Photo by Chris Bosak Bull moose in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.
Here’s a compilation of the deer family (moose, elk, mule deer) photos I got during my recent trip out west (Montana, Grand Teton, Yellowstone). It was late September, so the antlers were fully grown and velvet-free. It’s interesting to see the difference between the species–and antlers are always a source of fascination.
At the end of this post, there are two animals with horns, not antlers. Mammals with horns keep their horns permanently. Mammals with antlers shed them every year (late fall or winter) and regrow them each year.
MOOSE
Photo by Chris Bosak Bull moose in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.Photo by Chris Bosak Bull moose in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.
ELK
Photo by Chris Bosak Bull elk in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.Photo by Chris Bosak Bull elk in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.
MULE DEER
Mule deer, Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.
PRONGHORN (horns, not antlers)
Photo by Chris Bosak Pronghorn in Idaho, fall 2026.
BISON (horns, not antlers)
Photo by Chris Bosak Bison in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.
Photo by Chris Bosak Great-horned owl in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.
I neglected to include the birds I saw during my recent trip out west in my last post. So, here they are. I was focused on the large mammals, so I didn’t get many photos of birds. The magpies were a highlight. They were all over downtown Bozeman, Montana, and very brave around my campground in Yellowstone. Kind of like the crows we have in New England.
Photo by Chris Bosak Mountain bluebird in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.Photo by Chris Bosak Magpie in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.Continue reading →
Photo by Chris Bosak Bison in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.
Here are a few animals I saw out west that aren’t moose or elk. The U.S. is a beautiful place.
Photo by Chris Bosak First-year grizzly bear in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.Photo by Chris Bosak Coyote in Grand Teton National Park, fall 2026.Photo by Chris Bosak Pronghorn in Idaho, fall 2026.
Photo by Chris Bosak Bull elk in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.
After three days in Grand Teton, I drove north to Mammoth Campground in Yellowstone. The resident elk herd did not disappoint with the bull bugling and cows and calves making themselves at home among the tents, RVs, picnic tables, and campers. It was definitely worth the trip to Yellowstone.
Photo by Chris Bosak Bull elk in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.Photo by Chris Bosak Elk in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.Photo by Chris Bosak Calf elk nursing in Yellowstone National Park, fall 2026.Continue reading →
Photo by Chris Bosak Herring gull with crab, late summer in New England.
Here’s another photo I got during a recent walk along the beach in southern Connecticut (Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point), a herring gull with a crab.
Photo by Chris Bosak American oystercatcher, summer in New England.
My friend Wayne and I took a walk at a preserve along the coast of southern Connecticut on Labor Day Weekend and found a dozen or more American oystercatchers, three semipalmated plovers, a small flock of least sandpipers, and a black-bellied plover. A few waders (snowy egret, great egret, yellow-crowned night heron) were around too.
Photo by Chris Bosak Least sandpiper, late summer in New England.Photo by Chris Bosak – Semipalmated plover, late summer New England.
Photo by Chris Bosak A broad-winged hawk perches in a tree in northern New Hampshire, July 2020.
Last November, I wrote consecutive bird columns based on the results of the Pack Monadnock Hawk Watch. As I wrote the second column, I made a mental note to write another one before the start of the next hawk watching season. Well, here we are.
Instead of reading about what happened already, now you can get out there and see the spectacle for yourself. So here it is, all you need to know about planning a trip to see the thousands of raptors that will pass over southern New Hampshire this fall.
There are other hawk watch sites in New Hampshire, but Pack Monadnock is the most popular, and for good reason. Expert hawk watchers are on site from September 1 through the middle of November to count the hawks, lead talks and answer questions from visitors. Also, it is the place in the state where the most hawks and greatest variety of raptors may be seen heading south. Hawk watches include hawks, eagles, falcons, ospreys and vultures.
The Pack Monadnock Raptor Observatory, as it is officially called, is located near the top of Pack Monadnock Mountain within Miller State Park off Route 101 in Peterborough. Visitors can drive or hike to the site.
A few hawks have already been counted in August, but the numbers have not started to heat up yet. The most thrilling time at Pack Monadnock, and most other hawk watch sites, is when the broad-winged hawks pass through in staggering numbers. When that happens exactly is both predictable and unpredictable. It will happen sometime in mid-September, that much we know, but weather and wind conditions will determine the exact window.
