Author Archives: birdsinmyviewfinder

These are photographs from a flooded meadow and a swamp that highlight some of our water loving birds. Great Blue Herons in flight have a prehistoric look. This one is using some feathers to reduce lift as it comes in for a landing, just like spoilers on an airplane. Of course the birds had thisContinue reading “Wetlands”

Tree Swallows have returned and are starting to nest. These pictures were taken in a swamp with lots of dead trees that provide nest sites. And swamps have lots of yummy insects for the Swallows to snatch out of the air and that’s a bonus. I have managed to get pictures of them as theyContinue reading “Return of the Tree Swallows”

There is an old apple orchard in a town just west of me that has become one of my favorite birding sites. It is now owned by the town of Pepperell, Massachusetts and is preserved as open land for walking, nature walks, etc. I went there to scout out the trail conditions but did notContinue reading “Visit to an Old Orchard”

Early spring is typically the wet season here and this spring has been no exception. The camera and I are weather sealed so we put on our rain coats and ventured out. True to the sentiment of the title, the ducks had no problems with the on and off rain showers. These are some photosContinue reading “Lovely Weather for Ducks”

I’m expecting Arctic temperatures for the next two days as winter makes (hopefully!) a last appearance. No worries. There are plenty of signs of spring. For example, we are seeing Eastern Phoebes. They are flycatchers but depend on other insects and seeds at this early part of spring. The large head is an obvious fieldContinue reading “Early Spring Photos”

We were scanning a partially flooded field for ducks, snipes and whatever other birds may have been about. There was still a lot of ice and the amount of open water was limited. A flock of Mallards approached and, much like planes at a busy airport, circled the field several times while looking for someContinue reading “Ducks in Flight”

Enough ducks for a while. These are some other birds that I photographed in the past week or so. Red-winged Blackbird males have returned and are staking out their territories before the females arrive. They aggressively maintain a bit of real estate and offer nesting sites to one or more females. A male with aContinue reading “Duck Break”

I have posted photographs of the Red-breasted Merganser over the winter and of Hooded Mergansers in the previous post. The third Merganser that inhabits North America is the Common Merganser. Common Mergansers prefer fresh water environments, like their distant Hooded Merganser relatives but unlike the more closely related Red-Breasted Mergansers who prefer salt water hunting.Continue reading “Common Merganser”

We see three species of Mergansers in Massachusetts. I have posted several photographs of the Red-breasted Merganser recently. They are found in salt water environments and can be found all winter. The other two, Common Merganser and Hooded Merganser, are fresh water ducks and get scarcer as the ponds ice over. Now that the iceContinue reading “Hooded Merganser”

This post is a bit longer than I normally do but I think it will be worth it. Buffleheads perform mating displays just before they head north to their summer breeding grounds. There’s a lot of ritual action that is fun to watch and I tried to capture some of the key elements. One thingContinue reading “Bufflehead Displays”