Winter birding in the north can leave much to be desired at times, but special moments—like watching a Golden Eagle cruise over snow-dusted badlands—make up for the relative dearth of birdlife.

#birds #birdphotography #albertabirds #winterbirding

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

📍Teaneck Creek Conservancy (Teaneck, NJ)
🗓️ February 15, 2026
📸 Nikon D500 | 200-500 lens

@teaneckcreek.bsky.social
#backyardbirding #winterbirding #peregrinefalcon #teanecknj #birdphotography @aba.org @abcbirds.bsky.social @mybirdcards.com @audubon.org

Big red-headed pileated woodpecker

#BirdOfTheDay #BestOfTheMonth My favourite shot of February is this lovely pileated woodpecker that I came across in Fish Creek Provincial Park in Calgary, Alberta on Feb 13. #albertabirds #winterbirding

Orange-cheeked Waxbill

Orange-cheeked Waxbill 🪶

#birding #winterbirding

crossbills in a spruce tree

#BirdOfTheDay theme #BirdsInTheirElement
A couple of white-winged crossbills eating spruce cone seeds. Sheep River Provincial Park, Kananaskis, Alberta
#albertabirds #canadianbirds #winterbirding

#Two Mourning Doves #BlueSkyArtShow
Lake Placid, NY (23 February 2023). wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-w...

#BackyardBirding #birds #birding #nature #photography #winterbirding #wildlife

A lovely blue bird with a perky crest and whitish belly is sitting on a snow-covered branch. A tiny water droplet is falling from the bird's beak.

The #birdoftheday is #waterdroplets. Here’s a #bluejay braving a late fall snowstorm and probably contemplating a move to a warmer climate. Lake Placid, NY (14 November 2023). wildadirondacks.org/adirondack-w...

#BackyardBirding #birds #birding #nature #photography #winterbirding

small kinglet bird sitting on a branch

Golden-crowned kinglet in Queens Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta
#BranchBirds #BirdOfTheDay #albertabirds #winterbirding

Northern Cardinal - Male (Cardinalis cardinalis)

📍Teaneck Creek Conservancy (Teaneck, NJ)
🗓️ February 15, 2026
📸 Nikon D500 | 200-500 lens

#backyardbirding #winterbirding #northerncardinal #cardinal #birdphotography @aba.org @abcbirds.bsky.social @mybirdcards.com @nycbirdalliance.org @nature.org

Northern #Cardinal - female (Cardinalis cardinalis)

📍Teaneck Creek Conservancy (Teaneck, NJ)
🗓️ February 15, 2026
📸 Nikon D500 | 200-500 lens

@teaneckcreek.bsky.social @aba.org @abcbirds.bsky.social @mybirdcards.com @billpaquin.bsky.social
#winterbirding #northerncardinal #birdphotography

little golden-crowned kinglet bird

Golden-crowned kinglet, Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta #BirdsSeenin2026 #winterbirding

Cardinal enjoying a snack while finches flutter all around 🐦
#WinterBirding #NatureMoments

Redheads. A favorite duck. A real treat to see almost 50 gathered together. #redheads #ducks #winterbirding #birdphotography #naturephotography #longislandbirding

American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)

📍 Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge
🗓️ January 19, 2026
📸 Nikon D500 | 200-500mm

#sparrows #treesparrow #birdphotography #shawangunk #winterbirding @mybirdcards.com @nycbirdalliance.org @aba.org @abcbirds.bsky.social @nature.org

American Tree Sparrow (Spizelloides arborea)

📍 Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge
🗓️ January 19, 2026
📸 Nikon D500 | 200-500mm
#sparrows #treesparrow #birdphotography #shawangunk #winterbirding @mybirdcards.com @nycbirdalliance.org @billpaquin.bsky.social @aba.org @abcbirds.bsky.social

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

📍 Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge
🗓️ January 19, 2026
📸 Nikon D500 | 200-500mm
#finches #housefinch #birdphotography #shawangunk #winterbirding
@mybirdcards.com @nycbirdalliance.org @aba.org @abcbirds.bsky.social @audubon.org @billpaquin.bsky.social

Black-faced Bunting photo by tour participant Gottlieb Dandliker.

I’ve just completed 2 back-to-back trips to The Netherlands & we managed to see some awesome #birds The long-staying 10th Black-faced Bunting for this great country on #Texel was the star bird.

