I love this time of year. After the exuberance of summer and the vibrant colors of fall, I’m thankful for the days growing shorter. The nights longer. Temperatures falling. Silhouettes of bare branches against a leaden sky promising snow. All of nature winding down. Encouraging quiet. Reflection. Introspection. [more]
Common Yellowthroat
This male Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) and I are rather close…or at least we were for about 30 seconds on a recent May morning. This bird is a migrant, though you may end up with a resident in a yard near you. Their common name does betray their abundance, and gardens, marshes, fields, forests or anywhere they can skulk about in dense, low vegetation works for them. Being a habitat generalist has helped the species end up as one of our most common warblers. It also makes them a frequent target of Brown-headed Cowbirds and...
read moreRed-tailed Hawk
I recently found this calm, cool and collected Red-tailed Hawk hanging out over a pond and not minding a few gawkers like myself passing by for a look and a photo or two. Some birds are just more habituated to humans than others, and this one was content to sit here peacefully – even the songbirds were not paying it any attention. Occasionally it would look down at the frogs below, perhaps pondering about having them as a snack or looking for a snake. For the most part mammals are the biggest part of the menu for them, and maybe this...
read moreWilson’s Warbler
I was thrilled to come across this Wilson’s Warbler (Cardellina pusilla) when I made a quick birding stop this afternoon on what I knew was already a stellar day for migrant birds. Though I did not have much time to be outside surveying during the work day this bird was literally spotted from my Jeep, and on top of that it cooperated for these photos while it was foraging. This is a species that RTPI President Twan Leenders does not believe exists. Huh? When I started working for Twan several years ago he had not yet seen a...
read moreMagnolia Warbler
This Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) was another bird from the Noble Proctor Memorial BioBlitz Challenge this past Saturday at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut. Willards Island was still a warbler machine late in the morning and we were cranking out the birds. Some, like this individual, would briefly drift into point blank range…even with an excited, raucous crowd around us. All of the birds were as happy as our birding friends with all sorts of plentiful insects in the air and on the trees at this vital...
read moreChestnut-sided Warbler
The Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) is one of the most unique of our warblers in terms of appearance, though this bird is not quite showing all of that chestnut, black or bold yellow yet. It is likely a first spring male that was still coming into his plumage in early May. He was very friendly and cooperative for both photos and prolonged binocular views, allowing a group of birders to enjoy him posing while foraging without the use of any pishing or song playbacks. In my experience the best tactic for spring migratory birding...
read moreScarlet Tanager
Yesterday was the Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut. Dozens and dozens of friends, conservationists and scientists hit the field to find all the forms of life they could from 8AM to dusk. Fantastic discoveries were had and wonderful memories were made on a picture perfect weather day – especially for our birds! Three adult male Scarlet Tanagers (Piranga olivacea) delighted the crowds, including this individual. It is certainly red, but not the blood red of more typical...
read moreRed Fox and Cottontail
It is terribly ironic that just hours after my colleague, Audubon Connecticut Director of Bird Conservation Patrick Comins, uploaded some lovely cottontail photos to the Audubon Connecticut at Stratford Point page that I found our vixen Red Fox engaged in some hunting early this morning. I felt some eyes on me as I surveyed for avian migrants along Prospect Drive, and she was watching me from within our side of the fence. This is nothing abnormal, and the interaction was typical – a little curious stare down at one another before we...
read moreNoble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Tomorrow
Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset on May 14, 2016 Please join family, friends, colleagues and students for a celebration of Noble Proctor’s life in the form of a BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut on Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 8AM to sunset. Our headquarters for the BioBlitz will be at the pavilion near Willard’s Island. A BioBlitz is a race to find every species of life possible – birds, mammals, plants, insects, and more. We will form teams to search the park and record all the species...
read moreTeaching the Teachers
Throughout the past few years of working for RTPI, I’ve heard the phrase “teaching the teachers” a number of times. From my understanding, at one time this meant equipping school teachers with the proper materials and knowledge to take their classes out into nature and teach their students place-based education. RTPI education staff traveled extensively to carry out teacher workshops and engage students in learning about the natural world. As the years have gone on, the approach to carrying out that phrase has shifted, but...
read morePileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Let’s switch gears from the little migrant birds to the big resident birds with this Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) as photographed last week during its breakfast. This meal, while being obviously tasty and delicious, also provides us a lesson in forest and yard management. Most of the time Pileated Woodpeckers can be found eating at dying, dead or fallen trees like this one as they hammer away for ants and various insects associated with decaying wood. If we removed all of the rotting wood from the forest or our yards what...
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