Snowy Owls have been showing up in high numbers across the United States. A friend and I went to Sandy Hook Gateway National Park in New Jersey to follow up on an early sighting of two owls. We had no idea where to look and just about gave up when a fisherman in the parking lot asked us if we saw the Owl. He told us where to go and led us to a very cooperative subject. She was resting on the beach with some photographers who already had their sights on her.
This Snowy Owl was resting near the dunes
She sat comfortably and preened for about an hour while we were there.
Snowy Owl preening some tail feathers
Snowy Owl cleaning her large feet
The setting was perfect as it neared dusk.
The sky was turning pink, but light was quickly fading so we left her where we found her.
One more shot as we were walking away
The reason why the sky was pink
Remember, these birds are tired and hungry from a long journey south – enjoy them at a distance and do not get so close that they need to use extra energy to fly away! All of my photos are cropped from my original 400mm focal length. All photographers that were with us respected her space!
This weekend, I went to Barnegat, New Jersey with a friend to photograph waterfowl, specifically the Harlequin Duck. Not only did I get to see my gorgeous life bird Harlequins, I also saw four more unexpected life birds.
My Harlequin Duck life bird
After finding this beautiful male, we came across some Sandpipers on the rocks. My face apparently lit up when my friend told me they were Purple Sandpipers.
One of my Purple Sandpiper life birds
Further down the jetty, a flock of waterfowl was floating not far from the beach. This flock contained three more life birds: Common and King Eiders along with Black Scoters.
Common Eiders with Scoters
First year male King Eiders
One of my Black Scoter life birds, there were also adult males further away
The King Eiders were a rare find and we got great looks! They are beautiful even though we did not see any adult males.
King Eider female (front) and juvenile male (back)
Another huge highlight was finally getting close to Long-tailed Ducks and Surf Scoter.
Long-tailed Ducks
Surf Scoter
The Sandpipers along the rocks also allowed us to get very close. There were a lot of Dunlin.
Dunlin on the Jetty
Lots and lots of Dunlin.
Flock of Dunlin
Along with Ruddy Turnstones…
Ruddy Turnstone
And even more Purple Sandpipers.
One of my Purple Sandpiper life birds
This turned out to be one of my best photo trips! The New Jersey coast has been very good to me!
Birds are on my mind! There is no better way to start the day then taking a walk in the woods or at a park where it is just me, the birds and my camera. Last week was was pretty quiet. All of the fallout birds we had previously have moved on while no new birds were showing up! High winds toward the end of the week made for very slow birding. Things are starting to pick up as I am finding more first-of-year birds.
I hit my first Warbler wave of the year which included Yellow-rumped, Pine and Black-and-white Warblers; along with high numbers of Blue-headed Vireos and Ruby-crowned Kinglets and one lone Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.
Black-and-white Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Pine Warbler
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Silhouette
I hear the songs of Ruby-crowned Kinglets everywhere I go. This is a song that I just learned this year and I’ve fallen in love with it – so much that I get their song stuck in my head instead of music…
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
I found my first Eastern Towhees, Thrashers and Hermit Thrushes. The low foragers are making some noise in the leaves. This Hermit Thrush, however, stayed out in the open.
Hermit Thrush
I still have some Fox Sparrows hanging around.
Fox Sparrow
And the Song Sparrows continue to contribute their tunes.
Song Sparrow
This afternoon, I heard a House Wren singing so I went to look for him. He hid only for a moment, then popped back up to sing and look around. I think he found a nice spot to settle into.
House Wren
House Wren
Another interesting recent sighting were three Northern Flickers on one tree. Two of them were doing a small dance to each other. I did catch a little bit of it on video, but it may be too shaky.
Three Northern Flickers
I also had my first Broad-winged Hawk of the year – he flew over my yard! This was yard bird number 96. I am almost at 100!
Broad-winged Hawk
I am hoping that this week brings in more new arrivals. I really love finding birds before work to start my day off right!
Who would think that bad weather could equal really great birds? When birds are migrating through and run into poor migrating weather (storm, front), they will drop out of the sky, typically in good numbers, to the most convenient habitat that suits them. This is known as fallout. Serious birders will actually go out in the rain and look for these birds because many times, something rare is sure to show up.
