These are some photos that I took during the past week or so while checking out some different camera/lens/setting combinations. We seem to be at a bit of an interlude as birds are starting to be on the move or getting ready for breeding season. So the numbers of birds are a bit lower. But they are always around and I had a couple of pleasant surprises.
This is a rare visit by an Eastern Bluebird to my feeders. The environment around my house is not their usual habitat and I usually see them at a farm about a mile away. He is joined by one of a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches that have been daily visitors this year.
There are always birds on the Merrimack River as it reaches the Atlantic. Here we have a Red-throated Loon, a Common Goldeneye and two Herring Gulls having a bit of a tiff.
I checked out a reservoir in Newbury MA to see if there was any open water. There was no open water but there was this Bald Eagle sitting on the ice wondering where everyone had gone.
The highlight of the past few weeks was a sighting of a Short-eared Owl hunting in the marshes at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. It was hunting fairly close to the refuge road and I was able to get some nice views. These owls are often out during the day, unlike many of their cousins. It was a “life bird” for me since it was my first sighting of a Short-eared Owl.
He doesn’t have feathers but I have to include this Harbor Seal that was people-watching me.
Birds in My Viewfinder 