My friend Andrée from Quebec sent me a bunch of photos from her yard this winter. The siskin and redpoll numbers are staggering. The photos speak for themselves … Thanks Andrée.
Redpolls and siskins north of the border
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A few shots from a recent trip to Florida
I ventured out of New England last week to visit my brother in southwestern Florida. Here are a few shots I got in my travels. Two of my brothers and I went to Marco Island to see burrowing owls, but came up empty. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and they were all hunkered in their burrows. By chance, two days later I was in Cape Coral, which is the other hotspot for these beautiful birds. I got up early and found my target.
Thanks for looking and indulging me. Back to New England for my next post.
In honor of goldfinches
I often receive photos of birds from readers, but it’s not often that I get poems about our New England birds. Cyndy Martell from Peterborough, N.H., sent in this tribute to American goldfinches, which have been plentiful in her yard this winter.
Winter Goldfinches Galore
(A Phenomenon One Cannot Ignore)
By Cyndy Martell
So many Goldfinches
Clutching the feeders
Is frustrating at best
To accurately calculate.
So many Goldfinches
Bouncing on branches
Of bushy trampolines
Ever ready to evacuate.
So many Goldfinches
Take flight impulsively
Crashing into windows
Sadly sealing their fate.
So many Goldfinches
Studied by Chickadees
Who sit and just wait
But are seldom irate.
So many Goldfinches
Not in summer gold
But in winter’s green
Singing in sweet debate.
A few bird photos ahead of the storm
As of Thursday morning, the forecast calls for some snow throughout New England. Will it be a fierce Nor’easter that will drop a foot or more of snow or a relatively calm storm with an inch or two? That much remains to be seen as different models are predicting different outcomes. Like always, we’ll wait and see. In the meantime, here are a few snowy bird photos as we await the storm.
Post-Christmas bonus cards
Here are a few more winter bird photos to stave off that post-Christmas letdown …
Christmas card 8 from Birds of New England
Merry Christmas! With a few bonus cards.
Christmas card 7 from Birds of New England
Christmas card 6 from Birds of New England
Christmas card 5 from Birds of New England
Have an island nature preserve named after you
Here’s a release from my friends at the Norwalk Land Trust:
The Norwalk Land Trust is looking for a donor to contribute $60,000 towards the final cost of remediating Hoyt Island in return for naming a new bird sanctuary on the entire the three-acre tract on Long Island Sound after himself/herself or a family member or loved one.
D. Seeley Hubbard, president of the NLT, said a tax-deductible donation is “a wonderful opportunity for an environmentalist to establish in the spirit of the season an enduring legacy with the movement to conserve the ecological vitality of Long Island Sound.”
Additional information is available from NLT director Midge Kennedy at (203) 838-9985. The island is a natural habitat for 149 species of birds–some of whom are rare or endangered–and other wildlife and native plants. Once the preserve is complete, the island will be closed to humans other than two people designated by the donor.
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