Author Archives: birdsinmyviewfinder

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”

Our summer residents have begun settling in and starting their families. Here are a few of them. Least Terns nest in the dunes above the high tide mark. The males seem to be bringing in fish for the females on the nest. Two more nesting birds…a Red-bellied Woodpecker peeking out of her nest and anContinue reading “Summer Residents Settling In”

Regular birding buddy Dave and I got great looks at four species of Swallow in one morning, all within the Parker River NWR. There is a Purple Martin colony at the main lot as you enter the refuge where volunteers maintain a cluster of gourd-style nest boxes. Purple Martins rely on such man-made facilities andContinue reading “Swallows”

Most of my recent posts have focused on the woodlands and fields. Here are some photos from closer to the water. These are the last of ones from the past week or so. I’ll be heading with the camera tomorrow to gather more. Least Terns and Piping Plovers nest on the southern end of PlumContinue reading “Near the Water”

Warbler migration is winding down and with the exception of a few summer residents, they are headed north and inland. This is a collection of the ones I was able to see and photograph in the past week. Not the greatest variety in my experience but it is the hunt and the photography challenge thatContinue reading “Warblers”

The weather has been sunny and warm for several days and I have accumulated a large selection of photos. I’ll break them up into three posts, starting with some newly arrived summer residents. Before I get into the summer residents, I have to share these pictures of a year round bird, the Barred Owl. TheContinue reading “Summer Residents”

More varieties of warblers have been spotted in the past week. Here are six that I photographed. The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak is colorful but this one was a bit shy. The female wasn’t reluctant to show off her fine plumage though. The Eastern Towhee male and female are a bit more similar looking. The female’sContinue reading “2021 Migration IV”

I’ve had two productive outings in the past few days, including the one with the owl encounter. Time to share some of the bounty. I hadn’t even gotten out of the parking lot and on to the trail at Oxbow NWR when I got this picture of a male American Redstart. This pretty warbler wasContinue reading “2021 Migration III”