I’m sure there’s a funny caption to be had for this photo, but I can’t think of it right now. I caught this guy red-handed and looking guilty as anything as he ate the remnants of a pumpkin left over from Halloween. Feel free to send me your caption …
This cool, November day seemed like a perfect time to add another apple photo — even though apple season in New England September and October. Here’s a link to the original apple photo.
You didn’t think I’d stop at just a couple kinglet photos, did you? Continue reading
I’ve seen them in the deep woods, in my flower garden, in suburban parks and even at a sandy beach.
There are no excuses for missing out on kinglets during the fall migration. That is, unless you aren’t outside enough looking for them, which is unacceptable.
Last week, I wrote about the tiny kinglets being tough creatures able to withstand extremely low temperatures. This week, I’ll take a closer look at kinglets, a good reliable sighting throughout New England during migration periods.
We have two types of kinglets in New England: the ruby-crowned kinglet and the golden-crowned kinglet. Don’t let the names fool you, the color of the crown is not a good way to distinguish the two species in the field. First of all, you hardly ever see the crowns in the first place — especially that of the ruby-crowned kinglet — and secondly, the colors don’t Continue reading
Selling some bird wares at Christ the King Lutheran Church’s Tag and Craft Fair in Newtown, Connecticut (Saturday, November 9). Stop by if you’re in the neighborhood.
I’ll offer some cards for sale on this site soon – as soon as I figure out how to do it!
Here is the latest For the Birds column, which runs in several New England newspapers …
I was recently interviewed about birds and bird population trends by radio show host John McGauley of WKBK.
John had a lot of interesting questions and, following the interview, one in particular stood out in my mind. He asked: “What are the more sturdy birds? Are there any that are especially hardy and durable?”
My on-the-spot answer was hawks and other large raptors. While hawks are indeed large and strong and fierce, I wish I had would have responded differently. All birds, large and small, are hardy and durable. It would have sounded like a wishy-washy answer, but I could have explained it.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds, weighing in at about three Continue reading
Here are two more shots of the nuthatch taken with the borrowed Continue reading
My friend Ellen was excited to show me her new Canan f2.8 lens with a range of 70 to 200mm. She asked if I wanted to borrow it for a week and I said yes (of course). With 200mm as the maximum zoom, its capability as a wildlife photography lens is limited, but still very useful for some circumstances. Many of the days were overcast and that made the 2.8 aperture very handy. It is also a high-quality lens so even subjects that are a bit distant will still be sharp.
I experimented with the lens mostly in the backyard where I know I have a steady supply of subjects near the birdfeeders. White-breasted nuthatches turned out to be the best subjects as they perched in a tree close to the feeders before coming to get a seed. Here are some of the results. Continue reading
This blue jay apparently does, especially since they are really peanuts.
Radio people often joke that they prefer that medium over television because they “have a face made for radio.” Well, after having my own radio show for a few years, I can say that I have a “voice made for newspapers.” (Hence, my long career in newspaper writing and editing.)
But, despite that, I recently appeared as a guest on John McGauley’s entertaining Friday radio show on WKBK in Keene, N.H. John reads my column in The Keene Sentinel and was intrigued by an article I had written about a bird population study. He asked if I’d do a quick interview to explain it further. Of course, I obliged and was happy to do so.
I hadn’t been on the radio since I pulled the plug on my Bird Calls Radio show six years ago (or thereabouts). John had some great questions and my answers were fairly intelligent (at least I think so) and delivered in my typical better-off-in-newspapers voice with lots of ums and ahs. So, if you’re a glutton for punishment, click on the link below. I’m on for about the first 20 minutes.
Thanks to John and WKBK for the opportunity.
Birds of New England.com 