Orange-crowned Warblers
As I mentioned previously my first bird of 2015 was the Blue Jay, one of the most well-known species in all of North America. They even have their own team thanks to Toronto. On the opposite end of the spectrum would be a bird like the Orange-crowned Warbler, an uncommon warbler even in some of the more common parts of its range, and a tough one to find in the Northeast in the winter (or any time, really!) regardless of their seemingly higher than average numbers this year. The species has a rather quiet and unassuming behavior and appearance with mostly drab colors, the orange crown being...
Read MoreSnowy Egret Handouts?
Someone please tell this Snowy Egret that it is not a gull nor a pelican…no handouts! If you are going to spend the winter in New England I suppose you have to get creative when it comes to finding easy meals. Yes, I am kidding, it was not begging or being fed…but I do think it was thinking about it as vehicles drove up and a frenzy of gulls went after some snacks. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreNorthern Gannet (Morus bassanus) record shot between gulls
Normally I crop the photos that I take and show to everyone here on RTPI’s website and social media, but in this case I liked the framing of the raw photograph. Can you see that dot in the middle? Even if this record shot were cropped you would not be able to see much more of the Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus) flying out over Long Island Sound from last weekend’s Christmas Bird Count in Stratford, Connecticut. These Ring-billed Gulls happened to be in flight all around me as the rare but increasingly recorded bird passed by offshore. It was one of two Gannets we saw while...
Read MoreSnowy Egret in December
I photographed this Snowy Egret last weekend in Stratford, Connecticut, as part of a Christmas Bird Count. It is one of only several recorded anywhere in the state in the last few decades during a CBC period. Climate change certainly has helped many new species pop up on these late autumn/early winter December days when they would normally be long gone to our south. I cannot blame the climate fully when accounting for this long-legged wader because while it appears to be perched at the edge of a coastal river or stream any waterbird would love, the water here is actually the outflow from a...
Read MoreAmerican Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea)
Here is an American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea) that I photographed during my hometown Christmas Bird Count in Stratford, Connecticut yesterday, part of a flock of perhaps 15 individuals that were staying mostly out of sight. I made sure to take the photo because it was feeding on Common Reed (Phragmites australis), one of the most notorious non-native invasive plants in North America. American Tree Sparrows are well-known as seed eaters and can often be found at the top of weeds and grasses, but I do not personally remember seeing them feeding on the “phrag” before. I wonder...
Read More
