A few more snow photos

Photo by Chris Bosak A dark-eyed junco visits a backyard in New England, January 2021.

Of course I’m posting a few more snowy bird photos. I hope everyone is safe and enjoying the scenery.

Photo by Chris Bosak A song sparrow visits to a New England backyard, January 2021.

More snow means more snowy bird photos

Photo by Chris Bosak
A pine siskin perches on the top of an evergreen in Danbury, CT, March 2019.

For the third consecutive day, southern New England was hit by an overnight snowfall. None of the “storms” amounted to much in terms of accumulation but they did create some good bird photography opportunities.

Here are a few to get started. Many more to come …

Photo by Chris Bosak A pine siskin perches on the top of an evergreen in Danbury, CT, March 2019.

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

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

A snow photo to get us ready for winter

After watching a few snowy college football games yesterday, I figured I’d get us ready for the white stuff by throwing in a few photos from years past. Today is warm and windy in New England, but that can change at any moment …

Photo by Chris Bosak A Dark-eyed Junco looks for seeds the day following a snow storm in New England, Jan. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Dark-eyed Junco looks for seeds the day following a snow storm in New England, Jan. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak A young Cooper's Hawk eats a squirrel in southern New England in Feb. 2015.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A young Cooper’s Hawk eats a squirrel in southern New England in Feb. 2015.

Continue reading

Get ready for the storm! Send me your photos

Photo by Chris Bosak A Dark-eyed Junco eats a sunflower seedsthe day following a snow storm in New England, Jan. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Dark-eyed Junco eats a sunflower seedsthe day following a snow storm in New England, Jan. 2016.

A snow storm is coming to New England. It makes for one of my favorite times to photograph birds in the backyard and beyond.

If you haven’t already, fill your feeders. You don’t want to wake up to several inches of snow and realize your feeders aren’t filled. Do it now, even in the dark. I just got done with mine. Sunflower seeds, suet cakes, bark butter and peanut nuggets. I also filled a sizable Tupperware container with seeds and brought it inside. That way I can toss some seeds out the window tomorrow at various times as the snow comes down. Many birds will eat seeds off the ground during these storms.

Please send me any photos you get tomorrow (Thursday) during the storm. I’ll post them on this site. It’s not a photo competition; just for fun. Send them to bozclark@earthlink.net.

Thanks and enjoy the storm.

 

Feather layers on a Dark-eyed Junco

Photo by Chris Bosak A Dark-eyed Junco eats sunflowers seeds the day after a snowstorm in Danbury, Conn., Jan. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Dark-eyed Junco eats sunflowers seeds the day after a snowstorm in Danbury, Conn., Jan. 2016.

Check out the amazing feathers on this Dark-eyed Junco, seen here eating sunflower seeds the day after last week’s snowstorm.

Birds and the cold and snow

Photo by Chris Bosak Purple Sandpiper on rocky island off the coast of Darien, CT. (Dec. 2013)

Photo by Chris Bosak
Purple Sandpiper on rocky island off the coast of Darien, CT. (Dec. 2013)

Here we go again. Another snowstorm is due to hit New England tonight. That mean’s slippery roads and canceled school (if you’re a pessimist) or sled riding and canceled school (if you’re an optimist or kid).

It also means another tough night for our birds. But don’t fret, the birds will be just fine. They’ve been surviving our winters for years and years and will continue to do so.

Here’s my latest For the Birds column about how birds survive winters such as this:

Granted it’s been only three winters since The Hour has moved its offices to East Norwalk along the Norwalk River, but this is clearly the longest the river has been frozen over in that time. Instead of seeing rippling water and the accompanying ducks, geese and swans I usually see, for the last few weeks I’ve looked out the window and seen only a wide, serpentine-like expanse of white. Yes, this winter has been a tough one in New England. Extended freezing temperatures, short thaws (if any at all) and lots of snow. Humans can simply crank up the heat in their cars and homes if they are cold. But what about the birds? How do they survive tough winters like this? Birds and other animals have been surviving harsh winters for eons. True, a small percentage of birds will perish during the winter. This is particularly true of individual birds of a species that typically heads south for the winter. Most Great Blue Herons move south for the winter. Some stick around New England and brave the cold.

To read the rest, click here.

 

Downy Woodpeckers in the snow

Photo by Chris Bosak A female downy woodpecker perches on a birdfeeder stand before heading to the suet feeder during the Dec. 14, 2013, snow fall.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A female downy woodpecker perches on a birdfeeder stand before heading to the suet feeder during the Dec. 14, 2013, snow fall.

The snow always brings a lot of birds to the feeders. The Dec. 14, 2013, snowfall was no exception. Here are a few shots of Downy Woodpeckers in the snow. Juncos, White-throated Sparrows, Mourning Doves and Northern Cardinals ate seeds on the ground below. The Downy Woodpeckers owned the suet cake, other than when a much larger female Hairy Woodpecker swooped in to take over.
Send me your snow bird photos at bozclark@earthlink.net and I’ll post them on my “reader submitted” photo page.

Photo by Chris Bosak A male downy woodpecker perches on a birdfeeder stand before heading to the suet feeder during the Dec. 14, 2013, snow fall.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A male downy woodpecker perches on a birdfeeder stand before heading to the suet feeder during the Dec. 14, 2013, snow fall.