Photo by Chris Bosak A red-shouldered hawk perches on a branch during a snowy day in New England, January 2026.
It should come as no surprise that birdwatching is growing in popularity, according to several studies and other metrics. It had been gaining in popularity for years, but the pandemic greatly accelerated the movement.
As I researched the Great Backyard Bird Count for this column, I was surprised at how much birdwatching had gained in popularity, at least as it is measured by the number of GBBC participants.
Photo by Chris Bosak A northern flicker sips from a birdbath in New England, fall 2025.
I looked out and saw that the water in the birdbath was a solid block of ice. I poured in enough warm water that the ice broke free, so I tossed the frozen block onto the ground and filled the bath with warm water. Within 10 minutes, a northern flicker arrived and took a few sips. What a design on this bird.
Photo by Chris Bosak – A dark-eyed junco eats goldenrod seeds at Huntington State Park in Redding, Connecticut, November 2025.
Here are a few more photos of my experience with juncos in the goldenrod field recently. See the last “For the Birds” column for the whole story. On a side note, now you know what goldenrod looks like after the yellow flowers die off.
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Photo by Chris Bosak
Clapper rail in Milford, Connecticut, summer 2025.
I’ve written about a lot of different types of birds over the last 30 years. There are some birds I’ve likely written about hundreds of times, and some only a handful of times.
If I searched my “For the Birds” folder for chickadee, robin or woodpecker, I’d get hundreds of hits. If I searched for vireo or flycatcher, I’d get far fewer hits, but still a decent amount.
There’s one bird family found in New England I’m not sure I’ve ever written about or even mentioned within a column. It’s the rail family. Rails are small to medium-sized chicken-like birds of the marshes. The reasons I haven’t written about them before are fairly obvious: rails are not very common, live in a habitat that is difficult for humans to traverse and are extremely secretive.
New England has a few members of the rail family. Virginia rail is the most common and the one most likely to be seen in New Hampshire. Sora is the other most likely candidate in New Hampshire. Clapper rails may be found along the coastal regions of New England.
There are also yellow rails, black rails and king rails found in New England, but they are rarely seen. Virginia rail is the best bet, but even that is a chore.
Photo by Chris Bosak
American goldfinches nest later in the season than other New England songbirds.
Answering a few questions from readers:
John from Swanzey asked a few weeks ago when it is safe to prune bushes and hedges so as not to disturb any birds that might be nesting there. It’s a great question and one that is not as easily answered as one may think.
Spring and early summer are obviously not good times, as many of our songbirds use this type of habitat for nesting. Robins, doves, blue jays and catbirds immediately come to mind as they are common backyard birds in New England. Many other birds, such as yellow warblers and American redstarts, use shrubby areas for nesting as well, although they tend to use more wild areas rather than backyard bushes.
But what about mid and late summer? It should be safe then, right? Not necessarily.
Birds of New England.com 