Here’s an email I received recently from The Cornell Lab or Ornithology. With my new home buzzing with bird activity, I’m going to join this important citizen science project this year. Here are the details should you be thinking about it, too, or learning of the project for the first time here:
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Photo by Chris Bosak
A Baltimore Oriole nest in Stamford, Conn., May 2015.
I took a walk around a local park in Stamford, Conn., yesterday. I knew the warbler migration was winding down, but I figured I’d see a few late migrants and perhaps something else interesting. Something always happens when you make the effort to take a walk in the woods.
I was walking happily along looking up in the trees for movement. With the leaves out now, movement is the only way to spot most birds. I glanced down and suddenly found myself tip-toeing frantically to avoid bird droppings all over the trail. Not that it would have been a big deal if I stepped on one, but my brain recognize Continue reading
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Prairie Warbler perches in a tree at Selleck’s/Dunlap Woods on May 5, 2014.
I took a quick walk before work this morning. As usual, I was running behind getting my third-grader to school, so I had only about 15 minutes for this walk. But it was enough to know that we are in what many birders consider the most exciting two weeks of the year. The warbler migration started with a trickle a few weeks ago in New England. Based on what I saw on my quick walk this morning, the warbler season is picking up fast. A Prairie Warbler was the first bird I saw — not a bad start to a walk. A few Yellow Warblers darted here and there, too. Yellow Warblers nest at Selleck’s Woods, so hopefully they are looking to set up shop for the summer.
The walk included a few other warbler species as well as the sounds of other colorful songbirds, such as Baltimore Orioles and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. It’s a great time to be out there. Let me know what you are seeing.
Here’s a post from last year featuring some of the warblers you may see out there this time of year. Click here.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A junco looks for seeds on a dried up plant at Weed Beach in Darien, Conn., in Jan. 2015.
Photo by Chris Bosak
An American Robin perches on a rock at Weed Beach in Darien, Conn., in Jan. 2015.
I dropped off my third-grader at school and faced a decision heading out of the parking lot: Take a left to the beach and see what birds might be there; or take a right and basically start my work day earlier than I have to.
Of course I took the left. It’s a good thing, too, because there were some pretty cool birds down at the beach. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but some good photo opps of birds such as Continue reading
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Black-capped Chickadee clears out a cavity in a tree for a nesting site at Selleck’s/Dunlap Woods in Darien in spring 2014.
Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting.
Admittedly not a great shot technically, but interesting to see a Black-capped Chickadee exiting a potential nesting hole with a bill full of dead wood shavings. A pair of chickadees worked their tails off getting this cavity ready for the nesting season. I’m not sure if they actually saw this whole project through or not. I kind of hope not because the tree was dead and pretty flimsy. I’m not sure it was strong enough to withstand some of the storms we get here in New England. I’m sure the birds know what they are doing. At any rate, chickadees first excavate a cavity and then build a small nest of materials such as moss to soften the bottom of the home.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Least Tern sits among the rocks at the beach at Connecticut Audubon’s Coastal Center at Milford Point in spring 2014.
Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting.
As we are now stuck in this deep freeze here in New England, here’s a warm-weather shot for you. It’s a Least Tern on the beach at Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center at Milford Point. Last week I posted a Piping Plover that I saw during my volunteering to monitor plovers and terns on the Connecticut shoreline. Well, here’s the other half: the terns. The plovers come in much earlier in the spring than the terns. Least Terns are handsome birds with yellow bills, compared the red or orange bills of most terns. Least Terns, as their name suggests, are also smaller than most terns. They can also be quite aggressive on their nesting areas (who can blame them?) and they will continually dive-bomb intruders. Yes, that includes innocent shorebird monitors just trying to help them out.
Piping Plovers and Least Terns are threatened species in Connecticut.
Photo by Chris Bosak
Four male Hooded Mergansers swim in Norwalk Harbor near Veterans Park in Norwalk, Conn., Jan. 2015.
Much of Norwalk Harbor was frozen on Tuesday afternoon, but the spots that weren’t frozen made for ideal hunting grounds for Hooded Mergansers. It was the first measurable snow of the year for coastal southwestern Connecticut so I figured I’d take a quick drive to see what photographic opportunities presented themselves. Hooded Mergansers are often the only birds around on such days. Ducks, with their down feathers close to their bodies, are supremely adapted to handle such conditions.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Mourning Dove looks for seeds under a feeder during a snowy day in Jan. 2014.
Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting. Here’s a Mourning Dove looking for food under my birdfeeder during a snowy day last winter. The photo was taken in January 2014. Check out the subtle colors in this beautiful bird.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Piping Plover preens on the beach at Milford Point, Conn., in April 2014.
Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting. I ran a similar photo in April, but here’s another look at a Piping Plover _ an endangered bird in New England _ preening at Audubon Coastal Connecticut Center at Milford Point. The photo was taken in April 2014.
Click here to read more about Piping Plovers and to see more photos of this spectacular shorebird.
Photo by Chris Bosak
An Orange-crowned Warbler seen at Oyster Shell Park in Norwalk, Conn., during Christmas Bird Count, Dec. 2014.
During the Christmas Bird Count last week I found an Orange-crowned Warbler on my last stop of the day. It was a good bird for the Count and, for me, the first time I had seen one. It was a good way to end 2014, gaining a “life” bird. I’m not big on lists and do not even have an official “life list,” but I do know in my head what I’ve seen and what I haven’t seen. And I know I hadn’t seen an Orange-crowned Warbler before.
So what will 2015 bring in terms of new birds? I guess we will have to wait and see. The bird I’d like to see in 2015 is a Spruce Grouse. It’s a boreal bird so the only chance I have to see one is during a camping trip to northern New England or Canada. I hope to get in at least two camping trips up north in 2015, so we’ll see. I have, however, been looking for them on my camping trips for years and years and have never found one. Maybe this will be my year.
So what’s on your bird wish list for 2015? Leave a comment here, Facebook comment or email me your top bird(s) that you want to add to your life list in 2015.
Oh, and good luck getting it.
Photo by Chris Bosak
An Orange-crowned Warbler seen at Oyster Shell Park in Norwalk, Conn., during Christmas Bird Count, Dec. 2014.
Birds of New England.com 