Tag Archives: songbird

HELLO LITTLE DECEMBER SNOW BUNTINGS!

Sunday afternoon while walking along Brace Cove I by chance met up with my friend Michelle. I was showing her where to look for the Lark Sparrow when Michelle spotted a beautiful male Snow Bunting, and then we spotted a second! They were pecking at the sand looking for seeds caught between the granules.

Also called “Snowflakes,” their arrival on our shores seems appropriate enough for the pending snowstorm 🙂

An interesting note about Snow Buntings – Male Snow Buntings look very different in their breeding and non-breeding plumage. Not due to molting, but because they rub their bellies and heads in the snow, wearing down brown feather tips to reveal pure white feathers beneath.

Safe Travels Little Snow Buntings!

Mostly when you see the pretty Snow Buntings at the beach, they are pecking at the sand, foraging for seeds caught between the granules. It was a joy to see one member in this small flock briefly alight on a stem of grass so I could catch a glimpse of its beautiful wing.

Snow Buntings are preparing to migrate to the Arctic. They have a circumpolar Arctic breeding range, which means they breed all around the globe within the range of the North Pole. Snow Buntings are the most northerly recorded passerine (songbird) in the world!

I don’t have a photo of what they look like in summer, when the male’s plumage is a striking black and white, and borrowed this batch from wiki commons media.

Fledgling Steals Papa’s Breakfast

Papa Cardinal enjoying his breakfast in peace.

“Rats, is that Pesky Pants I hear coming?” 

Junior swoops in and swipes Dad’s blueberry. 

“That was delish! You snooze, you lose Pops.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYxv83UlPJin7ZOkkSoJgHTgD0V_cVjIkQgFts0/