Volunteers Needed for Shorebird Monitoring 2016
The Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds 2016 monitoring and stewardship season is about to begin! Please see the USFWS news release below for details, and please pass this along to any new volunteers you feel would be interested in joining us. We hope all our past monitors will be returning this year after yet another record-setting season in 2015. We can only keep this success going with your help! Spend your summer days at the beach and help protect a federally threatened species! The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its partners are seeking volunteers to monitor piping plovers and...
Read MoreJanuary Sunset
Another January day, another impressive Stratford Point sunset. These gorgeous shades are from Thursday evening. This time we had a lot more blue and pink in the air on the clouds with the glowing orange and reds really confined to the distant horizon. We were striving for subjects apart from the lighthouse, but…not bad. Can you tell we need something to shoot? Winter does bring some beautiful avian visitors, but these colors are so very welcome – as is the continually rising sun and lengthening days. Our extremely busy upcoming field season is getting closer and...
Read MoreStratford Point Sunset
This was last night’s magnificent sunset at Stratford Point in Stratford, Connecticut looking towards the lighthouse and then our office building. We added some scenery in the form of ~12 inches of windblown snow from the blizzard last weekend. There are open areas and drifts to a few feet deep, and several Horned Larks were flying around taking advantage of the bare ground while these were taken. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreLong-tailed Ducks
These Long-tailed Ducks are showing off some unexpected camouflage on a cloudy day, their black and white plumage matching the patterns of water while on the surface. This species of diving duck certainly spends a long time underwater when it is feeding, and they can even go down to near 200 feet! You never realize how much these birds look like waves until you watch them bobbing up and down on a lake or the sea.
Read MoreSnowy Owl
Welcome to winter! It took a while, but we are really feeling it now, with more to come this January as we look at long-range weather models. Here are a few more upland photos of the Snowy Owl that I enjoyed last Friday on a much warmer day without any snow. As we get deeper into the season we will inevitably see a few more winter birds…additional Rough-legged Hawks? Perhaps finally some of those record-setting Common Redpolls that were pouring south in Canada during autumn? It seems to be a down season for irruptive passerines, but I have to think we will at least have more backyard...
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