Tag Archives: #birdsofnewengland

Snow goose concludes Duck Week

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Photo by Chris Bosak Snow goose in New England, March 2025.

I know, same as yesterday, geese are not ducks. They are close enough for this very unofficial birdsofnewengland.com Duck Week celebration. Snow geese gather in massive numbers in some parts of the Atlantic flyway. In many cases, they are uncountable because there are so many. In other parts, however, snow geese are a fairly rare sighting. I live in a part of New England where snow geese are not seen often. In fact, this one I saw at a beach was the first one I had seen in years. Usually, when they are seen where I live, it is a single snow goose within a flock of Canada geese. This one, however, was alone near the beach. I hope it finds more of its kind during migration.

Click here for more information about the snow goose.

Thanks for checking out Duck Week at http://www.birdsofnewengland.com

Scaup continue Duck Week

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Photo by Chris Bosak
Lesser scaup drake in a river bay in New England, March 2025.

Scaup congregate in large numbers off the coast of Long Island Sound and its tributary rivers during the winter months. The flocks can be several hundred individuals strong, including drakes and hens. On occasion, a redhead may be found within the flock. Greater and lesser scaup are commonly seen in large numbers throughout New England in the winter.

Click here for more information about the greater scaup.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Scaup in a river bay in New England, March 2025.

Ring-necked duck continues Duck Week

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Photo by Chris Bosak Male ring-necked ducks swim in a pond in New England, March 2025.

The ring-necked duck is next up for birdsofnewengland.com’s Duck Week. This duck may have been better suited to being called ring-billed duck because the ring on its bill is a much easier field mark to see than the one on its neck. But it isn’t, so we’re stuck with ring-necked duck. Just like the hooded merganser, which kicked off Duck Week on Monday, I’ve seen a ton of ring-necked ducks this winter. They were seemingly on every unfrozen fresh-water body a few weeks ago.

For more information on the ring-necked duck, click here.

Photo by Chris Bosak Male ring-necked ducks swim in a pond in New England, March 2025.

Northern pintail continues “Duck Week”

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Photo by Chris Bosak Northern pintail pair at a pond in New England, March 2025.

The northern pintail is the next fowl up for birdsofnewengland’s Duck Week, a very unofficial declaration made by me because I have a lot of recent duck photos that need to be shared. Pintail drakes are one of the most handsome ducks we have in New England. If you missed the first Duck Week post, click here to meet the hooded merganser.

For more information about the northern pintail, click here.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Here is that pintail pair with an American wigeon pair swimming behind them, March 2025.

Hooded merganser kicks off “Duck Week”

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Photo by Chris Bosak Male hooded merganser in New England, March 2025.

Welcome to Duck Week, birdsofnewengland.com’s very unofficial declaration to celebrate the spring duck migration. Duck Week will be a collection of duck photos I have snapped over the last few weeks. Now seems like a good time, as I’m starting to see fewer ducks as they make their way north to their breeding grounds.

I’ll start with the hooded merganser, one of my favorite birds of all time. I saw a ton of hooded mergansers this late winter/early spring. Look for them in fresh or brackish water, including relatively small bodies of water.

Click here for more information on the hooded merganser.

Photo by Chris Bosak Female hooded merganser, March 2025.

One more bonus photo …

Photo by Chris Bosak Two male hooded mergansers pass each other in a small pond in New England, March 2025.

For the Birds: Early favorite for Bird of the Winter

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Photo by Chris Bosak An American robin eats border privet berries in New England, January 2025.

The American robin has secured a spot as the frontrunner for the Bird of the Winter.

I usually announce my Bird of the Winter much later than the second week of January, but I could tell already that the robin is likely to be the winner. The Bird of the Winter recognition, of course, is a very unofficial designation made by yours truly. It goes to the bird, as the name suggests, that is seen in surprisingly high numbers throughout the winter.

Past winters have included snowy owl, barred owl, dark-eyed junco, and eastern bluebird. This year the robin is running away with it.

It started on Christmas Day when I looked out of a window into the side yard and noticed a lot of activity in an eastern cedar tree. The activity, as you probably have guessed, was robins going in and out of the branches, gobbling up the berries in the tree. The robins came and went for hours upon end, and, all told, there had to be over 100 of them. 

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For the Birds: Patience pays off again

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Photo by Chris Bosak A yellow-rumped warbler eats poison ivy berries in New England, fall 2021.

Any birdwatcher knows that patience and faith are perhaps the two most important components to a successful bird walk.

I started a recent walk with high hopes, as I always do, but as the morning went on and no birds were to be found, I started to lose hope of seeing anything. To compound matters, the field at the park had recently been mowed for the first time of the year, making bird encounters even less likely.

It still would have been a pleasant walk because the autumn morning chill had given way to a beautiful and warm sunny day. But with fall migration in full swing, I was disappointed in the birding results.

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For the Birds: Efts and mushrooms make for a very orange walk

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Photo by Chris Bosak An eft works its way across a path in New England, fall 2021.

Orange was the color of the day during a recent morning walk in the woods.

It had rained overnight and the trails were damp in most places and puddled in others. I got a flash of excitement when I saw my first eft. Then I saw another. Then another. Efts were underfoot on every fifth or sixth step.

Efts are eastern newts in the terrestrial stage. Some are brownish but most are bright orange and, despite their small size, very visible on paths in the woods. They can be found any day from late spring into fall, but damp weather is when you are most likely to find them, even if you aren’t looking for them.

Newts have four distinct stages, or life cycles. Females lay eggs on aquatic vegetation in the spring. A month to five weeks later, the eggs hatch and the newts live in water for a few months. At this larval stage, they are less than 1 inch long and have feathery gills. In the fall, they shed their gills, crawl onto land and live as efts for about three or four years. They spend New England’s harsh winters hibernating under logs or rocks.

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For the Birds: Big news week for the birds

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Photo by Chris Bosak Yellow-rumped Warbler in Selleck’s Woods, Darien, Conn., April 2014.

Note: This column was originally published in newspapers on Oct. 4.

There was a lot of environmental and bird-related news to come out of Washington this past week.

In case you missed it, the big news was that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials declared the ivory-billed woodpecker extinct. The “Lord God Bird’s” removal from the endangered species list is surprising only because officials are reluctant to declare species extinct. It’s such a powerful word that carries with it such finality it’s a tough tag to put on something.

The dreaded label was also placed on 22 other species of wildlife, including eight freshwater mussels. Sadly, but not surprisingly, 11 species from Hawaii and the Pacific Islands have been declared extinct. That includes many birds.

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Palm warblers out in force

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Photo by Chris Bosak A palm warbler stands on a stone wall in New England, October 2021.

Three species dominated the count total on my morning bird walk today. White-throated sparrows were plentiful and it was great to hear their song again. Yellow-rumped warblers were plentiful, as they often are this time of year. Palm warblers were numerous as well and a flock of five kept me company near a stone wall at Huntington State Park. The fall warbler migration is bittersweet. It’s great to see them, of course, but the crisp air reminds me they will be gone soon and a long winter looms. At least winter is good for birdwatching too.

Photo by Chris Bosak A palm warbler stands on a stone wall in New England, October 2021.