest must be up there, I thought, as we now watched two blue-gray gnatcatchers going back and forth to the branch. Blue-gray gnatcatchers are small migratory birds with blue-gray plumage, as the name suggests, long tail and white eye ring. A peek through the binoculars confirmed that a nest was on the branch. I was surprised that the nest had been built in the middle of a dead branch with very little cover from the leaves above.

It took binoculars for confirmation as blue-gray gnatcatchers are tiny birds of only four or five inches. Their nests are just as small as the birds themselves, even a bit smaller at only two or three inches wide.

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