Yard Pine Siskin
There are still Pine Siskins hanging out in the Northeast, and if you provide them with enough food in your yard and they are able to find a mate, they may nest right there! The nomadic species is certainly opportunistic, and I hope this bird in Twan’s yard can find a partner and settle down soon. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreBlack-crested Coquette (Lophornis helenae)
Sean has captured over thirty species of hummingbirds but this is now his favorite: the Black-crested Coquette (Lophornis helenae). It is about the size of a large bee, and it flies like one! They are a highland specialist that visits gardens as well as a wide variety of other habitats. They have a lion’s mane and a crown to go with their gorgeous plumage. Photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Costa Rica while on assignment for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
Read MoreRed-winged Blackbird Male in Flight
It’s takeoff time! Red-winged Blackbirds are pouring back into marshes, wetlands, ponds and coastal areas throughout the Northeast. Males are back on territory, and here we can see one showing off those fiery shades. Spring is ready to explode! Even if it may start with more snow for some of us…
Read MoreHidden American Woodcocks
March is the month for the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) as the species heads north to (hopefully) unfrozen earth, with males arriving as quickly as they can to set up on the best territory for their legendary display flights. This year’s polar lock on the region may slow them down as feeding will be very difficult, if not impossible, for another week or two at least. Open fields and meadows adjacent to wetlands, marshes and scrubby/shrubby lands are good places to wait for their evening aerial dances later in the month. I photographed these two birds in the early winter, long...
Read MoreBrown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is probably the most rare bird that my Shetland Sheepdog has on his actually seen Connecticut life list as one drifted over our heads, to his amazement, a few days after Superstorm Sandy at Stratford Point in Stratford, Connecticut in 2012. He has been around some cool rarities but this is a bird he really saw as he locked his eyes on the low and massive glider circling over us, flying back to the southwest and out of sight. This particular pelican was photographed in Florida, a place they would much rather be…especially now! Scott Kruitbosch...
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