Birds

Enjoying Common Birds Before the Migrants Show

March 24, 2012 by Corey 3 Comments

Now is the time to take one last look at the birds that have gotten us through the winter. Both the birds that stick around all year and those that visit from more northern climes are soon to be overshadowed by those feckless feathered fops from the south. I know I will be carefully tracking the arrivals and getting excited about them but, like Nate, it is unlikely that I will notice when I see my last Dark-eyed Junco before it disappears to head back to its breeding grounds.

Before the tanagers and the hummingbirds and the flycatchers and the wood-warblers – oh yes, the wood-warblers – arrive I thought that it would be nice to look at a few shots of common birds from the last couple of weeks. It seems only fair to give them their moment before we all forget they exist as we go nuts over the neotropical migrants.

All of the birds in this post were digiscoped with my Swarovski STS 80HD connected to my Canon EOS 50D by a Swarovski DCA adapter.

Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata (click for a bigger version)

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura

American Robin Turdus migratorius

Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor

American Tree Sparrow Spizella arborea

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Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.