Photo by Chris Bosak Pine siskins visit a feeder in Danbury, Connecticut, fall 2018.
A wise man once said: “The nature of a winter finch irruption, however, could mean a sizable flock of pine siskins can show up and empty out my Nyjer seed feeder at any moment.”
Just kidding. That was me writing two weeks ago about the hot start to the winter finch season. The wise man part is up for debate.
At the time of that writing, a female purple finch had been my only out-of-the-ordinary sighting at my feeding station. A week later a few fox sparrows showed up. I know fox sparrows are not finches, but they can fit loosely into the category of winter finches because of their sporadic visits to New England backyards.
Then last week, true to the sentence at the top of this column, the pine siskins showed up. It started out with two siskins sharing the tube feeder with a group of goldfinches. The next day, I counted three siskins. The third day, about 20 siskins showed up and occupied every perch on the tube feeder and a nearby hopper feeder. The spillover Continue reading →
Photo by Chris Bosak A white-throated sparrow in Brookfield, CT, fall, 2018.
This morning’s bird walk brought me to the Still River Greenway Trail in Brookfield, Connecticut. An eastern phoebe (late for this species) was the highlight species, but I failed to get a photo as it disappeared into thin air when I reached for the camera. At any rate, I found more than 20 species, including eastern bluebirds, pileated woodpeckers, and a red-tailed hawk. The dominant species were white-throated sparrows, dark-eyed juncos and Carolina wrens.
Here’s a quick video I put together on the northern shoveler drake that I featured in a few posts last week. Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel, which I hope to populate with more videos in the coming months. It already has several older videos I posted over the years.
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Photo by Chris Bosak A Snowy Owl sits on an old telephone pole at The Coastal Center at Milford Point in early March 2014. Smoke stacks in Bridgeport loom in the background.
Here’s the 2018 State of the Birds report from the Connecticut Audubon Society. (Press release shamelessly copy/pasted here.)
November 29, 2018 — For the scores of migratory and nesting bird species in Connecticut to survive and thrive, the state’s cities and suburbs must create, maintain, and improve their local habitats in everything from small neighborhood parks to larger nature preserves.
That’s the key finding of the Connecticut Audubon Society’s 2018 State of the Birds report, released today at a news conference at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.
Titled “In Cities and Suburbs: A Fresh Look at How Birds Are Surviving in Connecticut,” the report shows how the state’s most heavily-developed areas are crucial to the survival of the state’s and the region’s birds. Some of the most vulnerable species nest in Continue reading →
Photo by Chris Bosak A northern shoveler seen at 14-Acre Pond in Norwalk, Conn., fall 2018.
Its shovel-like bill is its most distinguishing feature. Both males and females have that flattened bill, but only the male (drake) features this bright plumage. Females are mottled tan or brown, like many female ducks.
Photo by Chris Bosak A purple finch eats seeds at a feeder in New England, Nov. 2018.
There has been a lot of talk lately about winter finches. There usually is this time of year.
I have read accounts of people seeing big flocks of pine siskins. Siskins are probably the most common winter finch that irrupts into the middle and southern parts of New England sporadically in winter.
Winter finch is not an official term with a clear-cut number of species that nicely fits the category. Rather, it is a general term used for members of the finch family that breed up north and typically spend their winters up north, but irregularly move south during the winter as food sources dictate.
The species most commonly associated with a winter finch irruption include pine siskin, common redpoll and purple finch. Larger finches, such as pine grosbeak and evening grosbeak, are also species seen at backyard feeders throughout New England during the winter.
But birds do not even have to be finches to fall into the loose category of “winter finch.” Often, the red-breasted nuthatch is lumped into the category due to its great abundance at feeders some winters and being a no-show during other winters.
So far this winter I have seen a lone female purple finch at my backyard feeding station. That has been the extent of my winter finch season so far. The nature of a winter finch irruption, however, could mean a sizable flock of pine siskins can show up and empty out my Nyjer seed feeder at any moment.
I did see a few red-breasted nuthatches on a recent trip to northern New Hampshire, but that is part of their breeding and winter grounds, and would not fall into the category of a winter-finch sighting.
Admittedly, it took a minute or two to identify the female purple finch that has been visiting my yard. It was clearly something different, so I knew I had to lock down an ID as soon as possible.
Female purple finches are streaky brown in plumage. It didn’t have the look or feel of a sparrow, so I eliminated those possibilities immediately. It looked a lot like a house finch, but was more heavily streaked and slightly larger and plumper overall. The thick bill further eliminated any sparrow possibilities and after very briefly considering the female rose-breasted grosbeak, I was able to nail down the ID as a female purple finch.
In the past when I have seen purple finches, it has usually been a pair so getting an ID was easier because I had the more colorful male to observe.
For whatever reason, regardless of how great a winter finch season it is throughout New England, my yard typically does not drive in a lot of these birds. While I’ve read about several backyards being ambushed by pine siskins already this season, I haven’t seen a pine siskin in about 10 years. That species typically irrupts every three or four years.
If nothing else shows up at my feeders all winter, I still have my regular feeder birds and my female purple finch. And I’m good with that.
Two weeks ago I had a post on this site about mushrooms and last week I made a few posts during my trip to Pittsburg, N.H.
By way of revisiting both of those topics, here’s a photo of interesting looking fungi we spotted during a walk through the boreal forest. There’s so much cool stuff to see out there — whether it’s southern, central or northern New England — but you have to get out there to see it.
I admittedly do not know a whole lot about the mushrooms found in New England woods. I do know that some mushrooms can kill you, so I basically just avoid them all, other than admiring the ones that catch my eye. These mushrooms found in the woods behind my house stood out so I grabbed a few iPhone photos.
Speaking of mushrooms, I’d love to someday learn to forage for them. They are plentiful in our woods and would be a great addition to many recipes. The risks, however, are cause for concern and mushroom foraging should only be done by those who are certain of what they are doing. Eating the wrong mushrooms will usually cause stomach pain and perhaps vomiting, but the symptoms can be much more severe.
Here’s some information from the Northern New England Poison Center: “Every year the Northern New England Poison Center helps patients who have become sick after misidentifying mushrooms they picked to eat. Among NNEPC cases, mistakes made while foraging are the second most common cause of serious mushroom poisonings, behind only people who become sick after taking psychedelic mushrooms on purpose.”
The Center points out that many safe mushrooms have multiple poisonous lookalikes in the woods, too. Someday I’ll learn to forage wild mushrooms, but until I’m 100 percent sure of what I’m doing, I’ll stick to admiring and photographing them.
Are you a mushroom forager or have a story or tip about foraging mushrooms? Leave a comment below and share your story.
The warm start to November has made for some surprising nature sightings. I’ve seen and heard many insects that are usually silent by this time of year. A recent walk in the woods behind my house yielded several eft sightings underfoot. Efts are the terrestrial stage of a newt, a common aquatic salamander. By November, eft sightings are usually a thing of the past – or the future, depending on how you look at it.
Birds of New England.com 