Author Archives: birdsinmyviewfinder

Two Northern Pintails (larger with a longer neck) and two Green-winged Teal flying in formation. Notice the species-specific wing patches. All four are females by the way.

Looks like Captain Kidd is trying to rob Blackbeard. The gull with the crab managed to hang on to it.

I came across this photo while looking for something else from a 2018 trip to El Paso, Texas/Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Green-tailed Towhee is a secretive sort of bird that stays deep in the undergrowth. But once in a while you get lucky and one will come out to pose for you. This photo wasContinue reading “Found in the Clutter: Green-tailed Towhee”

Always a tough bird to catch in flight. Their loud rattling call, usually the first thing you notice when they are around, sounds like laughter to a photographer. They zip along when patrolling their territory and have a knack for staying just out range for a photo. Thus they have the last laugh more oftenContinue reading “Feathered Action: Belted Kingfisher”

This young Black-bellied Plover doesn’t have a black belly yet. It and the Yellowlegs in the background are having a refueling stop here in Massachusetts as they head for warmer winter quarters.

Maybe these birds should be renamed given their successful invasion of North America. There were about 100 birds released into New York City’s Central Park in the early 1890s and now there are 200 million of them living in North America from Alaska down into Mexico. Many people consider this invasive species to be aContinue reading “Snapshot: European Starling”

I rarely post any photos without a bird in them but I do occasionally take pictures of other things. These shots of a sailboat under motor power off the coast of Maine illustrate how rough the Atlantic can get. The swells were high and troughs were pretty deep! But rough surf doesn’t phase these littleContinue reading “Rough Water”

This is a nightmare apparition if you are a mouse.

A few shorebirds winter along the Massachusetts coast but most of the ones we see in late summer and fall are moving through the area to their wintering grounds. This is a mixed flock that I photographed over a salt panne. The larger birds with a long, droopy bill are Dunlins. Some will stay allContinue reading “Snapshot: Shorebirds”

Female Northern Pintail