For the Birds: Loons and eagles highlight trip up north

Posted on July 25, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak
A common loon rests on a pond in northern New Hampshire, summer 2026.

It was a scene you might see in the opening frames of a movie.

The mist was thick coming off the water, and the sunrise peaking over the distant mountain painted the eastern sky a brilliant orange. Tall pines marked the edge of the pond, and a pair of loons silently floated on the mirror-like water.

Heather and I slowly paddled toward the loons but kept a respectable distance so as to not disturb their morning routine, which seemed to be not much more than sitting still on the water. Neither one of the loons made any of their iconic sounds, but the scene was still quintessential New England regardless.

As we paddled east toward the rising and slowly brightening sun, belted kingfishers on either side of the pond rattled simultaneously, creating a stereo effect among the din of birdsong that filled the morning air. Based on what we heard, common yellowthroats, Swainson’s thrushes, red-winged blackbirds and red-breasted nuthatches were the dominant songbirds hiding in the thick woods.

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For the Birds: What’s up with the bald cardinal?

Posted on June 27, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak A Northern Cardinal drinks from a bird bath in New England, fall 2015. — Photo by Chris Bosak
A Northern Cardinal drinks from a bird bath in New England.

I’ve seen it dozens of times, but it’s always initially startling when I see a molting cardinal with a bald head.

My home office looks over the side yard where my birdfeeders are located. (No surprise there, I’m sure.) There are tall bushes on either side of the feeders, and most birds perch in one of those before venturing over to the feeders.

Lately, the action has been predictably a bit slower as the birds are busy raising young. Throughout the day, however, the usual assortment of chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, song sparrows, blue jays, mourning doves, downy woodpeckers and cardinals pay visits. So far this summer, as a pleasant surprise, gray catbirds are my most common visitors as they come to eat mealworms and suet. They are also frequent visitors to the birdbath located a few dozen yards away. I never pinpointed it, but I know the catbirds have a nest in one of the nearby bushes.

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For the Birds: Wrapping up the warbler season

Posted on June 5, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak – A northern parula sings from the top of a shrub in New England this spring.

Now that the spring migration is over, at least for the most part, it’s time to turn our attention to summer birdwatching.

Before we do that, I want to recap my spring birdwatching highlights. Spring highlights often begin and end with warblers, and this spring was no exception, although some non-warblers are certainly worthy of inclusion here.

It was another good spring for warblers. I’ll get into some of the less common ones later in the column, but the warblers that are often seen in New England did not disappoint. Yellow warblers were, and continue to be, seemingly around every corner. Their ubiquitous song is inescapable. (Not that I’d want to escape it in the first place.)

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Repeat performance for sandhill cranes at Presque Isle State Park

Posted on May 28, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak
Sandhill cranes at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, May 2026.

It was a repeat performance for the sandhill cranes at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, earlier in May. Last year, my brother and I visited the park in my old hometown in northwestern Pennsylvania and were surprised to see sandhill cranes. Indeed, it was the first year the cranes attempted to nest at Presque Isle, which is a peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Here’s the story from last year.

This year, the cranes are back, and by the time we visited the park, they had two young ones (colts) with them. I saw them only from a distance, so the photos aren’t great, but they’re serviceable enough. See the colt in the lower right of the top and bottom photos. I returned home to New England a few days later, and I haven’t heard whether the cranes were successful in raising the colts, but I hope so.

Sandhill cranes have also been nesting in random spots throughout New England over the last few years.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Sandhill crane at Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, May 2026.

For the Birds: A worthwhile detour

Posted on May 23, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak
A female Baltimore oriole brings material back to her nesting site this spring.

On my way to visit my family in Pennsylvania, I decided to stop at the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area in Sullivan County, New York, to see what birds might be in and around the giant marsh.

I used to canoe there frequently when I lived closer to that spot, but I hadn’t been there in many years. I didn’t have my canoe with me this time, but luckily there is a trail that follows the edge of the water and offers many expansive views.

As a bonus, the trail is wooded, so you get the shallow water on one side and the woods on the other. The Bashakill has a navigable channel winding through the middle, but the surrounding area is shallow water with thick aquatic vegetation where wood ducks and other birds find refuge.

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Piping plovers and oystercatchers highlight trip to shore

Posted on April 16, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak
A male piping plover (back) pursues a female at Milford Point in New England, April 16, 2026.

I took a trip to the Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point today to see piping plovers, American oystercatchers, and whatever else may be around. I timed it nicely, as I found several piping plover pairs doing their mating ritual and even saw one pair copulating.

The male plovers followed the females around the rocks and sand, standing tall and performing a type of stomp dance with their feet and legs. It was quite entertaining.

While the plovers and oystercatchers were the highlight, there were dozens (hundreds maybe) of brant still hanging around New England.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Piping plovers copulate at Milford Point in New England, April 16, 2026.

Photo by Chris Bosak
American oystercatcher pair at Milford Point in New England, April 16, 2026.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Brant at Milford Point in New England, April 16, 2026.

For the Birds: Finally, a column on old bird names

Posted on March 14, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak
The eastern towhee used to be called chewink.

Many months ago, or maybe it was years at this point, I promised to do a column on old bird names.

Quite frankly, I forgot about it and never got around to doing the column. I can’t even remember what inspired me to consider such a column, but I must have been writing about a bird with a relatively new name and thought it would be a good idea to look at other somewhat recent bird name changes. Perhaps I wrote about a long-tailed duck and recalled the old name of oldsquaw. Regardless of the impetus, here’s that column I promised so long ago.

Now, I did write a column last summer about the most recent name changes by the American Ornithological Society. In that column, I relayed that the powers that be changed the name of the house wren we see in New England to northern house wren. A year earlier, I wrote that the three redpoll species were lumped into a single species called redpoll.

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For the Birds: Bird sighting sparks memory of the past

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Chris Bosak

Photo by Chris Bosak A common merganser swims in a pond in Danbury, Conn., March 2019.

When you have done something for so long, sometimes it is hard to remember what it was like at the beginning. The other day, however, I came across a scene that reminded me of one of my early birdwatching experiences.

The recent prolonged cold spell we endured froze or kept frozen most of the water throughout the region. That makes for a great time to check the areas where water does not freeze, such as dams or fast-moving streams.

I drive past a large dam frequently and always look at the bottom where the water is constantly flowing. I do this especially during the winter to see if any ducks are gathered in the open water. In the right season and under the right conditions, there are usually several common mergansers in the pool created by the flowing water.

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