Clint's Blog

Snow Geese, Fort Miller Road

Clint — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:24:30 +0000

Yesterday, 2/5/12, while on our way to Fort Edward to look for birds in the grasslands we made a side trip down Fort Miller Road along the Hudson River. To our surprise and delight we soon encountered a troop of Snow Geese ambling across the road on their way from the river to a field on the other side of the road. They seemed oblivious of us as we stopped the car and watched. There were still plenty of them along the river’s edge as well as in the field. Some took to the air and flew back and forth between the river and the field. We spent about 1 1/2 hours watching and taking photos of these gorgeous geese. We never made it to Fort Edward.

As the sun began to set thousands of Canada Geese took to the skies, reflecting the red shades of the setting sun as they flew past the rising moon.

One good tern…and more

Clint — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:24:43 +0000

Naomi and I spent the 4th of July weekend camping in the Finger Lakes region of NY. Much of the time we spent exploring the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge (where the photos below were taken).

Black Terns

American Kestrel

Baby Coyote (wet from swimming in the wetland waters)

Immature Bald Eagle

We were witness to an amazing Bald Eagle/Osprey interaction which I captured with my camera. An Osprey flew directly over us carrying a fish when suddenly an immature Bald Eagle swooped out of nowhere and attacked the Osprey trying to take its fish away. In the end the Osprey got away with its catch. Here is the sequence:

Bobolink

Common Moorhen

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron Chicks at Nest

Great Egret

Red-winged Blackbird

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-tailed Bucks

White-tailed Fawn

Baby Yellow Warbler

Sunday in Elayne Ryba’s yard

Clint — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:48:57 +0000

Naomi and I spent the day Sunday in Elayne Ryba’s back yard waiting for the red-headed woodpecker, who didn’t show up. But we enjoyed lots of other birds and Elayne’s wonderful hospitality. Many thanks to Elayne for generously sharing the news of the red-headed woodpecker and the opportunity to watch for it! (We’ll be back — will the rhwp?)

Here are a few photos of some what we did see yesterday in Elayne’s backyard:

Birds - May 25, 2011

Clint — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:40:37 +0000

This morning was a lovely Spring morning for birdwatching and photography - they were showing their finest….

American Crows

Indigo Bunting

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Male Red-winged Blackbird

Wood Duck Pair

Spring Birds

Clint — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:06:08 +0000

Here are a few photos of local birds I have taken over the past 3 weeks or so:

Chipping Sparrow

Cooper’s Hawk

Eastern Phoebe with nesting material

Eastern Towhee

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Red-bellied Woodpecker (by nest)

RBW at our feeder

Red-tailed Hawk

White-throated Sparrow

Wood Duck

Baltimore Oriole

Great Horned Owl

Canada Goslings

Indigo Bunting

February Sunset

Clint — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 01:21:00 +0000

Here are some sunset photos from this evening. Some are through tree branches and some with crows flying over against the colored clouds.

Avalon and Hannah’s Wedding

Clint — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:25:23 +0000

We just returned from our son’s wedding in England on 1/29/11. We had a marvelous time and were treated like royalty by Hannah’s parents. We couldn’t ask for a better family in which to be welcomed. It was a small intimate wedding with just us, Hannah’s parents, her brother, her sister and her sister’s boyfriend. I took lots of photos and here is a sampler:

The wedding party…. From left to right in front: Hannah, Avalon, Avalon’s parents (Naomi and Clint)

Back row (Hannah’s Family): Steve (dad), Hilary (mom), Chris (brother), Kathryn (sister), Jon (Kathryn’s boyfriend).

Snow Scenics

Clint — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:23:53 +0000

These are a few scenes right after a snow storm a couple of days ago. Most of these were converted to black and white.

Brownsville, TX - November 2010

Clint — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 20:37:51 +0000

We took a trip to Brownsville, TX to visit relatives from October 30 - November 5. We spent most days out and about at different sanctuaries and birding centers. We saw 22 new species of birds in 5 days! I was fortunate enough to be able to get photos of all the birds that we saw as well as some other Southwestern wildlife.

View a slide show of the photos at:

http://www.catbirdnotes.com/photos/Brownsville/

Cape May Birdwatching Trip

Clint — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 20:58:15 +0000

We had a wonderful birding trip to Cape May, NJ over the holiday weekend. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect! We were up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and Sunday to participate in birding field trips. On Saturday we also took a birdwatching boat trip to look for shore and wetland birds. I took a LOT of photos and have posted some of the best ones here.

