You may not find your target bird but instead find...Snow Buntings!

We recently went birding to try and find an Iceland Gull that had been seen on Lake Massabesic in NH. We dipped on it (birder talk for missed it) so, on this overcast gray day, we went to other birding spots in NH. We saw many Ring-biled Gulls, such as this Ring-billed Gull, 1st winter at the

Exeter Wastewater Treatment Plant, NH. It looked pretty barren there

but like home to Snow Buntings, birds of the far northern tundra who come down as a winter visitor to lower Canada and the northern half of the US. We found a flock of 38.

They just seemed to disappear into the rocky shore.

Their plumage colors make them camouflaged against the background of rocks and weeds, whose seeds they were eating. How many can you find in this photo?

Next we went to the Concord, NH, Community Gardens on Birch St. The dried weed and flower stalks had ample seeds for visiting sparrows, such as Savannah, Song, Chipping and Tree Sparrows and

this American Goldfinch perched on a sunflower heart!

The two most unusual birds we found there were this late migrating Bobolink

and a Nashville Warbler. (Last two photos are of birds taken in other places, but used to show you what they look like.)

When you go birding you may not always find your target bird, but instead see other cool birds! And that is the fun!
Lillian Stokes

Snow Buntings Are Coming Your Way, Be On The Lookout

Snow Bunting in flight

Snow Buntings are now showing up in NH and other northern areas so watch for them in your area. To see where they have been spotted go to this ebird map. Photographed a few years ago with my Canon 1D Mark II (I now have a 1D Mark IV), and my Canon 300mm f 4 lens with a 1.4 teleconverter. When I photographed them it made me think about what it might be like to be a member of this Snow Bunting flock. There's safety in numbers. The bold pattern of the wings may help flock members keep close visual contact in flight. Interestingly, when the birds land and fold their wings, the buffy, brownish body plumage makes them rather camouflaged against the brown grass, another help with predator avoidance.

Snow Buntings breed in Alaska and the Arctic on tundra and rocky slopes. They winter across much of the upper one-third of the U.S, and southern Canada on weedy fields and shores. In summer, the buffy feather edges wear off, revealing the breeding plumage which is more black-and-white 

especially in males. 

Snow Buntings make interesting calls and learning their calls can alert you to their presence and help in identification You can become a much better birder if you know the songs and calls of birds. To help you we have the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs, CDs (recordings by Lang Elliott and Kevin Colver) which come as The Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs CDs eastern region, western region, or combined together in a boxed set. 

Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs CDs east and west boxed set.

Pine Grosbeaks, plus video, Wow!

For most of yesterday we had two female Pine Grosbeaks (the males are mostly red) hanging out in our "Prairie Fire" crabapple trees chowing down. I was amazed how many apples they ate and they seemed to continuously eat for most of the afternoon, like a kid going through the Halloween candy. They were really very tame, not at all bothered by us or the Corgis who ran under the trees. The hardest part of photographing them was to get a clear show through the tangle of apple branches and also to every get a photo of them without applesauce covering their bill!

This is a more northern species who usually is found throughout Canada and up into AK. In irruptive years, such as this one, when so many northern species are coming down into the U.S. due to lack of food in their usual area, Pine Grosbeaks can join the exodus. Pine Grosbeaks are now being reported from numerous locations around our state of NH.
Thus far this fall we have had these irruptive species visit our yard; Pine Siskins, Common Redpolls, Purple Finches, Red-breasted Nuthatches, White-winged Crossbills, and no, Pine Grosbeaks.
We try hard to landscape our property for the birds, using lots of berry and food producing shrubs and trees. It pays off when we get to see such a beautiful species. Let us know if you see any.

Video (handheld) and photo number two shot with the Canon SX HS, the rest with my Canon 1D Mark IV.