Alan and I did a little birding today with our first stop being
The Bird Store & More to see if we could find the White-winged Dove that has been spotted there. We waited patiently outside for about 20 minutes or so and then decided to go in to see if it had been spotted recently and low and behold it decided to grace us with its presence. It was first seen perched in some brambles but soon enough it landed on the ground for photo ops.
The bird is by no means shy and jumped right into the flow of things for some lunch, pushing aside the other birds as if to say "out of my way you, I am a celebrity around this neck of the woods and all of this food is for me, not you common birds". Here it is giving a nice pose to its fan base who were inside watching its every move.
A shot of it in the branches where it was first spotted today by us.
There were also scores of other birds here as The Bird Store & More has an impressive feeder set up in back with abundant food that the birds appreciate like the Blue Jay above. Check out the face on this one, it looks as if someone had a little too much Christmas cheer the past few days!
And this very handsome Hairy Woodpecker who was there with some Downy Woodpeckers too.
A shot of a Red-tailed Hawk taken on our way to the Winimusset Wild Life Management area in New Braintree. These hawks would be everywhere today and I saw 6 of them in total including this one.
While we didn't get any snow in the Millbury area, there was enough in New Braintree to make everything so pretty so it was nice to get out there. I have decided to thumb my nose at Old Man Winter and no longer complain about it for the time being. I have found that I really enjoy winter hiking as it is so peaceful because most other folks won't venture out in it. How can one not be drawn to venture outside when you see the photo above. Talk about a winter wonder land.
Another photo that shows the snow capped pines. So pretty
Micro photography of an icicle that I thought was pretty cool.
And last but not least the Northern Shrike above. We were scanning the area for signs of life when Alan told me to be on the lookout for shrikes and voila, I found one in that instant! Hows that for luck???
Another picture. Wish I could have gotten better shots but this bird was rather elusive and only decided to sit still long enough to ID it and get a couple of shots before it ventured off. We also saw the Rough-legged Hawk fly above overhead long enough for ID, but it decided to go into hiding much to our dismay. Will be headed back there again tomorrow on our way to Royalston to see what is out there so stay tuned! Take care all.
Alan and I did a little birding today with our first stop being The Bird Store & More to see if we could find the White-winged Dove that has been spotted there. We waited patiently outside for about 20 minutes or so and then decided to go in to see if it had been spotted recently and low and behold it decided to grace us with its presence. It was first seen perched in some brambles but soon enough it landed on the ground for photo ops.
The bird is by no means shy and jumped right into the flow of things for some lunch, pushing aside the other birds as if to say "out of my way you, I am a celebrity around this neck of the woods and all of this food is for me, not you common birds". Here it is giving a nice pose to its fan base who were inside watching its every move. 
A shot of it in the branches where it was first spotted today by us.
There were also scores of other birds here as The Bird Store & More has an impressive feeder set up in back with abundant food that the birds appreciate like the Blue Jay above. Check out the face on this one, it looks as if someone had a little too much Christmas cheer the past few days!
And this very handsome Hairy Woodpecker who was there with some Downy Woodpeckers too.
A shot of a Red-tailed Hawk taken on our way to the Winimusset Wild Life Management area in New Braintree. These hawks would be everywhere today and I saw 6 of them in total including this one.
While we didn't get any snow in the Millbury area, there was enough in New Braintree to make everything so pretty so it was nice to get out there. I have decided to thumb my nose at Old Man Winter and no longer complain about it for the time being. I have found that I really enjoy winter hiking as it is so peaceful because most other folks won't venture out in it. How can one not be drawn to venture outside when you see the photo above. Talk about a winter wonder land.
Another photo that shows the snow capped pines. So pretty
Micro photography of an icicle that I thought was pretty cool.
And last but not least the Northern Shrike above. We were scanning the area for signs of life when Alan told me to be on the lookout for shrikes and voila, I found one in that instant! Hows that for luck???
Another picture. Wish I could have gotten better shots but this bird was rather elusive and only decided to sit still long enough to ID it and get a couple of shots before it ventured off. We also saw the Rough-legged Hawk fly above overhead long enough for ID, but it decided to go into hiding much to our dismay. Will be headed back there again tomorrow on our way to Royalston to see what is out there so stay tuned! Take care all.
7 comments:
I think the way the female cardinal is watching the dove is hysterical - was she holding a hatchet behindher back?? We have a leucistice house sparrow that visits our feeders and just this past week we've seen a mourning dove that has white tail feathers. I think all these unusual birds are ready for a fancy dress ball on New Year's Eve!
That winter wonderland is gorgeous.So the snow and cold may be inconvenience,but look at all that beauty.
Blessings,Ruth
...yeah--another lifer! What does that bring your count to now? Last I remember you were well past your goal of 200.
Congrats on your lifers, nice photos!
Have snowshoes, will travel. I love to winter hike too, but am looking forward to our next big hit on Friday so my son and I can 'shoe the powerlines up the road from us. Plenty of berries usually means plenty of birdies! Congrats on the White-winger!
Thanks Renee, it must be lovely in ME. May be going out there at some point soon as I am seeing reports for Northern Hawk Owls starting to come in. Enjoy your hike!
What a great way to wind down the year - with two new birds - and interesting that one is from the south and the other from the north. Thanks for all your kind comments on my blog - happy new year
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