When viewing the slideshow you can navigate by clicking on the arrows at the top or the thumbnails on the left. Also, if you click directly on the main central photo the next slide will appear. To see the slideshow of photos click the link below:

http://www.catbirdnotes.com/photos/capemay

First Fall Foliage

Clint — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 18:29:42 +0000

The Fall colors are just beginning to emerge around here, but a few trees are fully ablaze with red and orange…

Bluebird, Flicker, and Red-tailed Hawk

Clint — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:38:20 +0000

I got a few photos of an Eastern Bluebird, a Northern Flicker, and a Red-tailed hawk in the beautiful, early morning, golden light this morning on our walk. The Red-tailed hawk was particularly stunning.

Eastern Bluebird

Northern Flicker

Red-tailed Hawk

Camping along the St. Lawrence River

Clint — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:00:34 +0000

Over Labor Day weekend we went camping along the St. Lawrence River in northern NY. Here are a few photos from the trip….

Sunset Over the St. Lawrence River

Belted Kingfisher

This immature Osprey was hanging around the nest, which was on a platform on a power pole, looking for its parents to feed it.

Common Loon

It was very exciting to spot a young Merlin (a kind of small falcon) sitting atop a telephone pole. It would occasionally fly out to catch a dragonfly and then come back to its perch.

There were lots of Ring-billed Gulls that weren’t shy and came quite close.

Male Scarlet Tanager

Clint — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 13:39:01 +0000

While we were camping this past weekend I got my closest and best photos of a male Scarlet Tanager to date. He was curious about the sound of my camera shutter and kept coming closer to have a look. What a bright, handsome guy!

Insect Macros

Clint — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:44:45 +0000

These are some insect macros I got today in my backyard. Many of them are on little mint flowers.

Bald Eagle and Common Terns in Flight

Clint — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:17:38 +0000

I took the Bald Eagle in Flight and Common Tern photos a couple of weeks ago This is the closest I have gotten to an Adult Bald Eagle flying - I was quite thrilled!

Wildflowers, damselflies and a moth

Clint — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:46:48 +0000

I went out with my macro lens this morning after a rain and got some close shots of a few colorful wildflowers, damselflies and a moth.

Vischer’s Ferry

Clint — Sat, 15 May 2010 18:19:48 +0000

I spent 2 hours at Vischer’s Ferry Nature Preserve this morning taking photos of some of the birds. As soon as I got out of my car there were two Sandhill Cranes flying directly overhead. I barely had time to snap a couple of shots of them. Swallows are very fast flyers and move somewhat erratically, which made it quite difficult to get any in focus flight photos. A few were decently sharp - I am actually surprised that ANY of them turned out. Here are some of the photos from this morning…

Sandhill Cranes

Bank Swallows

Kingbird

Yellow Warbler

Great Blue Heron

Tree Swallows

White-crowned Sparrow

Indigo Bunting, Robin, Red-tailed Hawk

Clint — Thu, 13 May 2010 15:49:18 +0000

The birds were singing away this morning!

Indigo Bunting

American Robin

Red-tailed Hawk perched and watching with its hawk-eyes

Eastern Bluebird

Clint — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:26:08 +0000

Oriole, Phoebe, Blackburnian Warbler, Canada Goose Goslings

Clint — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:01:25 +0000

This was a great morning for birding. There was lots of activity and birds displaying their best Spring plumage.

Baltimore Oriole

Eastern Phoebe

Blackburnian Warbler

Canada Goose Goslings

Red Fox; Wood Ducks

Clint — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:23:55 +0000

On our walk this morning we came across a Red Fox…

And a group of 5 Male Wood Ducks and 1 Female

Female Flicker and a Male House Finch

Clint — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:15:40 +0000

A female Northern Flicker paid another visit to my backyard…

A male House Finch posed for me…

More Spring Flowers

Clint — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:25:13 +0000

Here are a few more Spring flowers…

Wild Columbine

Tree in Flower

Blossoms on our Ornamental Apple

Macro Photos - April 20, 2010

Clint — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:18:30 +0000

It has been a beautiful, sunny Spring day today. I took my macro lens and spent a few hours finding and photographing some Spring plants and bugs.

