Birds Blending In
Here we have the backs of two different bird species – can you identify them? I have posted them both recently as opportunistic winter birds, and this Horned Lark in a roadway and Savannah Sparrow in grasses have another thing in common here with wonderful camouflage working in two very different situations. It cracked me up how well the Lark blended in to the snow, dirt, salt and sand in the road, even in the bright sunlight. While that is not evolution it certainly worked out well. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreGreat Backyard Bird Count
Winter Birds Forecast #6 is brought to you by Audubon Connecticut in partnership with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. The Great Backyard Bird Count is here! The count is sponsored by Audubon, Bird Studies Canada and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and occurs annually over President’s Day Weekend. Anyone can participate and in this case the world is your “backyard”. You can submit sightings from anywhere, not just birds you see in your yard. Observers from more than 100 countries are expected to participate in the 18th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), February...
Read MoreHorned Larks
I have had a great time seeing Horned Larks lately after striking out on them for all of the past autumn and and most of this winter in Connecticut. After having success this past week I ended up taking many photographs of birds feeding on edges and in snow-covered grasslands in Stratford, and I wanted to share a bunch of them with you all in a slideshow of sorts below. Here were a bunch of birds feeding on the edges in the roadways and exposed areas. Unfortunately there was one recently-deceased individual, the body still warm. Fortunately for science and research Patrick Comins, Audubon...
Read MoreHorned Lark in Road
After not seeing Horned Larks much at all this winter I have been spotting plenty lately! The frequent heavy snow and February depth of well over a foot has pushed them out into the open, feeding on the side of roads like this one. This weekend I will post a blog entry with many more photos of the species that we all wish we saw more of during the breeding season. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreHorned Lark in HD
This Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), a bird of open fields, grasslands, shrublands, desert, tundra and coastal plains, was being friendly while enjoying sitting on this dune at a beach on a cold winter day before resuming foraging.
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