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Breeding season is in full swing and we have spotted several mother Mallards with their broods. Mallards lay 12-13 eggs and we are seeing some mothers with 7-9 ducklings in tow. There will be some attrition to predators, including large fish. But the large number of offspring ensures that there will be plenty of newContinue reading “New Ducks and Swallows”

June ended with a long heat wave but I was able to find some bird activity, even with temperatures passing 90F (32C) before the morning was over. We watched a Willet chase a Killdeer (top photo) on an access road to a kayak launch. I am not sure what the row was about. Then theContinue reading “Closing out June”

Most of the following birds are only in Massachusetts during the summer. They come in the spring, raise a family and then head for warmer places in the fall. They are the original “Snowbirds” emulated by some humans from the northern US who head for Florida, Arizona or some other warm place in the winter.Continue reading “Some Summer Residents”

These photographs capture some behavioral aspects of the birds around me. There are two Cuckoo species in my part of the world. Both are uncommon and very reclusive. They tend to stay deep inside dense undergrowth, eating caterpillars. I heard one calling close to the trail I was on so I stopped and waited quietlyContinue reading “A Recluse, Unwitting Foster Parents, The Chase”

I returned to the Red-bellied Woodpecker nest that I have been watching for a few weeks now. It is still occupied. The occupant is a bit sassy and stuck his/her tongue out at me. New fledglings are appearing everywhere. This young Catbird was a little shaky with his early flying attempts. He was sitting inContinue reading “Latest Sightings”

Despite the overcast skies, I tested the teleconverter on a new body. It ups the focal length but cuts the light to the sensor so it was hard to get many good photos under the poor lighting conditions. But there was some success. These three Glossy Ibis are fairly sharp and show some color againstContinue reading “Cloudy Days”

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”