Redhead on Lake Erie
Here is a drake Redhead duck having a quiet swim in Lake Erie on a cloudy day with lake effect snow in the air. I love how their yellow eyes contrast with the red, and I envy how peaceful and content this bird looks in such frosty conditions. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreWe Didn’t Expect This!
Winter Birding Forecast #3 is brought to you by Audubon Connecticut in partnership with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Last time we told you to “Expect the Unexpected”, but we certainly didn’t expect this. A Couch’s Kingbird was spotted for the first time ever in New York and it happens that this bird has been hanging out in the West Village on Lower Manhattan for several weeks before it was identified as this rare and spectacular flycatcher that should be in Texas or Mexico right now. If a Couch’s Kingbird can hang out undiscovered for several weeks on Manhattan...
Read MoreRedhead (Aythya americana) by Twan Leenders
We’ve been posting so many banded birds from Costa Rica and Panama that will head to the U.S. soon and I thought it appropriate to post a banded individual (not by us!) that winters here. This Redhead (Aythya americana) recently allowed Twan to read four of the ten digits on its band, not quite enough to be able to find its origins.
Read MoreGizzard Shad feast
It has been very quiet for passerines in most of our (albeit limited) collective time outside, and the big movements and numbers continue to be seen in the waterbirds, especially on Lake Erie. Take a look at these fantastic Bonaparte’s Gull photos Twan took while at Barcelona Harbor as they dove for their meals with easily over 2,000 individuals present. Can you see the prey? All of the photos have some birds feasting on fish but that last photo has a bird with multiple in its bill. Ducks like this Bufflehead and Horned Grebe, respectively, seem to be diving for them as well. They may...
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