Author Archives: birdsinmyviewfinder

Horned Grebes are another winter visitor that breeds in northern inland areas but inhabits our shores during the winter season. In the summer they live in interior Alaska, Yukon and Northwest Territories, as well as eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. They migrate to the coasts in the winter and are found onContinue reading “Winter Visitor – Horned Grebe”

Three varieties of sea ducks called scoters winter along our coast. The Surf Scoter is the most colorful of the three. These are photos taken of a raft of about 3 dozen Surf Scoters feeding just off the shore. They were appropriately riding the surf and regularly dove to look for shellfish and crabs. TheContinue reading “Winter Visitor – Surf Scoter”

My previous post was about American Black Ducks landing on ice. This one is about takeoffs. Ducks use a running start to take to the air. They need to get enough forward speed to generate the necessary lift. This is a Long-tailed Duck that I photographed as it took to the air. And off sheContinue reading “Long-tailed Duck Takeoff Run”

I’m cleaning up photos from before the holidays and working on posts that were postponed. I hope followers and casual readers are having healthy and happy holidays! American Black Ducks use the same landing technique whether the water is open or frozen. I photographed some Black Ducks landing on a frozen-over panne and noticed thatContinue reading “Ice Landings”

This is an Eastern Screech Owl sleeping after a night’s hunting. It has found a nice hole in an old tree to nestle into for safety and protection from the wind. Eastern Screech Owls are a small owl, less than 10 inches (25 cm) long. That’s about the size of an American Robin or aContinue reading “Eastern Screech Owl”

Horned Larks are not exactly a winter visitor since they are permanent residents in much of the US, including parts of southwestern New England. But we typically do not see them until the winter in eastern Massachusetts. These were photographed among the grasses at the base of the dunes along the Atlantic shore. There isContinue reading “Winter Visitor – Horned Lark”

We are in the midst of a several days of very windy conditions culminating with a significant storm in a couple of days. A friend and I were out early in the morning two days ago and came across this Barred Owl perched in a tree not far from the road. It was a grayContinue reading “Tough Owl”

There were several hundred ducks at a large reservoir located near me when I visited it recently. Other than a few Mallards, all of the ducks were wintering diving ducks that visit our ponds and lakes for a few months each year. Ruddy Ducks are a small, chubby duck with a white cheek and aContinue reading “Another Duck Report”

These are some photographs taken over the past weeks that have no particular theme except that they are all small, fairly common birds. The first is a Swamp Sparrow. The gray face and neck, line extending from the eye and the reddish-brown on the wings are field marks. Next, a White-throated Sparrow. There is theContinue reading “Small Bird Mix”

These are some photos for any duck fans out there. The first is a shot of some Northern Pintails in flight. The males have a “racing stripe” along their neck and the male at the bottom is displaying the namesake pintail. These ducks summer in Canada and the north-central US and winter in the southernContinue reading “For Duck Fans”