Red-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 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...
Read MoreDrake Common Goldeneye Flying
This drake Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is on the move, ready to head back to the north for the spring. The ice and snow are going to slowly be devoured by the sun and (eventually) warming temperatures as water begins to open once again. It does not feel like it but very quietly…migration has begun!
Read MoreBlack Skimmer (Rynchops niger)
One of the most unique and unmistakable North American birds, the Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) is an incredible waterbird with a massive bill used to scoop fish from the water while in flight. Watching a Black Skimmer feeding, using the length of the bill’s lower mandible to penetrate the water’s surface to snag prey, can seem rather surreal. Evolution and adaptation can certainly be unexpected and staggeringly effective. In this case this bird was playing with a leaf! Perhaps it was good foraging practice during this warm Florida vacation.
Read MoreCaspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
This Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) was photographed in Florida by Twan but it could end up being one of the birds on Lake Erie soon enough. The massive tern, with its huge red bill and powerful wings, may make its way north to the shores of Chautauqua County in a month! Until then it will have to work on filling in that black cap.
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