Summer greets Western Massachusetts with a hot soup of humid heat. The rising sun casts a net of sweltering, swelling, sanguine rays piercing skin and leaf alike. Spreading landscape’s spring green evaporates into a darker coating . . . void of its former verdant glow. It is a great time for butterflies, except for all […]
Best Photo of the Week Ended 30 Jun 2012
We are pleased to present the winners of our most recent “Best Photo of the Week” Competition. First Prize goes toNancy Elwood for her photo entitled “Black Skimmer Parent with Its Chick”, Second Prize toMike Barth for “Red-collared Widowbird” and the Third Prize toRon McCombe for “Black Guillemot” (see images below with links to the […]
Birds of Antelope Island – A Mix of Feathered Friends
Yesterday I photographed a mixture of birds on Antelope Island State Park. There aren’t many places on this planet where a Chukar can be photographed walking on an Oolitic sand dune, I’m fortunate that I live where I can do that. The oolitic sand this Chukar is walking on was formed in the Great Salt […]
Western Grebe and chick
Just a short post today. I’ve been reading this morning about the fires in Colorado, a state that I loved living in, and I’m dreadfully sad about the destruction the Waldo Canyon Fire is leaving in its wake and the huge number of homes lost in the High Park Fire. My friend Bob Berwyn who […]
Rough-legged Hawk ~ Friday Photos
This Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) was photographed this past winter at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area in northern Utah. Rough-legged Hawks breed in the Arctic so we don’t see them around here in the summer. I didn’t notice until after I published “Birds of Antelope Island” yesterday that it was my 400th post on this […]
June Birding!
Tuesday June 12: Under drizzling skies, a small group of enthusiastic birders and photographers met this morning at Andrew Haydon Park. From here we went straight for the Moodie Drive Quarry Ponds where we had Common Tern, Bank Swallow and Belted Kingfisher. At the Richmond Lagoons, we had great views of Black-billed Cuckoo, Warbling Vireo, […]
Do You Consider Cliff Swallows Pests?
Keep your eye on the adult swallow in the top center of the frame in the last few seconds of the video. He or she is grabbed by the beak and pulled right out of the nest! For more more up to the minute news on bird conservation issues, check my “Birds in the News” […]
Plain Brown Bird?? Pfflllt…
I’ve heard people call Willets (Tringa semipalmata) “Plain Brown Birds”, I reckon they may have never seen one looking like this Willet. Yes, Willets have brown in their plumage but they are far from “Plain”. In fact; with their wings lifted, they look pretty dapper in my opinion. I photographed this Willet on Antelope Island […]