Wildlife Photography
All of the refuges of the Coastal Birding Trail have special species you may encounter. However, there are many northeast bird species that occur anywhere and everywhere in this region. Among the species you will almost certainly see, most of the year, even if you only stop at a couple of refuges are the black-capped chickadee, tufted titmouse, downey woodpecker, bluejay, white-breasted nuthatch, gray catbird, northern mockingbird, yellow-rumped warbler, northern cardinal, brown-headed cowbird and American goldfinch. Coastal area regulars include herring, great back-backed and ring-billed gulls, sanderlings, mallards and American black ducks, pie-billed grebes, belted kingfishers and great blue herons.
Winter brings the wide-spread appearance of golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets, white-throated sparrows, dark-eyed juncos, and along the coast, common loons, horned grebes, red-breasted mergansers, common golden-eyes, ruddy ducks and all three scoters. In spring and summer common terns, great and snowy egrets, green herons, ospreys, greater yellowlegs, dowitchers, least and semipalmated sandpipers and semipalmated plovers are easy to find near the water, while in the woods and fields eastern phoebes, eastern kingbirds, tree and barn swallows, blue-gray gnatcatchers, yellow warblers, common yellowthroats, American redstarts, chipping and song sparrows, common grackles and red-winged blackbirds are abundant.
Also the URI Master Gardener Native Plant Demonstration Garden also offers great wildlife photography opportunities, such as colorful native plants, numerous pollinators, hummingbirds, and other frequent wildlife visitors. Please stop by and visit the garden and talk to the team of master gardeners.
