Greater Yellowlegs feeding alone
This Greater Yellowlegs was found foraging alone in a shallow, still and serene November pond. It may seem lonely in this location but many of its friends and counterparts, I am certain, were not far away. A bunch of long-legged waders were enjoying the same waters. On that very day I recorded Dunlin, Sanderling, Black-bellied Plovers, and likely Short-billed Dowitchers. Who said shorebirding in New England couldn’t be a Thanksgiving sport? Thanks, climate change! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreNashville Warbler (Oreothlypis ruficapilla)
Happy Thanksgiving! Many Thanksgivings ago I was watching my bird feeders at my parent’s house in Connecticut while waiting for family to arrive and dinner to begin on a cool, rainy day. While looking out the window I spotted, naked eye, an oddly shaped and surprisingly brightly colored bird on a tree branch. I grabbed my binoculars very quickly and had a good look at a warbler inspecting the feeding area and all of the bird commotion below it. It had a yellow body, dark green on the back and wings, a gray hood and very bright white eye rings. It was a Nashville Warbler! Their...
Read MoreSwath of sparrows
This swath of sparrows was below our feeders at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History here in Jamestown, New York. Can you identify all four species? From left to right we have the White-throated Sparrow, a Song Sparrow in front of a Fox Sparrow, and a Dark-eyed Junco. Yep, there is also another hidden White-throated Sparrow! There will be a bunch of busy feeders with hungry birds in the Northeast this Thanksgiving after a Nor’easter dumped a mix of rain, sleet and snow on the Mid-Atlantic and New England, leaving some with snowy holiday morning. Happy...
Read MoreVelvet Ant
Here is a Velvet Ant (Hoplomutilla sp.) from last year in Costa Rica by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser for the Meet Your Neighbours global diversity project. It almost looks velvety, doesn’t it?! This is a friend you probably have not seen at your picnic or your Thanksgiving dinner…
Read MoreTurkey Devouring Bittersweet
What a Thanksgiving feast this Wild Turkey enjoyed! While we almost always expect our flocks of turkeys to be feeding on the ground on seeds, invertebrates, or even amphibians and reptiles, they can sometimes find food in other places. They do fly, after all! If you have never seen a group roosting in a tree in your yard or quickly taking off I recommend you keep an eye out for it because it is always a spectacle. In this case I watched a few of them in a tree feeding on bittersweet berries… What a resourceful bird! There is a reason their population has exploded across the Northeast...
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