On Wednesday morning it started with an early report of some Long-tailed Ducks and Bonaparte’s Gulls. It was before work, so I went out to find these birds with success. I had 27 Bonaparte’s Gulls and later in the day over 80 were counted in the same location. As the day went on, the reports started coming in quick from birders who were off from work — more Long-tailed Ducks (20+ in one location and 40+ in another), Red-necked Grebes in four different locations, Horned Grebes showing up in high numbers, Four Great Egrets foraging together in a local pond, Caspian Terns in two locations — it was too much to resist not taking a long lunch for these great reports! I went out and quickly found some of the birds with a friend, but did not have time to take photos or get all of the birds.
Four Great Egrets stop to rest for one evening
The next morning, I headed out with another friend to see if we could get the high number of Long-tailed Ducks. They were no longer around, but I did see two Caspian Terns, which I did not get the previous day.
Caspian Terns
We continued to get poor weather so many of the birds stuck around for the weekend. Bufflehead were in high numbers at every location.
Bufflehead Pair at Dorchester Park
Bufflehead at Lisle Park
For the first time, I saw Horned Grebes in every possible plumage — winter, transitional and full on breeding plumage. I was happy to finally get photos of them too!
Horned Grebe
Horned Grebes
Both birds were often together…
Horned Grebe and Bufflehead
The big Grebe news, however, were the Red-necked Grebes. It is rare in our area to see a single one – I had at least NINE in one location with great scope views (not so great camera views…)
Red-necked Grebes with other waterfowl in Whitney Point
Today, we also found a Common Tern actively fishing around a lake. Another great rarity.
Common Tern in Whitney Point
And, of course, our more usual waterfowl were also around.
Pied Billed Grebes and Blue-winged Teal
It was not just about waterfowl. I also believe we had a Kinglet fallout. Ruby- and especially Golden-crowned Kinglets were everywhere. At one point I was surrounded by at least 50 birds dripping from the trees. There was a Kinglet on every branch that I looked at. I failed at getting a decent photo of a Golden-crowned since they are so fast but I did manage to get a Ruby-crowned at one point.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
This weekend also brought my first Warblers of the year! I had Pine Warblers, Palm Warblers (in multiple locations) and Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Other great highlights included another rarity for our area, a Vesper Sparrow who has been hanging around with some of our more common Sparrows and many first-of-year birds. We also did a Woodcock walk and enjoyed a male in good enough light to follow his aerial display.
Vesper Sparrow (far left) among Savannah Sparrows, a Junco and American Tree Sparrow.
I also had my best looks at singing Rusty Blackbirds – close enough to see how they got their name.
Rusty Blackbird
It was a great birding weekend and I am sad that it is over. I will write about my more local yard and creek birds in another post later in the week. This next week will bring more new migrants… I can’t wait to see who shows up!
Last Summer, we had a very famous Barred Owl family make their home at a nearby park. Local birders enjoyed great views of these very cooperative owls who seemed to be showing off for us! I only have time for a short post tonight, so I will fill this entry with photos of these beautiful birds!
The easiest way to find these birds were when they would call back and forth with a hissing sound. We found the two siblings pretty easily
Young Barred Owl
Young Barred Owl
A parent Owl eventually flew near the bog and gave the photographers a great opportunity.
Barred Owl parent
The next time I went with another friend, we found the young owls after an hour of searching!
The two young Owls
I took some video this day too. This one shows the Owl making its hissing call.
Listening to that is really making me itch for spring with the Red-eyed Vireo, Black-throated Green Warblers and Hermit Thrush singing in the background! This video shows both Owls together, with one getting very curious at the sound of my friend walking.
I returned again with a visiting friend and once again found both siblings.
Barred Owl
Barred Owl siblings
One of them decided to give us a show and stretched it’s wings, giving us great photo ops, even in the dark woods.
Barred Owl stretching
Barred Owl stretching
Barred Owl stretching
I also finally got a quick video of flight… well, a good enough video of one of the Owls flying off camera…
These Owls were such a pleasure to have. I hope they return this year so that I can spend more time with them. This time, I will set aside some days and actually stick around a bit more.
This past weekend was the tease of March – spring-like weather that gives us false hope that spring is near. I suppose it is near for many, but not for me in my area of upstate New York! I will not be seeing spring weather again until late April, aside from a few similar days here and there like I just experienced. I tried to fit birds into a very busy weekend with some success. On Saturday, I watched my friends fly their Red-tailed Hawk, Rusty.
Rusty the Red-tailed Hawk
Zack, Jenn and Rusty
He is a very handsome Hawk, but unfortunately looks won’t get him live food and he was not very into hunting that day. Could be that he wanted to enjoy the great weather too! He was eventually fed from his lure instead.
