Clearing out my 2014 photos, take 7: Northern Cardinal

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Northern Cardinal perches on a branch in New England in spring 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Northern Cardinal perches on a branch in New England in spring 2014.

Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting.

Everybody loves Northern Cardinals. I took this shot in 2014, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t really remember the details. I found it in a random folder and only sort of remembered even taking the photo. Some days of shooting are like that: The action is so fast it’s hard to keep track of what you’re shooting. Other days, of course, not so much.

I believe I took this shot at Cove Island Wildlife Sanctuary, but it was definitely in 2014. Trust me on that one.

Latest For the Birds column — Far parking pays off again

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Brown Creeper climbs up the underside of a branch on a tree in Norwalk, Dec. 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Brown Creeper climbs up the underside of a branch on a tree in Norwalk, Dec. 2014.

Here’s my latest For the Birds column that appeared in The Hour and Keene Sentinel. A few months ago I wrote about the advantages of parking in a spot far away from my work’s building, so I could walk along the river to see what birds were around. Well, the practice paid off again.

Read about it here.

Clearing out my 2014 photos, take 6: Brant

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Photo by Chris Bosak A flock of Brant swims in the marshlands of Milford Point in Milford, Conn., April 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A flock of Brant swims in the marshlands of Milford Point in Milford, Conn., April 2014.

Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting.

Here’s a small flock of Brant I saw in the spring of 2014. At certain locations along the coast of southern New England, Brant flocks can number in the hundreds along Long Island Sound. At Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Conn., the Brant flock pushes 1,000 birds or more.

Brant look somewhat similar to Canada Geese, but are smaller. A few individual Brant hang around New England through May and into June, but most of them return to their nesting grounds in the Arctic by March or April. It’s nice that they come visit us each winter.

Clearing out my 2014 photos, Take 5: Gray Catbird

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Gray Catbird perches on a thorny branch in Selleck's/Dunlap Woods in summer 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Gray Catbird perches on a thorny branch in Selleck’s/Dunlap Woods in summer 2014.

Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting.

I probably overlooked this photo because I have so many Gray Catbird photos. In the summer in southern New England, birds can sometimes be scarce as they are busy raising families and hiding from potential predators. Catbirds, however, always seem to be around. They aren’t always in the open, but they are more so than the other birds. Birders and nature photographers with itchy “clicking fingers” are thankful for the photo ops Gray Catbirds give us in the summer.

Clearing out my 2014 photos, Take 4: Icy Branches

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Photo by Chris Bosak Ice covers branches in New England during a storm in Jan. 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Ice covers branches in New England during a storm in Jan. 2014.

Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting.

Sometimes the most interesting things you see on a bird walk are not the birds at all. Here’s an example. A cold rain turned to ice while I was in the woods one day last January. It was fairly unpleasant out there, but the way the ice sheathed everything in the woods made it worth it. The drive home wasn’t fun either, but I made it.

Eastern Towhee under feeder, nice start to 2015

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Photo by Chris Bosak An Eastern Towhee searches a garden for food in Jan. 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An Eastern Towhee searches a garden for food in Jan. 2015.

This weekend I was looking at the regular visitors to my birdfeeders, which in my case include Tufted Titmice, Black-capped Chickadee, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker and White-throated Sparrow (at least this time of year). Then I noticed another bird on the ground under the feeder: a male Eastern Towhee. Towhees are not typical feeder birds and this bird wasn’t necessarily around the feeder looking for sunflower seeds. It scratched under leaves and sticks in the garden for other seeds and any insects that may still be around. Towhees also eat berries during the winter.

Most towhees have flown south by now, but a few are still around trying to stick out the New England winter. I remember seeing several last winter, too.

I’ve been seeing more and more towhees over the last few years. Hopefully that means they are doing well overall as a species.

An Eastern Towhee in the garden in January: Not a bad way to start 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak An Eastern Towhee searches a garden for food in Jan. 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An Eastern Towhee searches a garden for food in Jan. 2015.

Hooded Mergansers handle the snow

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Photo by Chris Bosak Four male Hooded Mergansers swim in Norwalk Harbor near Veterans Park in Norwalk, Conn., Jan. 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Four male Hooded Mergansers swim in Norwalk Harbor near Veterans Park in Norwalk, Conn., Jan. 2015.

Much of Norwalk Harbor was frozen on Tuesday afternoon, but the spots that weren’t frozen made for ideal hunting grounds for Hooded Mergansers. It was the first measurable snow of the year for coastal southwestern Connecticut so I figured I’d take a quick drive to see what photographic opportunities presented themselves. Hooded Mergansers are often the only birds around on such days. Ducks, with their down feathers close to their bodies, are supremely adapted to handle such conditions.

Clearing out my 2014 photos, Take 3: Mourning Dove close up

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Mourning Dove looks for seeds under a feeder during a snowy day in Jan. 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Mourning Dove looks for seeds under a feeder during a snowy day in Jan. 2014.

Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting. Here’s a Mourning Dove looking for food under my birdfeeder during a snowy day last winter. The photo was taken in January 2014. Check out the subtle colors in this beautiful bird.

Clearing out my 2014 photos, Take 2: Piping Plover preening

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Piping Plover preens on the beach at Milford Point, Conn., in April 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Piping Plover preens on the beach at Milford Point, Conn., in April 2014.

Here’s my next photo in the series of 2014 photos that I never got around to looking at and posting. I ran a similar photo in April, but here’s another look at a Piping Plover _ an endangered bird in New England _ preening at Audubon Coastal Connecticut Center at Milford Point. The photo was taken in April 2014.

Click here to read more about Piping Plovers and to see more photos of this spectacular shorebird. 

Clearing out my 2014 photos, Take 1: American Oystercatcher

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Photo by Chris Bosak An American Oystercatcher walks along the beach at Milford Point in Connecticut, April 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
An American Oystercatcher walks along the beach at Milford Point in Connecticut, April 2014.

I was trying to find something on my computer’s desktop recently and just couldn’t find it for the life of me. I knew it was there and I knew I kept somehow looking right past it. Yet, it escaped my view.

My eyes eventually fixed upon it, but the whole experience got me thinking. Why did I have such a hard time trying to find that damn file? The answer was blatantly obvious. I have way too much sh … stuff on my desktop. I looked at the contents of my desktop and many are folders of photos I took during 2014. Some contained photos I used for one reason or another, and some contained photos that never saw the light of day: not in a column, website posting, nothing.

So with this posting, I’ll start showing some of the photos that I “never got around to” in 2014. It will force me to go through the folders, clean up my desktop and, hopefully, give visitors to this site some nice, until now never-before-seen New England wildlife photos. I’ll post several photos over the next few days. I hope you like these almost-forgotten photos.