Great Backyard Bird Count personal results

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Photo by Chris Bosak A white-breasted nuthatch sits on a bird-shaped birdfeeder during the winter of 2016-17 in Danbury, Conn.
Photo by Chris Bosak A white-breasted nuthatch sits on a bird-shaped birdfeeder during the winter of 2016-17 in Danbury, Conn.

As promised, here are the results of my Great Backyard Bird Count experience this morning. It wasn’t overly successful in terms of finding birds, but it wasn’t too bad either. At any rate, all checklists are valuable, so my 2019 GBBC list is in. Not that participants are limited to one checklist, and I may just do another one tomorrow as the Count runs through Monday.

My species list included: black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, white-breasted nuthatch, downy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, dark-eyed junco, pine siskin, American goldfinch, hooded merganser, and ring-necked duck. The waterfowl, of course, I spotted at the pond at the end of the trail behind my house. The pond is 85 percent frozen, but open just enough to hold a small flock of ring-necks.

Feel free to share your highlights by commenting on this site or BirdsofNewEngland.com Facebook.

Since my species list wasn’t so great, here are photos of each bird I saw today. (Note: The photos were not taken today, but these are “file photos.”) Continue reading →

Still time to participate in Great Backyard Bird Count

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A Red-breasted Nuthatch perches near a birdfeeding station in Danbury, Conn., Oct. 2016.
A Red-breasted Nuthatch perches near a bird feeding station in Danbury, Conn., Oct. 2016.

There is still time to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. In fact, in recent years the Count has been extended through Monday — so no excuses. It’s a beautiful day in New England (at least where I am) and I’m eager to head out right after making this post. I’ll let you know what I find later today or tomorrow. As always, feel free to send me your highlights.

Remember, if you see a ton of birds or only a few (or none), it’s all good data. Don’t fail to submit results just because you think it was an “unsuccessful” bird walk. Click here for my recent column on that matter.

Many people are concerned that they are not seeing chickadees at their feeder this winter. This is your chance to contribute to data that may help scientists determine if, indeed, there is a problem.

All the information about the GBBC and how to submit your results may be found by clicking here.

For the Birds: Birds do just fine without feeders, too

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A Blue Jay eats an acorn at Selleck’s Woods in Darien, Conn., April 2016.

After a three-hour drive to visit my brother Gregg in upstate New York, it was nice to relax and watch the black-capped chickadees forage in theblue spruce trees outside his kitchen window.

A flock of dark-eyed juncos darted past the window and settled at the base of his house where a bare patch of ground offered the only hope for these ground-feeding birds. The rest of the yard was buried under snow and ice.

A glance back at the spruce trees proved what I had thought all along: The chickadees were not alone. It was a mixed flock of chickadees and tufted titmice poking at the Continue reading →

Titmouse and the peanut

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A tufted titmouse take a peanut from a railing in Danbury, Connecticut, February 2019.

Here is a short series of photos showing a tufted titmouse contemplating and ultimately deciding to make off with a peanut, which looks comically large in the bird’s tiny bill. Good thing titmice don’t swallow their food whole.

I got this.

Continue reading →

Live was a flop, but here are some photos from today

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Photo by Chris Bosak
A song sparrow takes shelter in an old Christmas tree during a snowfall in Danbury, Connecticut, February 2019.

My attempt to go live from my feeders today was, well, a learning experience. The video quality looked much better on my iPhone screen than how it translated onto the big screen next to me. Also, Facebook live makes you shoot vertically (not how you’re supposed to do it!) so the first several minutes appeared sideways. Who knew?

The birds were fairly cooperative during the 15-minute live shoot. A group of pine siskins covered the tube feeder while mourning doves, titmice, chickadees, goldfinches, juncos, downy woodpeckers, and white-breasted nuthatches visited the various other feeders. A song sparrow, an irregular visitor at my feeders anyway, also showed up and took seeds from the platform feeder.

