A little late, but here are my 2017 top 10 birding highlights

Posted on by
1

As I do every year, I wrote my Top 10 Birding Highlights of the Year column a few weeks ago for the New England newspapers that run For the Birds. Thing is, I forgot to post it here. So, without further delay (I think three weeks is enough delay), here it is …

…..

Photo by Chris Bosak A Great Gray Owl perches in a tree overlooking a field in Newport, N.H., in March 2017.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Great Gray Owl perches in a tree overlooking a field in Newport, N.H., in March 2017.

I almost forgot to write my favorite column of the year: A look back at my year’s top birding highlights.

With Christmas and New Year’s falling on Mondays, I got a brief reprieve from my column, and last week I was eager to share the results of the local Christmas Bird Counts.

What should I write about for my next column, I thought one day last week? Oh yeah, I never did get to my 2017 top 10 birding moments, did I? Thankfully, I remembered just in time.

So, before it gets too far into 2018, here’s my highlight list from 2017.

10. Camping with my son and his friend. Between coaching baseball and other excuses, it had been a few years since I had taken my boys camping. This past summer, my older son, Andrew, got done with school a week before my younger son, Will, so I took the opportunity to visit my favorite spot in Pittsburg. Andrew brought a friend with him. and we swam, hiked, canoed and talked by the fire. They are also old enough now that I was able to leave them alone for a few hours while I went looking for birds.

9. The spring got off to a good start as a good number of eastern towhees showed up before the warbler rush. This April, as I eagerly awaited the return of the warblers, tanagers and buntings, a good number of towhees were reliable sightings Continue reading →

Bird on a wire — this one a red-shouldered hawk

Posted on by
1
Photo by Chris Bosak A red-shouldered hawk perches on a wire in Brookfield, Connecticut, Jan. 2018.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A red-shouldered hawk perches on a wire in Brookfield, Connecticut, Jan. 2018.

When I drove past this red-shouldered hawk near Brookfield (Conn.) High School, I doubted I would be able to find a place to safely pull off the road and snap a few photos. I had to try, however, so I pulled into parking lot a few dozen yards down the road and started to turn around. I noticed, however, that the parking lot afforded an even better view of the bird and just as close. I’ll take that luck any day. Notice the reddish chest and belly barring, as opposed to the more brownish markings of a broad-winged or red-tailed hawk.

No wonder the birds suddenly stopped coming to the feeder

Posted on by
Reply
Photo by Chris Bosak A Cooper's hawk looks up after landing on a snowy branch during a moderate snowfall in Jan. 2018.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Cooper’s hawk looks up after landing on a snowy branch during a moderate snowfall in Jan. 2018.

Watching birds at my feeders during a snowfall is one of my favorite things to do. This year I’m getting nothing out of the ordinary. Not that I’m complaining because I love seeing the titmice, nuthatches, chickadees, woodpeckers (downy, hairy and red-bellied), blue jays and juncos, but I haven’t seen a single siskin, redpoll, Carolina wren or even goldfinch or white-throated sparrow. A male cardinal makes a very rare appearance.

During a recent snowfall I saw nothing for a long stretch. I had been seeing lots of birds earlier in the day and suddenly, nothing. I looked behind the feeding station and noticed why. You guessed it, Cooper’s hawk. Along with sharp-shinned hawks, Copper’s hawks like to check out feeding stations periodically for an easy meal. And why not. The “feeder birds” are there for an easy meal; why begrudge birds of prey one?

Another banner Snowy Owl year

Posted on by
Reply
Norman Spicher of New Hampshire got this photo of a snowy own in the Keene, N.H., in January 2018.

Norman Spicher of New Hampshire got this photo of a snowy own in the Keene, N.H., in January 2018.

It looks like another good year to see snowy owls throughout New England.

The white, powerful Arctic visitors may not be as prolific as they were four winters ago, but it is another exceptionally strong year for sure.

A glimpse at Rare Bird Alerts throughout the region show they are being seen at both coastal and inland areas. They are more likely to be seen along the coast, but not exclusively. Keep your eyes open and you just may spot one of these magnificent creatures.

