A neat moment

A shot of a Snowy Owl near our house sitting in the snow. Makes you think about how they must look in the arctic.

A pile of Snowy Owl's

Today starting at 6:30 birding until around 11am, I saw between 11 & 13 Snowy Owl's, 11 being the lowest possible number of birds. Truly an incredible day.

Snowy's

Well they are back in full force this year, here are a few more shots from this morning.

Snowy Owl & Northern Shrike

First birds of the Season, shaping up to be another great year for Snowy's on Plum.

Lapland Longspur & American Avocet

A great bird at close range around the Hellcat tower, Lapland Longspur . Other recent sighting's from the Parker include ; American Avocet, Snow Bunting and dark morph Gyrfalcon. The Gyrfalcon is still up for debate for birders in the area, but the bird I saw was pretty definitively a Gyr. I got one bad picture which was just to fuzzy for any field marks.
                                         
                                           

Avocet

                                                         Lone Longspur on the Hellcat dike

I stole the idea for this photo from my buddy Hans, he takes way better pictures than I do, check him out. www.hanszimmern.com3

Black Skimmers PI

After weeks of no birding in the reserve, day one... 6 Juv Black Skimmer's on Sandy Point. Not great shots, but it is only the second time I've seen skimmer's on PI.

Lark Sparrow PI

A Lark Sparrow was found on Plum so I went to check it out today, I found the bird foraging about the Hellcat area. A mature bald eagle also put up the roosting Herons and Egrets along the dike. Other birds seen: Black Crowned Night Heron, American Golden Plover, Black Bellied Plover, White Rumped sandpiper, Stilt Sand Piper, and Pectoral Sandpiper, and various normal peeps.

                                                           Bald Eagle putting up ducks

                                     Great Horned Owlet from this spring...late post...

Peregrine's

Well the Falcons are back on PI, I've seen mostly Juveniles and couple adults. I've taken some time off from birding due to the heat, but I am back...and the weather is cooling. Thank god. More pics to come.

                                         

Megladon tooth from Casey's store, awesome...

A quick drive

Baby wild Turkey's and Willet's were around in the Parker this morning. The Turkey's were quite comical. A few other recent pictures as well.
                                             
                                             

                                              A quick shot of the PI Red Tail in between rain storms

                                                         Did not have valid permit...

                                     Just another Willet doing what they do...standin' on stuff

                                                              Ceder

 Casey under one of the recent PI rainbows

Black-necked Stilt

A life bird for me on Plum Island today. A bit far out for good shots, but awesome to see on PI. Also 2 Tri-colored Herons.

Catching up

Well, I have been slacking in my updates, so this is sort of a combined smattering of pictures. I traveled to the Kennebunk Plains, an upland prairie habitat to see; grasshopper sparrows, vesper sparrows and upland sandpipers. Very cool place. Indigo Bunting's and Blue Winged Warblers have returned to Martin Burns. Plovers and Least Terns are on nests here on Plum. I also completed a bird survey at my in-laws farm in Boxford and found a Savannah Sparrow, a first for me at this location. Pictures are in no set order.

                                                               Black Bellied Plover

                                                                Black Crowned Night Heron

                                                                              ?

                                                                             ?

                                                              Eastern Blue Bird

                                                            Empid - ?

                                                                  Indigo Bunting

                                                                     Piping Plover

                                                      The local Red-tail

                                                                  Willet's

Eastern Screech Starling