Baby Tree Leaves

Bluets

Conifer Cone

Dandelion

Flowering Moss (the blossoms are less than 1/8” across)

Moss and Acorn Caps

Solitary Bee

Tree Bark

Tree Leaf Buds

Violets

Unidentified Wildflowers

Yesterday’s Backyard Visitors

Clint — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:57:40 +0000

Below are pics of a few of the visitors to my backyard yesterday.

American Goldfinch -this one is not yet in full Spring plumage

This handsome guy is fully decked out in his best colors

Chipmunk

Gray Squirrel

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flickers – I was so excited to see this pair of flickers in my own backyard. Although I see them regularly in the area I have never seen them in my yard and have never gotten a photo of one this close.

Male Northern Flicker

Female Northern Flicker

White-breasted Nuthatch at our feeder

First Spring Wildflowers

Clint — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:54:34 +0000

These are some macro photos of the first Spring wildflowers in my backyard.

Dandelion

Purple Violet

White Violet

Wild Mint – these have an orchid-like shape but the blossom is tiny…it’s only ¼”!

Sunny Spring Day Birds

Clint — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 21:03:28 +0000

It has been a lovely sunny day to be outside – and the birds seem to think so too. These bright beauties made the day even sunnier.

Female American Goldfinch

Male American Goldfinch

Northern Flicker

Eastern Bluebird

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Blue Jay

Great Horned Owlets

Clint — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 20:41:45 +0000

On Sunday Naomi spotted a Great Horned Owl nest about 150 – 200 feet off the east side of Route 787. She called me and rushed home to pick up me and my camera to get some photos. There are two large chicks in the nest. I have not seen either of the parents, so I don’t have any photos of the adults yet. Below are some of the photos I have gotten over the past 3 days.

Today’s First of Season Birds

Clint — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:14:59 +0000

I had three FOS birds today. Spring is in the air!

American Black Duck pair

Female Common Merganser escorted by 2 Males

Red-winged Blackbird

Robins

Clint — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:34:02 +0000

Since I was a kid I have loved Robins. I think it was the first bird I could identify and the first bird’s nest I ever saw – still love those sky blue eggs. Despite their commonality, to me they are just as beautiful as any other bird and hold a special place in my heart for many reasons – not the least of which is the announcement that Spring is here. If robins were rare birds folks would travel thousands of miles to see one and Oooh and Aaah over them.

Here are a few photos I took in the last couple of days….

And my personal favorite (there was great lighting and a deep blue sky)

Sex and Violence…it’s not just on TV :-)

Clint — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:38:33 +0000

Preparing for takeoff

She flies away

He goes into Jesus mode and walks on water going after her

He catches her

But she’s not in the mood and breaks free

She changes her mind and they make romance

A rival comes in

The romantic interlude is interrupted and he goes after the rival

And round and round they go…

At that point they got into poor lighting so I didn’t get any more photos, but the rival was chased away….

Black-capped Chickadee

Clint — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:55:05 +0000

I got some close photos of this little Black-capped Chickadee this morning in a lovely setting. It didn’t pay much attention to me while it was eating the cone seeds.

Bald Eagles at Ashokan Reservoir

Clint — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:27:23 +0000

Thanks to Elisa’s (of the HMBIRDS Yahoo Group) excellent directions and advice we found the Bald Eagles nest at Ashokan Reservoir quite easily. The Adults are taking turns sitting on the eggs in the nest. The nest is quite far from where it is possible to stand and observe/photograph; but even so I was able to get a few useable photos of the nest as well as some great closeups of the male perched on a dead branch.

After we waited around for about an hour, the female returned to the nest and took over sitting on the eggs and the male flew off…

The male circled around and perched on a tree limb not far away in an area that allowed a pretty close approach. He didn’t seem to mind me at all as I snapped away. I was thrilled to be able to get such close shots!

Short-eared Owls at Saratoga Battlefield

Clint — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:45:04 +0000

We made a trip to Saratoga Battlefield early this afternoon to see if any Short-eared Owls are still around, but with little hope of actually spotting any. However, shortly after arriving Naomi spotted one flying over and then there were two cavorting together in the air. Occasionally they landed in a tree as well. We weren’t able to get very close, so the photos below are highly cropped and not as detailed as I would have liked; but we were very happy to have seen and photographed them.

