Common Grackle
This Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) was in search of some snacks, using those big yellow eyes to scope out prey in the grass. They will eat nearly anything and everything which is part of why we see them everywhere in abundance. What is the strangest thing you have seen them devouring?
Read MoreHairy Woodpecker
Here’s the next of the “John James Audubon” series of Meet Your Neighbours shots by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser – the Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus). The less common of our backyard black and white woodpeckers, the Hairy Woodpecker is often more elusive despite it being larger than our Downy Woodpecker. They have a larger bill, sometimes described as thorn-like, and feature all white outer rectrices unlike the black barred of the Downys. Photographed for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Connecticut while on assignment for The Roger Tory...
Read MoreBlue Jay
This Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) was in the shade on a sunny April day, nevertheless showing off blue hues against a blue sky and flying around with its mate. In this case the blues are not as blue as they could be because they are not actually blue. Huh? Their feather barb cells are specially modified scatter light in a way that makes them appear blue instead of what would be brown melanin, and if this bird flew into the sunlight then it would pop even more. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreEastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
Recently I heard a little rustling in the leaves around me while I was watching some warblers (what a birder, I know) with a distinctive and familiar sort of sound. Sure enough, this Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) was slithering as I had disturbed it while it was sunning on the edge of a pond. I stepped back to let it be and snapped this shot with my 500mm before continuing on. Go see what you can find on the ground, in the air, and in the trees outdoors this weekend! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MorePrairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor)
Here’s a Throwback Thursday to a Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) that I photographed several years ago. The species begins to return to us in the Northeast right abouttttt…now! I hope to be able to spot one or two in migration so that I can get some better shots and enjoy their buzzy, rising song. Look for them in scrub or shrub habitat, old fields, power line cuts, or even forests – just not the prairies. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read More