Rusty eating from his lure
Yes, that is a foot hanging out of his mouth. And he made a big mess when he gulped down a huge piece of the chick.
Rusty the Red-tailed Hawk
On Sunday, I went out to put up some nesting boxes around my yard. I could hear geese overhead, so I looked up.
Goose Migration
The skies were full of migrating geese! Thousands of Canada Geese passed by as well as Snow Geese. It was hard to keep my eyes off the sky! I also saw many Blackbirds and Gulls passing through, quickly riding the winds. There were other individual birds flying by who were going to quick for me to identify. They are also very high up for me in the valley.
Mixed Goose Flock, with Canadas and Snow
My resident Red-tailed Hawks were out gathering nesting material.
Resident Red-tailed Hawk
There were so many geese in the sky that I accidentally got this photo too.
Red-tailed Hawk with Geese in the background
I took a nice walk down my trails to see if I could find anything interesting. Birds were singing high in the trees, but none were low enough to photograph. I did find some other non-living things of interest: the Pileated Woodpeckers have been busy this winter.
Evidence of my resident Pileated Woodpeckers
Someone is digging up the holes that foxes used a couple of summers ago. Chances are that this is from groundhogs, but I can hope that my foxes are returning, can’t I???
Fresh Fox or Groundhog digging
The very last sighting I had on my trails was a good one! I finally found one of the feeders that the bears stole last time they raided my yard. It was still frozen into the ground, so I will recover it when the ground has thawed.
The feeder that bears stole in the Fall
Back at the feeders, I caught one of my Red-breasted Nuthatches holding on in the winds. He’s not very shy, so he stayed put as I went by.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Not a bad weekend for birds. Spring is on its way!
Every bird lover has that one special bird that started it all. In my early camera years I always loved taking photos of animals. When I purchased my first dSLR I was sure to get a telephoto lens right away because I knew that I would want to photograph wildlife. I would visit Colonial Park in Somerset, New Jersey where I started photographing geese and ducks because they were the easiest targets. It was not long before I saw a Heron for the first time. A bird so beautiful and majestic, graceful and proud. In May 2008, I saw the bird that would change everything.
My first Great Blue Heron, cropped with a lower quality lens
After taking countless photos of waterfowl, this was the bird that I wanted to get a great photo of. When I went home, I found out that it is a Great Blue Heron. A very common bird, yet I never remember seeing one before. It was not until August that I finally got fairly close to one.
My second Great Blue Heron, shot with a Canon 55-250 lens
I spent two hours watching the bird, enjoying his beauty. I hoped that he would fly so that I could try a flight shot, but he wouldn’t budge. It turned out that I had to leave the bird! The next time I went to the park was after work, so it was already late. I did not find a Great Blue Heron until it was near dark, but I did find another interesting relative.
Green Heron
A much smaller bird in the Ardeidae family, the Green Heron. I soon found that this one was even more difficult to get close to. Most of the time I would only see them when they were spooked away by me walking by. They were just too quick!
The following weekend, I photographed both birds at the same park. I was getting closer to the perfect shot, but was still not quite there yet.
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron
A couple of months later, I found another beautiful long-legged bird. This one was all white and gorgeous as ever. The Great Egret became a new target bird, along with my other Heron friends. My first sighting of it was in a tree only for about a minute. I later found it perched along the bank.
Great Egret
I would often go to the park after work, so I lost lighting quickly for bird photography. I started to become a bit creative with my photos.
Great Blue Heron Silhouette
But most of the time, I would end up getting photos of a bird who was flying away.
Great Blue Heron flying away
The next time that I would see a Great Blue Heron was in the middle of winter on a nice February afternoon. Some of the water was frozen over and I enjoyed watching as geese and ducks would slide around on top of the ice. The Heron quickly stole my attention when it landed on the bank right next to me.
Great Blue Heron
I enjoyed watching him fish for twenty minutes until he flew off in the other direction. An hour later, I caught back up to my feathered friend and watched him fish some more. He must have been hungry! He tried to grab an already dead fish that was much too large for him.
Great Blue Heron with a large catch
He fished in the open and searched under bridges for whatever he could find in the recently thawed waters. Pickings seemed to be slim.
Great Blue Heron
The only fish he caught were very small, so he had to keep going at it.
Great Blue Heron with a small snack
This was my chance. The Heron did not care that I was right there next to him. He would walk right up to me and right past me, continuing his search for small fish. I patiently stayed still and watched him, enjoying every bit of the show he gave me.