What was somewhat expected but didn’t show up were blue jays, cardinals, and red-bellied woodpeckers.

I guess it’s time to look into a new camera capable of streaming live video. The iPhone just didn’t cut it – at least for this experiment. Thanks to those who did tune in. Next time will be better.

In the meantime, here are some more photos from the action Continue reading →

BirdsofNewEngland.com is going live

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It’s a beautiful, snowy day in southern New England. The feeders are active — as they typically are during snowy times — so why not go live?? I’ll go live from noon until about 12:30 p.m. It’s a gamble as all the birds may disappear by then and return at 12:31, but it’ll be fun nonetheless. There will be limited narration, but feel free to send in questions via this site or Facebook and I’ll try to answer as quickly as possible. Tell your bird-loving friends, too.

Click here for the live feed.

More kingfisher on sign photos

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Photo by Chris Bosak A belted kingfisher perches on a “No Fishing” sign in Danbury, Connecticut, February 2019.

Here are a few more photos of the male belted kingfisher on the “No Fishing” sign I spotted the other day. Remember, in a somewhat rare occurrence in the bird world, belted kingfisher females are more colorful with the rusty band on the belly. An old photo of a female is included on the bottom of this post as a reference. Continue reading →

TGIF: Amusing bird photo

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Photo by Chris Bosak A belted kingfisher perches on a “No Fishing” sign in Danbury, Connecticut, February 2019.

Here’s a funny bird photo for your Friday.

Sometimes you spend hours in the woods looking for birds and find nothing. Sometimes you drive along the access road at the local shopping mall and a belted kingfisher is perched on a “No Fishing” sign. Now, if only the bird had a fish in his mouth … Happy Friday everyone!

Anybody have a clever caption for the photo?

For the Birds: Get out and count – for the birds

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Photo by Chris Bosak An American Robin perches on a rock at Weed Beach in Darien, Conn., in Jan. 2015.
Photo by Chris Bosak
An American Robin perches on a rock at Weed Beach in Darien, Conn., in Jan. 2015. Flocks of robins often show up during winter bird counts

I am guilty. I admit it.

Even though I have preached in this column before about the importance of participating in citizen science studies and turning in results, whether those results are good or bad, I often do not submit my “bad walks.”

Take eBird, for example.

Even though it would valuable to report all of my walks to this online bird database, I often submit only results for the walks that yield unique or plentiful species. I saw only two chickadees and a turkey vulture flyover, I say to myself. How is that data going to be valuable?

In reality, that data is just as valuable as the results I turn in when the birding is good. Scientists who track this data need to know what’s going on out there at all times, not just when a lot of birds are around.

Is there a problem brewing with a certain species? Biologists will never know Continue reading →

For the Birds: Winter and birds

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Here is the latest For the Birds column:

Photo by Chris Bosak A black-capped chickadee rests on an icy branch during a winter storm in Jan. 2019 in New England.

Winter poses serious challenges for birds and other wildlife.

The cold is the first thing that comes to mind. How do small birds such as chickadees and goldfinches survive sustained sub-zero temperatures? How do water birds such as gulls, ducks and geese stand on ice all day with bitter winds driving through them?

Birds that remain in New England all year have adapted to the low temperatures. Cold may be a challenge, but it’s one they can handle.

Chickadees and other birds have all sorts of adaptations to survive bitter cold days and nights. They increase their weight and fat percentage, they puff out their feathers to trap warm air close to their bodies, they huddle together for warmth, they drop their body temperature at night, and they eat a lot.

Water birds have an extra layer of down feathers to keep dry and toasty. Also, their legs don’t freeze because of a magical counter-current heat exchange between their veins and arteries. It’s not magic, of course, but it’s a complex system worthy of its own column. Let’s just say their feet don’t have to be as warm as their bodies (otherwise they’d be covered in feathers) and the way their blood flows keeps the legs from freezing.

So the cold, while uncomfortable on the most bitter nights, is usually Continue reading →