Author Archives: birdsinmyviewfinder

We are about half way through a cold and stormy February with hopes for a quieter and slightly warmer final week of the month. These are some photos I took last week during a lull in the weather action. There is a large flock of Snow Buntings wintering at the state park in Salisbury MA.Continue reading “Some February Birds”

Two days after the recent Nor’easter, I was on the Gloucester coast. The ocean had calmed slightly and the air was clear, as evidenced by these photos. That’s Boston almost 30 miles across the Massachusetts Bay. I was using my 420mm lens setup. This was one of those times I wish I had my backupContinue reading “After the Storm, Day 2”

February started off in traditional February fashion with a big Nor’easter. I don’t know what the official snowfall total was for my town but I had to shovel 16 inches so that is official for me. The storm was still churning away in the Gulf of Maine when I went out the next day. TheContinue reading “After the Storm, Day 1”

January is coming to a close with the coldest temperatures of the winter. So it is a good time to stay inside and post some final pictures of the month. The highlight of the past week was seeing roosting Long-eared Owls. I was able to get some photos with my long lens without infringing onContinue reading “Closing out January with an Owl”

Flocks of Red Crossbills (with a few White-winged Crossbills), Common Redpolls and Snow Buntings have taken up winter residence in the large campgrounds of the Salisbury State Reservation on the north side of the mouth of the Merrimack River. The winter populations of these birds vary from year to year and they are high thisContinue reading “Crossbills, Redpolls and a Hungry Loon”

These photos are from two recent trips to Cape Ann (Gloucester and Rockport MA) I made in the past week. The first was with a regular birding companion. It was a cloudy morning and we just beat the rainstorm that started around noon. There was a lot to see despite the gloomy conditions. Red-breasted MergansersContinue reading “Return to Cape Ann”

The tide was almost full on a sunny morning and the result was a chance to get some photos of ducks in flight. White-winged Scoters were flying out from the river and heading for the ocean in pairs or small groups and their flight path took them close to the shore where we stood. TheContinue reading “Aerial Show”

I did a post last month that featured a Glaucous Gull with an injured left leg who I dubbed “Long John Silver” after the one-legged pirate in the novel Treasure Island. A bit whimsical but not entirely silly. Gulls as pirates is a common theme among bird aficionados, professional and amateur alike. I quote fromContinue reading “Gulls Being Gulls”

We had a nice break in the dismal weather and I managed to get out on a particularly sunny morning. It was great to have some blue sky in the background of my photos. My first encounter was a flock consisting mostly of American Goldfinches getting seeds from pine cones with a few other speciesContinue reading “Sunny Day at Last”

We’ve had several days with cloudy and stormy weather. Not ideal conditions for photography but I continue to head out anyway. These two photos aren’t the sharpest but I think they capture the conditions on a dark morning with snow flurries in the air. First, a Snow Bunting sits on some gravel in the snow,Continue reading “Dismal Weather”