Bird Photos and their Stories
Lauren Shaffer wrote 146 posts
The Yellow Warbler is found across the entire United States singing the “Sweet, sweet, sweet; I’m so sweet!” song from the tops of shrubs and small trees. The male is a buttery-yellow color with rufous streaking on the breast. The female and immatures are a duller yellow without streaking. They are easily seen from the […]
The Eastern Meadowlark, a normally secretive bird of the grasslands, will show off its golden-yellow breast and throat, adorned with a black chevron, during breeding season. Males will sing their sweet song from a perch such as a fence post or telephone wire, which sounds something like “Dear sweet Emily…,” in order to attract 2 […]
The White-throated Sparrow is one of the jazziest sparrows at our feeders in winter with its black and white striped crown and yellow lores. In fact, Cornell’s website, All About Birds says, Crisp facial markings make the White-throated Sparrow an attractive bird as well as a hopping, flying anatomy lesson. There’s the black eyestripe, the […]
Bald Eagles have certainly made a come-back recently, and are no longer a rare sight. A pair has been nesting at Montour Preserve near us in Central PA for at least several years. Though they are seen occasionally at their nest tree, the pair is more often seen elsewhere, scoping out a farmer’s field for […]
In the colorless days of winter, an adult male Western Tanager has livened things up by ending up far from its usual warm winter habitat in Central America. This beautiful vagrant is even more striking in breeding plumage, when it sports an orange-red head and bright yellow body. This bird was found in the back […]
The year 2015 was a good year for life birds for me because of a few trips I was able to take within the United States. I’ve seen almost all the North American land birds in the East, and look forward to getting to the coast and out West to add to my life list. […]
Bald Eagles gather below Conowingo Dam in Maryland for good fishing. When the water is flowing, the fish are also pouring over the dam. Some are stunned when they hit the water, and make for easy pickin’s below. The bank on one side of the Susquehanna River is lined with fishermen and photographers. The […]
No visit to the Southwest is complete without a view of the Greater Roadrunner. Of my half-dozen or so birding trips to the Southwest, I’ve caught only glimpses of this interesting bird. This trip was different. On five occasions, my husband and I were treated to long looks and many photos of Wile E. Coyote’s […]
Lincoln’s Sparrow passes through most of the United States during migration, and is always a treat to see with its buffy chest and malars and its fine black streaks. They are just as variable as the other sparrows, as these next photos will show. You will notice very buffy, slighty buffy, finely streaked and heavily streaked […]
The Limpkin is a strange water bird of the Florida and Georgia swamps, something like a cross between a rail and a stork. It doesn’t seem to fit in either family, and thus the Limpkin was classified in a family all by itself: Arimidae. Its range extends south from Florida to much of the fresh […]