Photo of the Week Archive

This photo of a Cedar Waxwing was taken by Kirsten Reddoch, May 29, 2004, at the Auburn Sportsman's Club. Click to enlarge.

This Photo of the Week was taken by Mattie VandenBoom while vacationing in Bermuda. It is a White-tailed Tropic Bird, better know as the Bermuda Longtail. The Longtail is a pelagic bird (stays out at sea) returning to Bermuda to breed.

This is a great picture of Keith MacAdams at one of the mist nets. It was taken by Dwight Bruinsma, Maryann Hetherman's grandfather.

This is a digital photo of a Bald Eagle that was taken on the Kenai River in Alaska. The photo was taken by Ray Johns, avid angler and outdoorsman and longtime friend of mine.

When Kirsten Reddoch told this Blue Jay to smile, that's just what he did! It's a beautiful picture Kirsten, keep up the good work.

The handsome guy, Gary Hetel, with his daughter Jill after a hard day of bird banding.

Jill, Sarah, and Brian, up in the tree, looking for birds. To see other pictures of the Seventh Grade field trip click here.

Thanksgiving Turkeys (and just plain old turkeys every other day of the year!) Photo by Mr. Vincent.

Taken by Steve Vincent 11/14/04 while taking down the nets. This photo would make a wonderful Christmas card.

These photos by Steve Vincent, "Learning Moment" and "Identification" do an excellent job showing what the Auburn Bird Banding Team is all about.

Garrett carefully attaches the strings to the owls his father retrieves from the nets.

Tom and Stephanie Donaldson and Steve Vincent knew this was a Worm-eating Warbler.

"I don't really eat those filthy earthworms and it ticks me off that everyone calls me a worm-eater! Why don't they call Robins worm-eaters? They are always pulling worms up for lunch. I prefer caterpillars."

Someone I work with, Ed Austin, was kind enough to forward this picture to me. A friend of his took it last spring. He called it "Breakfast in Bed."

This photo of an Ornate Hawk Eagle was taken by Stephanie Donaldson while visiting Ecuador during February vacation. Stephanie describes the events surrounding this wonderful photo:

"Tom, Mark, Helen, and I (with Jose as our guide) took a boat from the bird-banding site to a place on the bank of the Napo River where a trail disappears into the rainforest. From there we hiked about a half-hour in the intense heat and humidity, through slippery mud, and several streams, to get to a blind built overlooking a very special mud puddle. The puddle was formed where some water seeped out of the base of a steep hillside. It is special because the clay there contains minerals that several species of parrots need to eat, to neutralize the toxins in their diet of fruit and seeds. Two of the species that frequent the salado, or mineral lick, are ones that we had never seen before, the Orange-cheeked parrot, and the red-shouldered Parrotlet.

Unfortunately, when we arrived at the blind, we could see no parrots at all, though we could hear them in the forest canopy. Something was scaring them. Suddenly they all flushed and were gone. We followed Jose as he went back along the trail a little way, and spotted this Ornate Hawk-Eagle perched in a tree near the trail! The bird sat there for quite a while, watching us watching it. We were all able to see it well, taking turns looking through the spotting scope. I took this picture through the scope with my digital, point-and-shoot camera.

Since this was the first time several of us had seen this species, and since it is such a rare bird, we decided that it was a pretty good trade, to see this bird instead of the 2 species of parrots that were scared away. Even better, the following day, we returned to the same salado, and we saw both species of parrot that we were hoping to see."

The first is a pair of Blue-winged Warblers, the second a photo of our first Rusty Blackbird and the third a comparison of the Rusty to a Common Grackle.

The following picture was taken by John Paul Livingstone and is appropriately titled

The Auburn Sportsman's Club certainly makes a beautiful backdrop for Sarah, catching up on her ZZZZs! Photo by Stephanie Donaldson

Garrett MacAdams took this picture of a Barn Swallow trying to build a nest at the Sportsman's Club.

This picture was taken by Stephanie Donaldson and it is a wonderful picture of her husband Tom in action. Does anyone know what type of bird he is holding? The first one to e-mail with the correct answer will win a prize!

Check out What Gary Hetel Caught to Match his Jacket! This is an Orange Variant of the Scarlet Tanager. Photos by Dr. Larry Reich. (click on the pic to enlarge, use your browser back button to return)

Mattie VandenBoom brought her camera on vacation, but it didn't get to relax! Above is a few of the many photos she took.

Photos taken by Mattie at Leesville Pond in Worcester. Thank you to man who helped us find the heron. It may have been Alan Marble, but I didn't catch his name.

We captured and banded a Blue-headed Vireo (below left) and a White-eyed Vireo (below right).

Finally, someone besides Mattie gave me pictures. (I do drive Mattie nuts begging for pictures) The first picture of the Yellow-breasted Chat is from Kirsten Reddoch, the second from Sarah Reich (notice Dr. Reich in the background), and the last one from Mattie.

Kirsten and Mattie also snapped pictures of the Black and White Warbler (Kirsten 1st, Mattie 2nd).

And Mattie found out that a bird in the hand is much easier to photograph than one in the bush. Mattie took these pictures at Wachusett Mountain Sunday, 9/25, while waiting for some hawks to fly by. Anyone have any idea which warbler this is? Send your answer to cmorin@allegromicro.com.

Garrett allowed Mattie to take a picture of his feet as a special Halloween Treat!

"Hey, didn't I see you in Costa Rica a few weeks ago?--It's a small world, eah?"

"So, good looking, you want to go out for dinner?"

Steve Vincent came up with both of these lines and wins an auburnbirdbanding.org tee shirt.

"Release please, release please, that is too tight....I'm meant to be free." "My mate is waiting for me right over there in that tree".

Caption submitted by Shirley Shuler,NC

This week's "Caption" photo taken by Ed Morin at Misquamicut Beach. He also supplied the winning caption!

"Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy."

Ed said that when he took the photo heard the bird saying "Here, fishy, fishy, fishy."

Spring is Here! Pictures above taken by Mattie, March 25th at the Swedish Cemetery:

The picture of the Woodcock above was taken by Jim McKeon on Friday, the 13th of April, in Beaver Cove, Maine. They had just received 14 inches of snow and this bird was looking for something to eat. (Click to Enlarge)

Purple Finches? I see Finches, but I don't see Purple, or even Red! Mary and Gary caught these last week. Pictures by Gary

What species is this bird? Submit your response by 4-30-08 to be eligible for a Grand Prize!!!

(click pictures to enlarge, press back button to return) Photos by Justin Dion

The Oriole was eating grape jelly and is safely separated from Spooky by a screen.