A few book ideas for last-minute shoppers

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Photo by Chris BosakCover of Water Babies by William Burt.

Photo by Chris Bosak Cover of Water Babies by William Burt.

I’m not sure if they can still be ordered online and arrive in time for Christmas, but here are some book ideas for those last-minute shoppers with a birder on their list. A simple Internet search of the title will yield plenty of ways to find the books.

In my “Bird Book Look” posts, I don’t give full reviews but rather post a photo of the cover and include a little information about the book. On occasion I offer a little personal insight.

Two bonuses on this post (hey, it is almost Christmas): I’ll include four books; and the photos were taken by my fireplace with a fire going _ my favorite way to read.

Here are the books.

The book pictured above is Water Babies by William Burt, a Connecticut-based nature photographer. I am also a Connecticut-based nature photographer, but I have never had the opportunity to meet William. Perhaps some day.

Duck, of course, are a favorite of mine so I love this book. It is a photo book with a lot information about the birds and the quests to photograph them on their breeding grounds. As the title suggests, it is mostly photos of baby ducks and other water birds.

Here’s the description from Amazon:

“Never-before-seen photographs of baby birds of the marshlands from a noted birding photographer

Naturalist William Burt is known for seeking out wild places and elusive birds―and none fit the bill quite so well as the creatures featured in this book. This may well be his break out book, featuring the downy young of the wetlands, Continue reading →

Long Island Sound loses champion in Terry Backer

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Terry Backer

Terry Backer

I’ve done a fair amount of birding on Long Island Sound over the years. The waters off the shores of New England are rich in ducks in the winter and shorebirds in the summer. For more than 10 years now, I’ve scoured Long Island Sound (either on a boat or from the shore) for birds during the Christmas Bird Count. In short, Long Island Sound is a vital habitat for for birds and other wildlife.

Long Island Sound lost one of its most passionate championship this week with the passing of Terry Backer, the Soundkeeper. I had the privilege of speaking with Terry several times, including interviews for newspaper stories, as a guest on my former Bird Calls Radio talk show and just shooting the breeze. Terry will be missed by Continue reading →

Tip on how to attract birds in the winter

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Northern Cardinal, left, and an American Goldfinch perch in a tree near a feeding station at Cove Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Stamford, Conn., in March 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Northern Cardinal, left, and an American Goldfinch perch in a tree near a feeding station at Cove Island Wildlife Sanctuary in Stamford, Conn., in March 2015.

Here’s a press release shamelessly used in full here from the National Audubon Society. It’s good information, so here it is. (The post is jazzed up by one of my own photo, however.)

TIP SHEET: Winterize Your Yard for Birds

Tips on How to Welcome Winter Birds For Reporters and Bird Lovers

NEW YORK (December 15, 2015) – With winter just days away, and the Christmas Bird Count finally here, there’s no better time to protect the birds you love. Birds have the same needs—food, water, shelter—in winter as they do any other time. Helping these winter visitors could help sustain their populations in both their wintering and summering grounds. The National Audubon Society has compiled the following guide on simple ways you can help.

Bird-friendly Yards and Communities

Where birds thrive, people prosper. One of the most important things we can do to help birds and other wildlife is to make our yards bird and wildlife-friendly.

  • Minimize the amount of manicured lawn in your yard. Reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizers in your yard and plant native species. The wilder and more varied, the better it is for your avian neighbors.
  • Make a brush pile in the corner of the yard. Collect and set aside fallen branches and logs. This will provide shelter for birds from predators and storms, and a place to roost at night.
  • Rake leaves up under trees and shrubs and leave them there. The resulting mulch will make a lush environment for the insects and spiders that birds love to eat.
  • Create a songbird border of native trees and shrubs to create shelter from wind. Berry and fruit-producing shrubs and trees such as dogwoods, hollies, chokeberries, and elderberries and cherry trees are favored by many types of birds.  Plant native species whenever possible, and avoid invasives.
  • Clean out old nest boxes and feeders. It’s wise to remove old nests and seeds from shelters and feeders to prevent birds from getting sick.
  • Protect Your Windows. About a billion birds die from glass collisions each year. You can reduce this threat by making all your windows visible to birds. Glass appears clear or reflective to birds. Visual cues and markers as window decals on the outside of windows alert birds to the presence of glass.

Continue reading →

Featured photo on “The Birding Wire”

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The Birding Wire is an electronic newsletter that comes out weekly as a service of the Outdoor Wire Digital Network. It includes news, events, equipment reviews and other odds/ends about the birding world. It also includes a featured photo of the week.

Guess who had this week’s featured photo? (The Birding Wire is actually much larger, but I just spliced via Photoshop the top and the section with the featured photo.) To see the Birding Wire, click here.

https://birdsofnewengland.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/birding-wire-mash.jpg

The Birding Wire featured photo, Dec. 9, 2015.

Day 6 of my #challengeonnaturephotography

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Here is my Day 6 contribution to #challengeonnaturephotography

See previous post for explanation of #challengeonnaturephotography

Thanks for checking out http://www.birdsofnewengland.com

challenge 6

 

Day 5 of my #challengeonnaturephotography

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Here is my Day 5 contribution to #challengeonnaturephotography

See previous post for explanation of #challengeonnaturephotography

Thanks for checking out http://www.birdsofnewengland.com

challenge5

Day 4 of my #challengeonnaturephotography

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Here is my Day 4 contribution to #challengeonnaturephotography

See previous post for explanation of #challengeonnaturephotography

Thanks for checking out http://www.birdsofnewengland.com

Screen shot 2015-12-07 at 2.16.10 PM

 

Day 3 of my #challengeonnaturephotography

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Here is my Day 3 contribution to #challengeonnaturephotography

See previous post for explanation of #challengeonnaturephotography

Thanks for checking out http://www.birdsofnewengland.com

challenge 3

I have accepted the #challengeonnaturephotography

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Day 1 of the #challengeonnaturephotography

Day 1 of the #challengeonnaturephotography

One of the many latest things on Facebook these days is the Challenge on Nature Photography. Oh, I’m sorry. This is 2015. I mean the #challengeonnaturephotography

I was challenged by my friend David Winston, the landscaper/photographer of Cove Island Wildlife Sanctuary fame. The challenge is put up a different nature photograph for seven days and nominate a different person to do the same. Coming up with seven nature photographs will be a breeze. Can I come up with seven Facebook friends who would accept the challenge. Do you want to be challenged? Let me know and nominate you. Above is my first contribution to the Challen … sorry, to the #challengeonnaturephotography

You can look on Twitter using the hashtag search #challengeonnaturephotography for other challenge-takers throughout the world. I’m happy to be part of it and thank David for his nomination.