Last year, I spoke with Phil and Julie Brown of Hancock about the timing. If anyone will know, it’s them. Phil is the Bird Conservation Director and Land Specialist at the Harris Center for Conservation Education. His wife, Julie, is the Raptor Migration and Program Director of the Hawk Migration Association.
Here are a few paragraphs from one of those columns from last November:
“While the broad-winged hawk migration is truly a spectacle, with as many as 3,000 or more seen on a single day, it is very time-specific. September 14-20 is the sweet spot when nearly all of the broad-wingeds pass through, the Browns said. Phil said many people take the entire week off from work to not miss the right day.
“Mark your calendars for the middle of next September and keep your eyes out for a forecast that calls for light or variable winds from the north (or northeast or northwest), particularly following a cold front.”
Last year, the best two-day window by far at Pack Monadnock was September 14 and 15, when 3,160 and 562 broad-winged hawks, respectively, passed over the mountain. September 19 and 20 were also solid with 458 and 403 broad-winged hawks soaring past.
Mid-September is also the best time to see sharp-shinned hawks, the second-most-counted raptor at Pack Monadnock. Last year, there were two days (September 14 and 19) when more than 100 sharpies flew overhead.
Last year, September accounted for 7,280 of the 8,581 total raptors counted at Pack Monadnock. While September is obviously the best month to visit, October is still a strong month. The broad-winged hawks, which account for the majority of the birds counted each fall, are mostly gone by the time October rolls around, but there are still good numbers of species such as sharp-shinned hawks, turkey vultures, northern harriers and red-tailed hawks to be seen. American kestrels and merlins, both small falcons, are also passing through in decent numbers in October.
The hawk watch remains open until mid-November, but the action is fairly slow by then. Red-tailed hawks are still moving through at a decent clip, but most of the other species have stopped completely or slowed to a trickle.
This year I’ve given fair warning. Keep an eye on the forecast in mid-September, head to the mountain and see some hawks. Lots of them.
Photo by Chris Bosak – A flock of wild turkeys in New England.
It was the early 1990s when I lived in Vermont. I was just starting to get interested in wildlife photography, and my friend Steve said he knew where a large flock of turkeys could reliably be found in the evening.
Steve lived about half an hour north of me, and the turkeys were about 20 minutes north of him. At the time, wild turkeys were still fairly uncommon in New England, so I did not hesitate to make the 50-minute drive. A wild turkey flock would make a great addition to my then extremely modest catalogue of wildlife photos.
I met Steve at the spot, and, sure enough, the turkeys were there ─ at the far end where the field met the woods, maybe 75 yards away. I snapped some photos and couldn’t wait to see the results.
Photo by Chris Bosak A blackburnian warbler in Pittsburg, NH, summer 2026.
The birding action was relatively slow as we tromped along a skid trail used recently by loggers in the wilds of northern New Hampshire.
It was mid-afternoon in July, so the lack of birds was not a surprise. Merlin, the app that identifies bird sounds, picked up the calls of a magnolia warbler and a golden-crowned kinglet, and we found both of them with little effort.
Another bird, not detected by Merlin, flitted among the top of a spruce. Before lifting the binoculars, I would have guessed it was a magnolia warbler because I noted some yellow in the plumage, and magnolias had been plentiful the entire trip.
Through the binoculars, it was evident the bird in question was a blackburnian warbler. It lacked the brilliant fiery color of a breeding male, so it was either a female, first-year bird, or male transitioning to non-breeding plumage. Such is the challenge (and frustration) of summer and fall warbler identification.
Photo by Chris Bosak A veery at Huntington State Park in Redding, CT, May 2026.
It’s still too early to declare my Bird of the Summer, but one bird has become the clear favorite.
Of course, catbirds and robins are always common sightings in the summer, and I have certainly seen many of those on my recent walks. But ever since early May, my walks seem to be dominated by veeries.
Veeries are thrushes and indeed closely resemble the more common hermit thrush and wood thrush. There are some obvious differences, however, as veeries are a warmer reddish-brown overall with fewer and lighter spots on their chests.