Great Blue Heron
He was so close, that I could get shots of his head that filled up the entire frame.
Great Blue Heron
And shots that were too close for the frame!
Great Blue Heron up close
My earliest target bird dream had come true. I had the perfect photos of the perfect bird, shot with my new Canon 70-200mm F4 lens… yeah, he was close! You do not get this type of opportunity close-up in central New Jersey off the coast very often.
Great Blue Heron
It was hard to top that experience. I never got that close again. My next great experiences happened at new location at Johnson Park in Piscattaway. Here, I saw a Black-crowned Night Heron for the first time!
Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron
A couple of weeks later at this park, I found myself passing by more Herons and Egrets that were not disturbed by my presence.
Great Egret
Great Blue Heron perched above the trail
Young Great Blue Heron
My journey for better photos of Great Egrets also proved to be a success from different locations.
Great Egret at Boland Pond in Binghamton, New York
Great Egret at Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey
Great Egret in Cape May Meadows, New Jersey
I also found two very interesting Herons abroad. In Costa Rica in the Corcovado Rain Forest, we came across a Bared-throated Tiger Heron who was perched above a waterfall.
Bared-throated Tiger Heron in Costa Rica
And in Italy, near Naples I found a bird that I really wanted to see – a beautiful Squacco Heron!
Squacco Heron in Italy
I also saw two types of Egrets in Italy, Little Egrets in the same area as the Squacco Herons and many Cattle Egrets in Isola della Sola.
Little Egret in Italy
Cattle Egret
My most recent exciting Ardeidae experience came during a drive through Nummy Island in New Jersey this past fall. We had five different types of them in one location! Great Blue, Tri-colored and Little Blue Herons along with Great and Snowy Egrets. This was my first time photographing Snowy Egrets up close and they certainly did not disappoint me!
Snowy Egret in flight
Snowy Egret chasing off another
Herons still fascinate me and will always hold a special place in my birding-heart. One day, I would love to go to Florida and be able to photograph them up close. I also really want great photos of my next target Heron, a Tri-colored Heron!
Great Blue Heron
If you made it this far, please comment and let me know your “gateway” bird!
One of the things that I instantly fell in love with when I saw my neighborhood for the first time was the creek that runs along the road. It was in the summer, so the water flowed very peacefully. Little did I know that I would eventually become a birder and the creek would become my favorite birding patch.
Some of the regular visitors to the creek are very chatty Kingfishers.
Belted Kingfisher
And Green Herons, who I typically see flying away before I even spot them. Sometimes, they stay put.
Green Heron in breeding plumage
Green Heron, digiscoped with my Nikon EDG and Canon 7D
Great Blue Herons have been spotted a few times, even though the fish are pretty small.
Great Blue Heron
I often get waterfowl, mainly Canada Geese, Mallards and Common Mergansers.
Male and Female Common Mergansers
Two female Common Mergansers
… who also brought their families along.
Common Merganser Family
Canada Goose Family
I have some one-time visitors that are worth mentioning such as Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers.
Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers
As well as one lone Double-crested Cormorant.
Double-crested Cormorant
Some other nice surprises included a Veery, a very vocal Towhee and Great Crested Flycatchers.
Great Crested Flycatcher
I also often get Warblers, mostly during migration. However, the Yellow Warblers and Common Yellowthroats sing throughout the summer.
The best life bird I had at the creek was such a huge surprise. Before I was a birder, I adored the beauty of Cedar Waxwings. You can imagine how excited I was when I found them hawking insects at my creek. Now I get to see them all the time!
Cedar Waxwing
They would perch on the rocks and on the fallen branches that were scattered throughout. They always seemed to return to the same perches making photos pretty easy.
Cedar Waxwings
At one point, a bit of flooding washed away the branches, so I replaced one in their favorite spot. Not a minute later, I had a taker.
Cedar Waxwing
This past summer I found a Louisiana Waterthrush fledgling.
Louisiana Waterthrush Fledgling
And then Mom showed up, gathering some grub. These birds were very reliable for about two weeks and very easy to spot as they pumped their butts up and down while foraging for food.
Louisiana Waterthrush
The creek gave me my first close up with Turkey Vultures, a bird who is normally seen soaring the skies. They didn’t mind my presence as long as they had their food. They were munching on the bones of a raccoon that is hidden behind a rock. The smell was awful, but the photos were well worth it!
