Wednesday, January 31, 2018,
Okay, so Song Sparrows are cute little birds and it’s not easy to make one look tough but this one breaks the mold. I can’t be certain, but this bird looks like the kid that used to beat me up for my lunch money in grade school. JK
Tuesday, January 23, 2018,
JK
Sunday, January 21, 2018,
Today is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. No, really. I’m not making that up. I’m just not that inventive. Maybe the folks at Hallmark Cards could come up with such a holiday but not me.
As it turns out, National Squirrel Appreciation Day was created in 2001 by Christy Hargrove, who is a wildlife rehabilitator in North Carolina. Christy is affiliated with the Western North Carolina Nature Center and not Hallmark as I had suspected.
I took these photographs three days ago at the Elizabeth A. Morton Wildlife Refuge in Sag Harbor. I am appreciating this squirrel’s trust in a biped and he is appreciating my sunflower seeds. A win-win situation. I came away with some cool pics and an even cooler experience and all it cost me was a handful of sunflower seeds. The squirrel seemed pretty satisfied with the encounter as well. JK
JK
Tuesday, December 26, 2017,
JK
Sunday, December 24, 2017,
This is a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, my first one ever. It is probably an immature male and not just because most women I know are always telling me that men are immature. Or maybe they just mean me. I’m not sure. Anyways, back to the bird. I spotted a pair of these working some trees about a month ago at the Morton Wildlife Refuge. They were obviously woodpeckers of some sort but even from a distance I could see they weren’t Downy Woodpeckers, which are the woodpeckers I see most often. When I got home, I grabbed my Sibley’s Guide and compared my pics to the illustrations in Mr. Sibley’s excellent book. I thought I might have a Sapsucker but I very rarely trust myself, especially when it comes to new (to me) birds. So I emailed my friend Patrice from the Four Harbors Audubon Society and she confirmed my guess. I had finally captured the mythical Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. I looked to the skies for falling confetti or blaring trumpets but, sigh, there was nothing of the sort. I did, however, have a new bird under my belt. JK