I have not spotted one this year yet. To be fair, I haven’t made much of an effort as work and family duties have kept me from visiting areas where they have been seen. Luckily, I heard from a reader of my bird column in New Hampshire who sent me a photo of a snowy owl that has been seen in the southwestern corner of that state.

That photo is above and also on the “reader submitted photos” page on this site.
It’s funny, that page also includes a photo of a snowy owl taken in southwestern New Hampshire a few years ago. As I said, snowy owls are most likely to be seen along the coast, but not always.

Good luck in your search. Let me know how you do.

Below are a few photos I took during the historic irruption of 2013, but first here are some links to interesting stories about these northern birds of prey.

From Audubon:

http://www.audubon.org/news/hold-your-bins-another-blizzard-snowy-owls-could-be-coming

How are the owls doing overall?

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-12-21/snowy-owl-migration-gives-scientists-chance-to-study-them

Well-done blog with maps:

https://bryanpfeiffer.com/snowy-owl-scoop/

Here’s where they are being seen:

http://ebird.org/ebird/alert/summary?sid=SN40647&sortBy=obsDt

Now here are some photo I took a few years ago.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Snowy Owl flies across the beach at The Coastal Center at Milford Point in early March 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak A Snowy Owl sits on a sign at The Coastal Center at Milford Point in early March 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Snowy Owl sits on a sign at The Coastal Center at Milford Point in early March 2014.

More photos from Erie’s historic snow

Posted on by
1

Photo by Chris Bosak
Historic snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dec. 2017.

Of course I have to post more photos of the snow that Erie, Pennsylvania, experienced during Christmas week. Here’s the original post in case you missed it.

In fact, I’m going to post new photos every two hours this weekend. What else do we have to do when its this ridiculously cold out?

OK, this is the last one. The regularly scheduled bird photos will resume shortly.

 

 

More photos from Erie’s historic snow

Posted on by
Reply

Photo by Chris Bosak
Historic snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dec. 2017.

Of course I have to post more photos of the snow that Erie, Pennsylvania, experienced during Christmas week. Here’s the original post in case you missed it.

In fact, I’m going to post new photos every two hours this weekend. What else do we have to do when its this ridiculously cold out?

More photos from Erie’s historic snow

Posted on by
Reply

Photo by Chris Bosak
Historic snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dec. 2017.

Of course I have to post more photos of the snow that Erie, Pennsylvania, experienced during Christmas week. Here’s the original post in case you missed it.

In fact, I’m going to post new photos every two hours this weekend. What else do we have to do when its this ridiculously cold out?

I have a few more photos, so again, every two hours one will magically appear on this site.

This happens to be one of my favorites. Love those big willows.

More photos from Erie’s historic snow

Posted on by
Reply

Photo by Chris Bosak
Historic snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dec. 2017.

Of course I have to post more photos of the snow that Erie, Pennsylvania, experienced during Christmas week. Here’s the original post in case you missed it.

In fact, I’m going to post new photos every two hours this weekend. What else do we have to do when its this ridiculously cold out?

This will be the last one for today. I’ll end with a bird-related photo. Thankfully it’s not nesting season.

More photos from Erie’s historic snow

Posted on by
Reply

Photo by Chris Bosak
Historic snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dec. 2017.

Of course I have to post more photos of the snow that Erie, Pennsylvania, experienced during Christmas week. Here’s the original post in case you missed it.

In fact, I’m going to post new photos every two hours this weekend. What else do we have to do when its this ridiculously cold out?

My brother Paul pointed out this interesting composition. Leave it to an ex-Marine.

More photos from Erie’s historic snow

Posted on by
Reply

Photo by Chris Bosak
Historic snowfall in Erie, Pennsylvania, Dec. 2017.

Of course I have to post more photos of the snow that Erie, Pennsylvania, experienced during Christmas week. Here’s the original post in case you missed it.

In fact, I’m going to post new photos every two hours this weekend. What else do we have to do when its this ridiculously cold out?