by Lanny McDowell on January 4, 2010
They were also the first in quite a while on Martha’s Vineyard. They sort of had to be the first of the year, since it was the first of the year, about ten thirty in the morning.
The checklist for the Martha’s Vineyard Christmas Bird Count, which takes place tomorrow, on January fifth, due to a weather delay, says the CBC has recorded one Tundra Swan since 1999. Soo Whiting’s book, Vineyard Birds II, says tundras were seen more frequently and more regularly on CBCs up until ‘92 and then, for the most part, not seen after that. She writes, “Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are the two best places in Massachusetts where an observer might expect to see this rare visitor.” It’s only a guess, but I would be quite surprised if [click to continue...]
by Lanny McDowell on July 2, 2009
It’s not very hard to obtain decent bird photos of duck, goose and swan families this time of year. Whatever attitude you may hold about introduced species and the roles they play, Mute Swans are easy on the eyes, truly avian art in the most basic sense.
You know I have a schtick about getting close to my avian art subjects, so here is another set:
There is nothing wrong with this little guy’s leg. It’s just one of their postures, young and adult alike. They often seem to be doing exactly the same behavior or pose at the same time:
These images and Avian Art fine art prints are available for purchase. Contact me or View my gallery.
Birds are cool! Lanny
I have a list of folks who get an emailed notice from me with a URL to click on when I have posted a new blog. There are also times when I just send out photos to the list without bothering to blog about them or post them to a listserve. Not on the list? Want to be? Just contact me saying you want to be on the list or, better yet, subscribe to Feedburner above, in the right side column for automatic blog feeds to your email. Getting off the list is just as simple.
by Lanny McDowell on May 14, 2009
Hot off the presses, straight from the fields of Chilmark to your monitor screen. The phone and email thread went from Keith to Whiting to Manter to McDowell to refinding with Whiting this very elegant and rather casual drop-in.
No frills, just bird photographs:
It is the Vineyard, after all:
I have a list of folks who get an emailed notice from me with a URL to click on when I have posted a new blog. There are also times when I just send out photos to the list without bothering to blog about them or post them to a listserve. Not on the list? Want to be? Just contact me (below right) saying you want to be on the list or, better yet, subscribe to Feedburner above, in the right side column for automatic blog feeds to your email. Getting off the list is just as simple.
These images and Avian Art fine art prints are available for purchase. Contact me or View my gallery.
Birds are cool! Lanny
by Lanny McDowell on April 4, 2009
There were feeding birds of some sort almost wherever I stopped the car…
This third segment of my Florida birding sojourn involves parts of Merritt Island, a refuge east of Titusville, south of Daytona and within eyesight of Cape Canaveral.
After driving up from Wakodahatchee, I got a place to stay, dumped some gear and made it out for a couple of late afternoon hours to Merritt Island and chose one of the more commonly used (and paved) driving tours you can take around the managed impoundments of the preserve. Black Point I think it’s called. I stopped in at the park headquarters and store to purchase the Bill Pranty guide to Florida birding. The next morning at sunrise there was a thin layer of ice on the back window of my rental and I was eager to drive back to the island to run the less-travelled coral and dirt loops along the southern side of the preserve. [click to continue...]
