Red-winged Blackbird Female
People often think of the Red-winged Blackbird strictly as a species of ponds, cattails and marshes, but they can be found in all sorts of old and wet fields, pastures, coastal grasslands and even golf courses with areas of water. Their ability to take to a sizable variety of habitats has helped them become one of the most abundant birds on the continent. Here we have a female who was vocalizing because of a nearby nest. In a couple of months they will be starting to form flocks and staging before heading south. While most of the species will leave our area some will push through the autumn...
Read MoreGolden-hooded Tanager Talking
Here’s a talking Golden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata), 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 MoreGolden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata)
Here’s a taste of brilliance to start your day! Sean just got back from two weeks up at Rara Avis in Costa Rica, returning with many tremendous photographs including this Golden-hooded Tanager (Tangara larvata). These tanagers can often be found in mix feeding flocks on the edge of secondary forest habitat. 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 MoreExtremely abundant common sparrows
This Dark-eyed Junco can be seen chowing down on a seed while nearly 200 more of its friends were doing the same nearby. I cannot recall a time where I have seen a greater sustained abundance, perhaps for the last three or four weeks, of a few common sparrow species spread across the region. There have been huge flocks of Song Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and White-throated Sparrows seemingly everywhere in appropriate habitat. Have you noticed the same? Maybe they had a very productive nesting year and perhaps they are also irrupting due to a lack of food in the north. Thankfully there is no...
Read MoreMonarchs massing in migration
This past weekend I visited a prime spot for Monarch butterfly migration: the coastal grasslands of Stratford Point in Stratford, Connecticut. Even four or six years ago one could expect to find hundreds of Monarchs at the site during the peak migratory period. The last couple of years have seen a dramatic collapse in their numbers in many parts of North America. As one of the most visible and widely known environmental disasters of the 21st century the plight of the species has been a subject of discussion for the masses. Thankfully I was able to see a decent mass of Monarchs at this...
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