WINGSCAPES

Some Amazing BirdCam Photos from Dr. Steven Kress

The entire team at Wingscapes is very excited to have recently received a number of seabird images as recorded by the BirdCam used by none other than Dr. Steven Kress. For those not familiar with Dr. Kress, he is Vice President for Bird Conservation for the National Audubon Society and Manager of the Society's Maine Coast Seabird Sanctuaries. He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Renowned for his work in the development of techniques for re-establishing various Maine seabird colonies, such as Atlantic Puffins, Leach's Storm-Petrels, and Arctic, Common, and Roseate Terns, as well as his work in studying the role of vocalizations in attracting endangered Dark-rumped Petrels to artificial burrows in the Galápagos Islands, and Short-tailed Albatross to decoys on Midway Island, Dr. Kress is truly at the pinnacle of global ornithological research.

One of the remarkable images he shared with us was this one of a Razorbill recorded at the entrance to its burrow on Matinicus Rock on the coast of Maine. Razorbills, a large species of auk found in the northern Atlantic ocean from the eastern coastline of North America all the way to northern European coast.

Another image he shared with us shows a Black Tern incubating eggs in its nest on Eastern Egg Rock, an 11-acre island in Muscongus Bay of the coast of Maine. Black Terns are stunningly beautiful birds to witness in flight and are highly prized sightings by birders from coast to coast. The opportunity to view this one on the nest is a rare treat indeed. That it was made possible by the expertise of Dr. Kress and captured using the Wingscapes BirdCam is a source of considerable pride for the entire team.

In addition to being a world class ornithological researcher, Dr. Kress is also the author of a number of popular books that have provided great advice and assistance to enthusiastic birders across North America. These titles include The Audubon Guide to Attracting Birds, The National Audubon Society's Birder's Handbook, The Bird Garden, Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock, Saving Birds, and the ever-popular Golden Guide to Bird Life. We hope to be fortunate enough to receive more images from Dr. Kress in the future and will certainly be sharing them with the readers of the Wingscapes blog when we do.

Squirrel Pod

After receiving a new bird feeder as a gift from a friend, I was eager to get it in place and the Wingscapes BirdCam focused on it. The shape and color of the feeder promised to offer great possibilities for somewhat more artistic images of the local birdlife. Unfortunately I didn’t give full consideration to just who else might find the feeder both enticing as well as down-right cozy as an autumn lunch location.

The Variable Song Sparrow

Song Sparrows are some of the most widely varied of all the North American feeder-visiting birds. Found in every one of the continental United States and most of the Canadian provinces, the Song Sparrow has been classified as having over thirty different subspecies. Those here in the Pacific Northwest are particularly reddish-brown in color while others commonly seen in the desert Southwest are light tan with pale markings. Some seen in the eastern part of the United States are often quite contrasting and boldly patterned while one particular population in Alaska is nearly chocolate brown.