I did two bird talks in New Hampshire last weekend and loved meeting everyone and talking about birds for a while.

In both talks, many questions and comments were about bluebirds. Everybody loves bluebirds, and these talks only confirmed that is true. And why not? They are beautiful birds and many of them are hardy enough to stay with us all winter. 

I have found that New Englanders appreciate the birds that stick with us year-round. When I did an informal survey many years ago to determine New England’s favorite bird, the chickadee and cardinal were the top two species named. Both birds, of course, are with us spring, summer, fall and winter. 

Note: This was written for my New Hampshire audience, but the Great Backyard Bird Count applies to all.

I have received a few emails from folks who have seen evening grosbeaks this winter. There have not been many emails regarding pine siskins or purple finches, and not a single one about redpolls.

As had become typical, there have been plenty of emails about Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers.

The birds mentioned in the first paragraph as known as irruptive species in New England. Some years we see many of them, some years we see a few and some years we don’t see any. The birds in the second paragraph are species that are expanding their range northward and are now fairly common throughout the southern and middle parts of New England.

It already seems as if 2022 is a mere dot in the rearview mirror. Before it fades even more, I want to present my annual “top birding moments of the year” column. It’s a tradition that goes back several years and is one of my favorite columns to write. I also encourage readers to send to me their favorite birding (or wildlife) moments of 2022.

10. Bears! On my drive home from looking at land in far north New Hampshire, I noticed three dark blobs at the far edge of a huge field. I hit the brakes, turned around and pulled over. The blobs were three bears — a mother and two cubs. Bears are becoming increasingly common throughout New England. I hope we learn to co-exist peacefully. 

There will be more about this past weekend’s Christmas Bird Count coming soon, but here’s a shot of a female hooded merganser I got during the successful event.

Here are some more mergs …

Snow has been scarce so far in southern New England (not that I’m complaining), so when it does snow I make sure to have the feeders filled and the camera handy.

I recently received two Kingsyard brand feeders, and they are bringing in the birds at a pretty good clip. I like the platform feeder (seen above) for its partial dome cover. The cover keeps the rain out of the tray, which was a problem I had with my previous platform feeder. Birds don’t like wet, soggy seeds.

The other feeder is shaped like a house and looks nice hanging on the hook whether there are birds on it or not. Of course, it looks better when birds are on it. I also like that it has three separate chambers for the food so you can offer a mix of seeds and other foods, such as mealworms.

I’m looking forward to seeing what birds will show up over the course of the winter. #kingsyard

Two of my brant photos were published in the latest issue of Estuary magazine, which is dedicated to “Life on the Connecticut River.”

The magazine is quite impressive in quality and full of interesting information about the river.

Its website may be found here.

Here’s the latest cover.