Monthly Archives: June 2021

Most of the following birds are only in Massachusetts during the summer. They come in the spring, raise a family and then head for warmer places in the fall. They are the original “Snowbirds” emulated by some humans from the northern US who head for Florida, Arizona or some other warm place in the winter.Continue reading “Some Summer Residents”

These photographs capture some behavioral aspects of the birds around me. There are two Cuckoo species in my part of the world. Both are uncommon and very reclusive. They tend to stay deep inside dense undergrowth, eating caterpillars. I heard one calling close to the trail I was on so I stopped and waited quietlyContinue reading “A Recluse, Unwitting Foster Parents, The Chase”

I returned to the Red-bellied Woodpecker nest that I have been watching for a few weeks now. It is still occupied. The occupant is a bit sassy and stuck his/her tongue out at me. New fledglings are appearing everywhere. This young Catbird was a little shaky with his early flying attempts. He was sitting inContinue reading “Latest Sightings”

Despite the overcast skies, I tested the teleconverter on a new body. It ups the focal length but cuts the light to the sensor so it was hard to get many good photos under the poor lighting conditions. But there was some success. These three Glossy Ibis are fairly sharp and show some color againstContinue reading “Cloudy Days”

We are just coming out of our first official heat wave of the year. The birds tend to become less active while nesting and the heat has just made them even more scarce. But there are photo opportunities. I grabbed my canteen for hydration, went out early and got the following pictures. A Common YellowthroatContinue reading “Heat Slows Things Down”

I split the photos from last week into two groups to keep the posts from getting really long. My last post focused on the woods and fields. Let’s go back to the water. I mentioned in my previous post that we had a long stretch of rainy, stormy weather. We spoke with a state biologistContinue reading “June at Last…more”

There were two nice mornings in a row to start June off with some nice sightings. It had rained for three days before and we will have a heat wave coming after today’s rain. It looks like 4 or 5 days with temperatures above 90F (32C). The birds, the camera and I will definitely beContinue reading “June at Last”