The first shot is of the two of them flying together.

Between owl shots I captured a few photos of some photogenic deer that were hanging around grazing in the field.

Birds in the Snow

Clint — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:35:55 +0000

We had a few inches of snow yesterday. While it was snowing I took a few pictures of a couple of our backyard bird friends perched on snowy branches.

Goldfinches in winter plumage

Mourning Dove

Peregrine in Flight; Pileated Portraits

Clint — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:43:02 +0000

This morning Naomi and I went looking for the Peregrine Falcons down by the Hudson river here in Troy. We first spotted a Peregrine as it was diving and attacking a Red-tailed Hawk sitting atop a building. Peregrines have unbelievable speed in flight. To get a sense of the falcon’s speed the first two shots of the attack are 2 consecutive frames in a 6 fps burst - which means they were only 1/6th of a second apart!
*

After the scuffle the Peregrine flew in our direction and right over my head and I got some flight shots of it.

Today on our walk in Oakwood Cemetery I also got some photos of the male Pileated Woodpecker (my last series was of the female). The male has a red “mustache” whereas the female has a black one. I was able to get even closer than I did last time, which yielded some nice close-ups.

Cooper’s Hawk

Clint — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:04:34 +0000

I had my camera set up on a tripod and was taking some photos of a few birds at our feeder when all of a sudden I saw something large darting at the feeder at high speed. There was a flurry of feathers and then I saw it was a ~~Sharp-shinned~~ Cooper’s Hawk. It missed grabbing anyone at the feeder including a male cardinal (I was relieved). It proceeded to perch on a branch for a couple of minutes and that is when I grabbed these quick shots.

Pileated Woodpecker

Clint — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:50:32 +0000

I finally got some good photos of a Pileated Woodpecker. I have never been able to get anywhere near close enough before. There is a pair of them in Oakwood Cemetery and I have been biding my time for the combination of a sunny day, the good luck of seeing one, and getting within a reasonable distance. It all came together this bright, sunny winter morning! I was thrilled. This female Pileated was too busy eating to pay much notice of me, so I was able to take plenty of photos while walking around to get a few different angles.

Here she is with her incredibly gorgeous bright red crest gleaming in the sun:

Lapland Longspurs and Horned Larks

Clint — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:22:33 +0000

Thanks to the posts about the sightings of Lapland Longspurs on Bunker Hill Road in Valley Falls, Naomi and I made a quick trip up there this afternoon. We found the spot because there were two other birders there with their scopes. We were treated to a view of a Lapland Longspur through one of the scopes (thanks). I continued walking about the area with my camera and managed to get a few decent shots of some Lapland Longspurs along with some of the numerous Horned Larks in the field. Although I was not very close, even the highly cropped photos show fairly good detail.

A group of HORNED LARKS

HORNED LARK

An immature HORNED LARK (?) and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR close crop

Two HORNED LARKS and a LAPLAND LONGSPUR

A capture of three LAPLAND LONGSPURS together with some HORNED LARKS. The first Lapland Longspur is on the far left, the second is lower left center (just below and to the left of the central Horned Lark), and the third is on the far right.

Five Woodpeckers in Five Minutes

Clint — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:23:45 +0000

While walking in Oakwood Cemetery this wintry morning we were commenting on the fact that we weren’t seeing any birds other than one crow and one blue jay. A few minutes later the sun came out and so did the birds! We stood and watched in amazement at the variety of woodpeckers in one small area right in front of us. Within 5 minutes we had spotted 5 species. We saw every kind of woodpecker we have seen in our area except for a Pileated Woodpecker. I was glad I carried my camera with me this morning to document the event. I have never seen all five of these species in one place before.