#zootherabirding #birding #Netherlands #winterbirding

Long-eared Owl from earlier in the month. More on justwildimages.blogpost.com @lincsbirding.bsky.social @lincswildlife.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social @britishbirds.bsky.social #LongEaredOwl #BirdPhotography #WinterBirding #BritishBirds #WildlifeWatching #LWTnature #CanonWildlife

#finches #winterbirding #birdseed #winter #birds

Winter Morning at Lake Carnegie Dam There’s something stubborn about photographing wildlife in winter. The cold bites at my fingers whilst I adjust settings. My breath fogs the viewfinder. Every part of me wants to stay inside, yet something pulls me out the door anyway. That morning, I nearly didn’t go. Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 200 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 The forecast wasn’t promising—just above freezing, overcast with occasional sunshine. But I’d been putting it off for days, and at some point I had to stop making excuses. So I grabbed the X-T3 and attached the XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR, loaded a fresh battery, and headed to Lake Carnegie Dam. The usual spot. The reliable spot. Except it wasn’t there anymore. Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) and Double-crested Cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 1250 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 The recent storms had flooded everything. The shallow areas where waterfowl normally gather—the little islands and mudflats below the dam—had all disappeared under brown water. I stood there scanning the empty scene, feeling a bit foolish for having made the trip. Then I heard mallards calling from somewhere across the river. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 400 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 They were on the western bank of the Millstone River, too far even for even the 600mm1 end of the lens. But that got me thinking. A few weeks earlier, I’d been browsing Google Maps, idly exploring that side of the Millstone River and Lake Carnegie, wondering if there was access to the dam. I’d never actually checked. Now seemed like a good time. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 1250 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 255.5 mm · f/6.4 The western bank of Lake Carnegie turned out to be full of life. Ring-billed Gulls clustered near the boat launch. A Great Blue Heron stalked the shallows. As I walked north on what looked like an unofficial trail, I kept finding more: Common Mergansers, Double-crested Cormorants, Belted Kingfishers that announced themselves before I could spot them. The thickets held White-throated Sparrows, Field Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Blue Jays—all the small birds you might see in suburban New Jersey wood, but concentrated here in unexpected numbers. White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 2500 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 539 mm · f/8.0 It struck me that this wasn’t just a coincidence. These were the birds I normally found on the eastern side. They hadn’t disappeared. They’d simply moved. Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 640 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 I talk about wildlife as though it’s static—as though certain species belong in certain places and that’s that. But creatures adapt constantly. Water rises, they relocate. Food sources shift, they follow. The birds don’t know they’re supposed to be on the “official” side of the dam. They just go where conditions suit them. White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 500 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 I wonder if I forget this because I’m so attached to my patterns. I’d been going to the same spot for years, expecting the same experience. When it wasn’t there, my first instinct was disappointment, not curiosity. The birds had already sorted out the problem whilst I was still standing around feeling let down. Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 160 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 467.6 mm · f/9.0 By the time I reached the “Private Property” sign near the dam, my blood sugar was dropping and it was nearly noon. Time to head back. But I’d got what I came for—just not in the way I’d expected. The images were different. The angle was different. Even the quality of light felt different from this side of the river. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) · Sunday 11 January 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 500 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 484.5 mm · f/7.1 There’s probably a lesson in here about flexibility, about letting go of expectations, about how constraints force creativity. But honestly, I’m more interested in the simpler fact: the world doesn’t wait for me to catch up. The birds had moved days ago. They were getting on with it whilst I was still checking the forecast and hesitating at the door. Next time the usual spot doesn’t work out, I’ll remember to look around a bit more. The thing I’m after might not be gone. It might just be somewhere else, waiting for me to figure that out. * * * 1. The X-T3 has an APS-C sensor with a crop-factor of 1.53. ↩ ### Like this: Like Loading...

#birds #winterbirding #lakecarnegie

https://islandinthenet.com/lake-carnegie-dam/

Winter Morning at Lake Carnegie Dam The usual spot was flooded and empty.

#birds #winterbirding #lakecarnegie

Whooper on ice! Taken at Deeping Lakes @lincswildlife.bsky.social last week. More on justwildimages.blogspot.com

@lincsbirding.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social @rspbengland.bsky.social @birdguides.bsky.social @britishbirds.bsky.social #WhooperSwan #DeepingLakes #LincolnshireWildlife #WinterBirding

Frozen shallows of Lake Erie, open water is barely seen in the distance.

Frozen shallows of Lake Erie - maybe 100yds or more. The edge of open water is barely visible from my vantage point. I can hear swans calling in the distance. #lakeerie #ohio #winter #winterbirding

Sylvia atricapilla / blackcap / munk (da) Fem. / hun

Winter finally brought snowy and frost but a pair of blackcaps are still present eating berries from ligustrum vulgare / liguster.
#boligbirding #winterbirding #birdsinthegarden

Next up was a feeding station with the superb Blue-throated Mountain-Gem posing nicely right next to us! #Arizona #USA #birds #birding #nikon #nature #natgeo #zootherabirding #birdwatching #winterbirding

Hi Nick
This Nutcracker's Sweet!

Great photo!

#zootherabirding #birds #birding #nature #nikon #winterbirding

It took some searching but we eventually found Clark’s Nutcracker north of Santa Fe in New Mexico #USA #zootherabirding #birds #birding #nature #nikon #winterbirding
www.zootherabirding.com

Evening Grosbeaks were numerous at the Sax-Zim Bog feeders, Minnesota #USA #birds #zootherabirding #nikon #nature #winterbirding

On a lovely winter walk with my dog and hubby when we came across this Red-tailed hawk perched in a tree, closely studying a flock of pigeons. 🥰⛄

#birds, #winterbirding, #urbanbirding , #getoutside

Was really pleased to see Canada Jay near the feeders at Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota #USA #birds #winterbirding #nikon #birding