Phillip's Fetching Birds -- Bird of the Month

2012 Calendars for birdlovers.

Phillip's Fetching Birds 2012
A seasonal collection of my own bird photographs

Birds of Earth 2012
A collection of avian diversity from 12 world-class photographers

Monthly contest

January Puzzlebirds

Test your birding ID skills and win a 2012 calendar!

The Fall Shorebirds of Seapoint

A primer with photographs for some of our migrating shorebirds.

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Daily Photoblog

Bird of the Day
A bird and a blurb of what I've been fetching lately... Also posted daily on FaceBook as . . .

About the calendar

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New England Bird of the Month for January 2012

Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus)

This young female Snowy Owl had been hit by a car near Old Orchard Beach, Maine, suffering a badly bruised wing but luckily no broken bones. She was taken to the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, and after being examined by the vet, their dedicated staff and volunteers watched over her progress carefully for the next month. First a period of rest and quiet, and then graduating to the 100 foot flight cage for regular exercise until she was ready to be set free.

Normally wildlife rehabbers try to release animals close to where they were found, but her release was set for Plum Island so that Norm Smith from Mass Audubon (who is holding her in this shot), could band the bird and include her in his study. Just a few moments after this photo, she took to the skies. After a month of eating mice inside a giant box, I'll bet she was thinking about . . . duck!

World Bird of the Month for January 2012 (from Birds of Earth calendar)

Once common around the Mediterranean, Northern Bald Ibises are critically endangered birds with less than 500 individuals remaining in the wild. South African photographer Adam Riley of Rockjumper Birding Tours found this one in Morocco.