Female Downy Woodpecker

Male Hairy Woodpecker

Male Northern Flicker

Female Red-bellied Woodpecker

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Immature Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (I think)

There was also a bright Male Northern Cardinal in the same group of trees – I had to get his portrait as well…

Birds at Our Feeder

Clint — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:12:40 +0000

Winter is in full swing here in Upstate NY and it is very cold. It’s not as easy to find birds out in the open as it is other times of year; so I put some fresh seed in the feeder and decided to let them come to me. They found the the feeder right away and with all the snow cover were very happy to have it. Here are a few photos I got of some of our visitors today:

Black-capped Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

A Downy Woodpecker and Chickadee together

Tufted Titmouse

Giving the camera a quizzical look…

White-breasted Nuthatch

California Trip

Clint — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:54:28 +0000

It was a sad occasion for us! My mother died suddenly on 11/16 and we went out to Merced, CA for the funeral a couple of days later. My son, Avalon, came from England as well. While we were there we had a chance to spend some time at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge and the Moss Landing Wetlands. Both places were loaded with many species of birds. There were Sea Otters and Sea Lions at Moss Landing as well. Taking some photos helped to take my mind of the sorrow of my mother’s passing - at least for a few moments.

It was much easier to make a slide show of the photos instead of uploading all of them individually to my blog. This link will take you to the photos:

http://www.catbirdnotes.com/photos/mosslanding/

Clint

Fall Flicker

Clint — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:47:04 +0000

There were Northern Flickers out and about on our walk this fine Fall morning. I thought they would have all gone south by now - but I was wrong. I got a couple of photos of one at the base of a tree - I love the Autumn colors in the background. This is a male flicker (note the mustache). So here he is…a Flicker in fine fall form.

In this frontal shot you can see his black bib as well as his mustache.

This is my favorite pose he struck for me

There was also a mostly full moon just setting behind the last of the Autumn foliage

Loons on Lake Lewey

Clint — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:03:54 +0000

Correction: We initially mis-identified these as Red-throated Loons, but they are actually Common Loons in winter plumage. Thanks to some more proficient birders for pointing that out!

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One of the highlights of our mini-vacation was the chance to view and photograph some Loons against the breath-taking backdrop of the bright Autumn colors reflected in the placid waters of Lake Lewey.

There was also a Robin walking among the fallen leaves and I got a nice portrait of him

Lake Lewey Adirondacks Vacation

Clint — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:50:13 +0000

We did a short 2 day/one night trip to Lake Lewey in the Adirondacks over the holiday weekend. We stayed in a little cabin on the lake and had a lovely view right from the kitchen window. The Fall foliage was in full color and absolutely breath taking. We hung around the cabin and also did a couple of hikes.

Swainson’s Hawk

Clint — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:58:31 +0000

An immature Swainson’s Hawk (a rarity for this area) has been hanging around about 20 minutes south of our home for quite sometime. This morning was our first chance to drive down to the Coxsackie exit off of Rte. 87 to try to get a chance to see and photograph this beautiful hawk. We were not disappointed. As soon as we arrived there were several other birders in the parking area. Just as we got out of our car the hawk was flying right over our heads and then landed in a tree not far away. It was a “lifer” for us. We hung around for about another 45 minutes and the hawk was often close enough to get some sharp photos. I was so excited my hands were shaking and I was very glad I had a tripod with me :-). Here are some of my photos of the immature Swainson’s Hawk:

A Small World

Clint — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:42:20 +0000

Here are some more recent macro (close-up) photos:

Bumblebees

This is a small Hornet that I have been unable to positively identify. I love the color!

Jewelweed covered in jewels

Scarlet & Blue Leafhopper. This little one is only about 1/4″ long.

Extreme close-up of a Maple Seed

Mason Wasp

Small Wild Mint Blossom

These final photos are not for the faint of heart . These are large spiders - both are over 1″ (bodies - not counting legs).

Wolf Spider

Yellow Garden Spider. She is in the orb weaver family and creates an amazingly complex and beautiful web. I think the color and pattern is very attractive.

This is her from underneath. In the upper left part of her abdomen you can see her dull red spinneret from which she produces the silk for her web.

Cedar Waxwings

Clint — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:02:47 +0000

There has been a large flock of Cedar Waxwings hanging around the small pond and fountain pool in Oakwood Cemetery for a couple of weeks now. I went over with my camera to get some photos of them and had very good luck. They seemed to pretty much ignore me, occasionally flying so close to my head I thought they would bump into me. Here are few captures of this beautiful bird…

Ducks, Herons and Hydrangea

Clint — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:25:05 +0000

I got these photos on my early morning walk in Oakwood Cemetery this morning.

Female Mallard among lilypads

Great Blue Heron in a tree

Green Heron

The Hydrangeas are in full bloom and very prolific this year (because we had so much rain). The bushes are bent over with the weight of the many large bunches of blossoms.