New England is bracing for a major snowstorm on Wednesday evening and into Thursday. In the meantime, we got a little preview on Monday with a coating of snow. Here are some shots from Monday with thoughts for better snow photos coming soon. Feel free to send your snowy bird photos to birdsofnewengland@gmail.com and I’ll include them on the Reader Submitted Photos page.
Yesterday’s rain did not deter the birds from coming to my homemade feeder, which I worked so hard on. Actually, I found a log in the backyard and placed it on my deck railing. Anyway Continue reading
For a cold February day, it’s been a pretty good day at the feeder. In all, 14 species showed up already and it’s not even noon. The pileated woodpecker was in the side yard, not at the feeders. I took the photo through a dirty, hence the poor quality. Here’s some photographic evidence of the busy day: Continue reading
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Carolina Wren perches near an evergreen at Merganser Lake in Connecticut, January 2016.
Not many backyard birds are as entertaining as the Carolina Wren. They sing, they chatter, they dart to and fro. And they are a handsome bird. One of these Carolina Wrens entertained me today at my new place at Merganser Lake. It perched on a stack of logs that my son Andrew split, then flew over the Christmas tree I put outside to provide shelter for birds. Here are few photos of this little charmer.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Carolina Wren perches on a stack of wood at Merganser Lake in January 2016.
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Carolina Wren searches on the snow-covered ground for food in New England, Feb. 2015.
I know I just featured Carolina Wrens in a recent post, but I couldn’t resist posting a few more photos. I’ve seen these beautiful wrens on suet feeders and platform feeders, but I hadn’t seen them looking for food under feeding stations before. Severe weather can cause Continue reading
Photo by Chris Bosak
A Carolina Wren perches on a feeder in New England in January 2015.
I was sitting in my bedroom doing some work on the computer when I heard a familiar song behind me. It wasn’t coming from the clock radio. It wasn’t even that type of song. It was a bird song, of course, and it was being belted out richly by a Carolina Wren.
“Tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle!” Loud and strong.
It was nice to hear the song. It’s been a long time since we’ve heard a lot of birdsong in New England. I’ve heard plenty of bird calls — non-melodic chips often coming from cardinals and White-throated Sparrows — but not a lot of songs. But this Carolina Wren was in full voice. Why? I’m not exactly sure. I’ve heard Carolina Wrens sing in the winter before, plenty of times. My guess is that it’s territorial posturing. That’s part of why birds sing in the spring, mostly over breeding territories. I think this wren was protecting his feeding station.
(Story continues below, with more photos, too.)
Photo by Chris Bosak
Peregrine Falcon at Veterans Park in Norwalk, Conn., seen during the 115th Christmas Bird Count.
The weather was actually quite nice (cold, but calm) and the birds were plentiful. A story about the Christmas Bird Count (Westport Circle) is posted on http://www.theour.com.
I personally had a good day, too, in terms of finding birds. Below are more photos from the interesting birds I found during the count. Yes, I realize the photos aren’t of great quality, but it was very overcast and the photos were taken mostly to prove what was seen. Some of the photos aren’t too bad, though. Anyway …
The highlight was the three warblers I saw at Oystershell Park in Norwalk. Even one warbler species is pretty rare for a New England Christmas Bird Count, but I had three at one location. The warblers were an Orange-crowned Warbler, Continue reading
