Photo by Chris Bosak
An Eastern Phoebe visits a bird bath in Danbury, Conn., March 2016.
Photo No. 2 of the birdbath series.
Eastern Phoebes are early migrant arrivals, showing up in early March to New England. This one visited the bath in mid-March.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Green Heron runs across the grass at a park in Darien, Conn., spring 2016.
Just realized I never posted these extra Green Heron photos. Here are some bonus photos from a previous posting about Green Herons.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Green Heron hunts from a rock in Darien, Conn., spring 2016.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Green Heron stands on a rock in Darien, Conn., spring 2016.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Blue-winged Warbler seen at Fairchild Wildflower Sanctuary in Greenwich, Conn., May 2016.
Here’s a few more of the Blue-winged Warbler. See the post below for more information about the photos.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Blue-winged Warbler seen at Fairchild Wildflower Sanctuary in Greenwich, Conn., May 2016.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Blue-winged Warbler seen at Fairchild Wildflower Sanctuary in Greenwich, Conn., May 2016.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Palm Warbler perches among pussy willows at Selleck’s Woods in Darien, Conn., April 2016.
Here’s one more photo of the Palm Warbler, which was the subject of my longer post yesterday.
He strikes an interesting pose here. Any help with the caption?
Thanks for supporting http://www.BirdsofNewEngland.com
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Saffron Finch (?) lands on the ground to look for food in Brookfield, CT, April 2016.
Here’s one more shot of the Saffron Finch I saw the other day while playing baseball with my son Will. See the previous post for more information.
At least I think it’s a Saffron Finch. That ID came from a birding expert friend of mine and many agree with him. Some, however, feel it is a finch from Africa. At any rate, it’s likely an escaped pet and not a wild rare bird for New England.
Photo by Chris Bosak
An escaped Saffron Finch (?) in Brookfield, Conn,. April 2016.
I thought I had a great bird for the rare bird alert list, but it’s likely just an escaped pet bird. A bright yellow bird flew into a nearby tree as I was practicing baseball with my 9-year-old Will.
I thought it was a Yellow Warbler at first, but rushed for my binoculars for a better view. Yellow Warblers don’t have red heads! I thought it was one of the tanagers, but after consulting with an expert, it is likely a Saffron Finch. These colorful birds are native to South America and are often kept as caged pet birds. That’s likely the case here. Instead of a rarity, I got an escapee.
Thanks Frank for the ID.
Do other experts out there concur?
Photo by Chris Bosak
An escaped Saffron Finch (?) in Brookfield, Conn,. April 2016.
Photo by Chris Bosak
An escaped Saffron Finch (?) seen in Brookfield, Conn., April 2016.
Photo by Chris Bosak
An escaped Saffron Finch (?) in Brookfield, Conn,. April 2016.
I received an email the other day requesting permission to use my latest For the Birds column in the newsletter for the New Jersey-based group: The Real Macaw Parrot Club. I obliged as the topic of the column, I felt, is important and the word needs to be spread. So, above, there it is. Thanks to The Real Macaw for helping out with this.
Here’s the cover of the newsletter.
Photo by Chris Bosak A Carolina Wren visits a feeder during a snowstorm in Danbury, Conn., Jan. 23, 2016.
You didn’t think the first snowstorm in New England would pass without me posting some photos of birds in the snow, did you?
Here’s a few to get started. I’ll post more later.
Here is my latest column for The Hour (Norwalk, CT) and Keene Sentinel (Keene, N.H.) It’s my favorite column of the year to write: my top 10 list.
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Photo by Chris Bosak An Osprey carries a fish along the Norwalk River in Norwalk, CT, summer 2015.
Not sure how it happened so quickly, but it’s time for me to write another year-end birding column. Each year at about this time I sit down and think about my top 10 birding experiences of past year. It’s not necessarily about the best birds I’ve seen, but rather the birding moments that most impacted me in one way or another.
What will be missing from this year’s list for the first time in about 10 years is my Thanksgiving “Duck Hunt” with my boys. The hunt is an annual tradition whereby we wake up early on Thanksgiving and visit a bunch of beaches and fresh-water bodies of water to count duck species. We try to get 10 species, but for me, the real thrill is being out with the boys looking for birds. This year I was so sick I couldn’t even get out of bed so we put the annual “duck hunt” on hold. Perhaps I’ll revisit it for another occasion. Maybe for the Great Backyard Bird Count. Or maybe just some random day this winter.
So here’s what did make the list …
10. Having the featured photo on The Birding Wire. The weekly e-newsletter features a photo in each edition and in early December it featured my photo of Pine Warblers squabbling at my suet feeder. I look at The Birding Wire each week, so it was neat to see my work as one of the featured items.
9. Having chickadees eat out of my hand. I noticed that each time I took down the feeders to fill them at my new house the chickadees would still land on the pole that holds the feeders, even though I was only a few feet away. I decided to hold off on putting the feeders back up immediately and instead extended my arm and held a handful of sunflower seeds out for the birds. They hesitated, but eventually landed and happily (if not nervously) took a seed and flew off.
8. A week-long summer camping trip with the boys. We went to the northern most part of New Hampshire and took the most remote site we could find. Gray Jays visited the camp and a Common Loon swam in the pond near the site. Of course, the call of the loon echoing at night capped off the experience.
7. Seeing a Bald Eagle nest off the coast of Norwalk. Ultimately the nest at Chimon Island did not result in young eagles being fledged, but it was still a thrill knowing they were out there. The unsuccessful nesting attempt is not surprising as many first-year nests fail. The nest still stands
Birds of New England.com 