House Wren
The incomparable and iconic House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) is a star of the screen with its cheery, chattering call reverberating through the background of countless TV shows and movies. It is one of our most geographically widespread songbirds with a huge range across the Americas. A true sign of spring, this May arrival gets right to making a nest in boxes or any other container in and around yards. I have always loved these friendly little birds, but this one definitely went the extra mile in allowing me a couple of close photos on a nest box and a blueberry bush. If you have a yard with...
Read MoreCommon Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
Some of our more common breeding songbirds have returned to the Northeast and are already setting up territories. The Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) is one such species, and RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser captured the character of an adult male in this wonderful piece for his Audubon series. Photographed for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Connecticut while on assignment for The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
Read MoreGrape hyacinth
The Grape Hyacinth is one of those first signs of real spring in so many yards and gardens across America. Though native to the Old World the perennial plant has become naturalized throughout the New World. Here is an extra close close-up of some flowers from Friday that always come up around the same lamp post every year after being planted decades ago. Yes, this was taken a whole two days ago, back in spring – you know, before that arctic cold front packing powerful winds and snow brought some winter back to us…oh, climate…
Read MoreDead Mouse
This looks like a White-footed Mouse, and it also looks like a cat kill. My dog Zach located it for us, immediately picking up the scent from probably over 50 feet away. A dead rodent with puncture wounds to the body that is left in the snow seems like a cat’s play toy to me. Other mammals or birds would have scooped it up for a meal and made sure to go back for it, even if they had to drop it. This occurs many, many times…millions upon millions…to small birds and mammals each day because of cats. They kill billions each year for no reason whatsoever apart from their own instincts....
Read MoreDowny Woodpecker
As I speculated a few days ago, this is now the time when you will be finding more birds at your feeders – like this Downy Woodpecker. It goes beyond the ground being frozen, ice covering some food sources, or snow blanketing everything. While it is harder to literally feed, it is also much colder now, and the birds need many more calories in order to survive. A lot of people were inquiring about why their feeders were so quiet towards the end of 2015, and I think it was certainly related to the fact that we had some days with temperatures in the 60s and 70s across the region and...
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