Author Archives: birdsinmyviewfinder

The Bufflehead is a small North American duck that breeds in the Canadian arboreal forests and spends the winter in the US, including here on the coast of Massachusetts. I think it is the “cutest” duck that visits us every winter. It has a compact body, large head and small bill. And pink feet. ThisContinue reading “Buffleheads”

There are several species of birds that practice kleptoparasitism, parasitism by theft. They include Eagles, Corvids (Crows, Ravens, etc.) and, most famously, Gulls. Gulls will grab anything that they can, from anyone or anything they can. Kleptoparasitism is rightly called piracy. And anyone who follows this blog knows that I believe that all good storiesContinue reading “First Pirate Story of 2022”

These are some photos that I took as 2021 was winding down. I’m doing some housekeeping before archiving my 2021 photographs while I wait out some snow and frigid weather. It’s 9F (-13C) today. My camera works at -20F. I don’t. Here are some pictures that caught my eye. One of the birds we lookContinue reading “Some Final 2021 Photos”

And now for the rest of the ducks. I returned to a nearby lake after photographing the Goldeneye in my previous post (https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/106869995/posts/3754995295). There was still a large area of open water but the ducks congregated on one end of the lake. Several species were mingled together. These are Hooded Mergansers (top: male and bottom:Continue reading “More Ducks in the Cold”

They say “Nice weather for ducks” when it rains but ducks seem to be pretty impervious to the cold as well. Several of us went out on a frigid morning in search of a rare duck for this area. It was 23F (-5C), windy and cloudy. But we did find the duck. And lots ofContinue reading “Ducks and the Cold”

I was out again two days after the outing reported in the previous post. It was a foggy misty morning that brightened a bit but remained overcast. Tough conditions for photography but okay for birdwatching. We started on the north end of Plum Island at the mouth of the Merrimack River. The first sighting wasContinue reading “Foggy Morning”

It has been a cloudy and wet holiday week but we got out on a mostly sunny morning between Christmas and New Year’s Day and were treated to some nice sightings. The morning started off with a Snowy Owl resting on a dune near the beach, just napping and enjoying the sun. We saw threeContinue reading “Between the Holidays”

However you celebrate or mark this time of year, wishing everyone a safe and happy season.

We are back in the field after a Covid pause. Sightings have been slow but I do have a backlog of some duck photos to share. These are Northern Pintail, American Wigeon (with a Northern Pintail in the foreground) and Northern Shoveler. The names “Pintail” and “Shoveler” fit when you look at these ducks. HereContinue reading “Some Recent Photos”

There was an unexpected disruption to the plans for bird watching this week (see end of post). So I thought I would post some photos from a trip I took in 2018 to New Mexico. It was a group organized by Massachusetts Audubon and we travelled up the Rio Grande River from El Paso, TexasContinue reading “Ansares y Grullas del Bosque”