Turkey Vultures
And of course, it is a creek, so birds will find shallow places to bathe…
Bathing Grackles
Bathing Robin and Catbird
… and sun bathe!
Sun Bathing Kingfisher and Catbird
It’s not just the birds that I enjoy here – there are also mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects!
This summer, a pair of Beavers were spotted, but did not stick around. They had many small trees that they chomped down, but perhaps the creek was too much for them to dam up.
Beavers Pair
I often see deer crossing the water.
White-tailed Deer
Deer Couple
Along with many frogs and snakes that I find if I look close enough in the water.
Snake in the Creek
Frogs in the water
The frogs also find their way on the rocks by the dozen. I have to really watch my step sometimes because they are everywhere.
And, of course, the outdoor and feral cats that rule the neighborhood have to cross over at some point.
Domestic Cat
All of this is seen within a quarter mile walk along (and through) the water. I really love this creek. Even on days that there are no birds or other animals, there is always something to enjoy.
If you pay attention to birds, chances are you’ve seen a Hawk get attacked by birds that are much smaller than itself – typically Blackbirds, Grackles, Crows and Jays. Chickadees even work up the courage to crowd around Owls! This behavior is called mobbing. It occurs when species of birds band together to attack a larger bird, usually in an attempt to protect their nest or territory.
I always know when a Hawk is around my neighborhood – the local Crows are almost always pairing up and chasing it away. My view is typically of either birds hidden in a tree or high-tailing it out of the area. Early last summer, however, I had a front row seat of blackbirds mobbing a Red-tailed Hawk at Cornell’s Sapsucker Woods. This resulted in some pretty good photos of the action!
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Common Grackle
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird
I even caught one where the Blackbird has his feet and beak on the Hawk!
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird
While this perch was great for me and my photos, it was not the best choice for the Hawk who kept losing balance.
Red-tailed Hawk loosing balance
Though, even on a more stable perch, he had to dodge the incoming mob.
Red-tailed Hawk dodging incoming birds
This group included Red-winged Blackbirds, Common Grackles, American Crows and even Squirrels. If you look closesly at the photo below, the Squirrel is below her nest!
Red-tailed Hawk being mobbed by a Crow and Squirrel
The Hawk eventually broke away with a crowd of over twenty birds following it.
This was not the only time I witnessed such behavior up close – the next victims were even larger than the Red-tail! Bald Eagles were nesting on a platform out in the open on the north end of Cayuga Lake in New York. I went up to go visit them just as the young Eagles fledged. In fact, according to regulars who were there, I witnessed one of the Eagle’s first flights! The local blackbirds did not make it easy for the fledged Eagles to practice. As soon as they would take flight, the smaller birds would come in.
Young Bald Eagle being mobbed by a Red-winged Blackbird
This was the first time I witnessed smaller birds riding on the backs of larger birds! It was a great treat! With some luck, I captured two different angles of this behavior.
Young Bald Eagle with a Red-winged Blackbird on his back
Young Bald Eagle with a Red-winged Blackbird on his back
These little birds are very fearless. I sometimes even see just one bird mobbing a Hawk all alone. Anything to protect their territory!
Today, two friends and I drove around the east shore of Cayuga lake in search of waterfowl – in particular an Eared Grebe and Tufted Duck. We had an exact location for the Grebe thanks to a local birder but we knew the Tufted Duck would be a challenge since it is mixed somewhere within the rafts of Aythya species around the lake.
We started at Allan H. Treman State Marine Park where the Grebe has been seen and were greated by a large raft of Redheads and other Aythya species. They were flushed up by the geese, but ended up landing right back where they came from, minus the skittish geese. We could not locate a Tufted Duck in this fairly close flock. (eBird Checklist)
Raft of Redheads and other Aythya sp.
Aythya flock
As soon as we set up our scopes, maybe ten yards in from the shore, we were surprised with beautiful looks at the very active Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
… who tried really hard to fit in with the Ruddy Ducks.
Eared Grebe with Ruddy Ducks
After spending over an hour with icicles for hands and feet, we headed farther north and saw more of the same types of rafts along with the usual Gulls. Our next real gem of a spot was on the northern end of the lake in Mud Lock. We had better looks at some of the duck species that we saw all along the lake. (eBird Checklist)
Gadwall
Ring-necked Duck
A nice surprise at this spot was having all three species of Swans – and being able to compare Trumpeter vs Tundra in one scope view.
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swans
We started off with a bang (and a life bird for me) but never did locate the Tufted Duck. Maybe next time…
