Little Movement Tonight
Spotted Salamander along the road!
I had some movement of amphibians along the roads here in Allegany State Park tonight. I ended up going home before seeing any huge numbers of Salamanders migrating to the vernal pools and doing their yearly ritual.
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Fish Stocking
Brook Trout
Today I had the opportunity to help with stocking 5,000 Brook Trout and 5,000 Brown Trout here in the State Park. It is a tradition of many fishermen to go out on the 1st of April and catch their first trout for the season.
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Staghorn Sumac and Birds
American Robin about to feed on Staghorn Sumac
Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina) is a small tree with hairy twigs, hairy leave stalks and hairy fruit. The tree gets its name for the resemblance the branches have with deer’s antlers when the antlers are “in velvet”. The Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants says “American Indians used berries in cough syrups. Berry tea used for lung ailments. Gargled for sore throats and worms. Leaf tea used for sore throats, tonsillitis. Root or bark tea astringent; used for bleeding”. But do note they remind us; “Do not confuse Staghorn Sumac with Poison Sumac”!!!
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Annual Waterfowl Fieldtrip
Sleeping Bufflehead
Today the Cattaraugus County Bird Club had their Annual Waterfowl Fieldtrip along the Allegheny River and Conewango Wetland Area. We had a wonderful birding day with 53 species of birds and we survived glacial like temperatures!
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Fox Sparrows Arrived
Fox Sparrow photo from November 2007
I had my first Fox Sparrow at my bird feeder this evening (CHECK, first for 2008). I just knew it was only a matter of time until these amazing red/gray birds made their arrival into the area. I didn’t get a photo of them since it was cloudy/snowing and its was getting close to sunset! I expect to see them more of these Fox Sparrow over the next few weeks.
Timberdoodle [Video]
American Woodcock photo by Grace – April 2007
One of the easiest ways of finding the American Woodcock (aka Timberdoodle) is to take a trip into a wet meadow around dusk and then wait. Not long after the sun sets you will witness one the most amazing flight display of any of our birds here in the North East. The male Timberdoodle will do its peent call for about 10 or 15 minutes and then take flight into the sky in a circular direction! The American Woodcock has developed a unique flight feather that allows the bird to create a whistle sound when heading towards the sky! After 2 or 3 circles, the bird will return to the earth with the most beautiful lullabies that you will ever hear! Once it has returned to the same location in which it started . . . the American Woodcock will return in peenting again and then repeat its flight display until it’s too dark to see! Below is the video that I captured on Easter Sunday of their display here in Allegany State Park!
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Happy Dyngus Day
Osprey
Happy Dyngus Day everyone and it’s probably a holiday that many have never heard about! Anyways, Dyngus Day is very popular in the Buffalo area and a fun day that I love celebrating. If anything, Dyngus Day was a good bird day for me!
Easter Sunday
My Easter Squirrel
I used my off day to spend a little time looking for birds before the family Easter dinner today. I woke up to some beautiful sun that was shining through my bedroom window and although temps were below freezing . . . I couldn’t have asked for a better day. Everything was wonderful except I just didn’t have what it took for any good pictures!
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Saturday Birding
Tundra Swan and Canada Goose
Mike and I went out to do some Saturday Birding over at Swamp Road in Randolph today. We were not disappointed with an outstanding array of waterfowl, which included: Tundra Swans, Canada Goose, Mallard, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Redhead Ducks, Bufflehead, Northern Pintails, Scaup species, Common Golden-eye, Ring-necked Duck and American Wigeon. Highlights of the day included a Red-bellied Woodpecker (CHECK), American Coot (CHECK) and Rough-legged Hawk (CHECK). All of which were first for 2008’s for me!
Hawk Hideaway Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
The other day I had the opportunity to visit my dear friends John and Mary over at Hawk Hideaway Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Cuba, NY. During our visit their educational Snowy Owl was very vocal in the back room and we took a look on why it was so vocal!
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Raccoon ready for Spring [video]
Cute as heck Raccoon
This morning at precisely 1:48 A.M. EDT, the Sun crossed directly over the Earth’s equator and became the Northern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox. This equinox is a great time for looking for animals because the ground is thawing and critters are out searching for food.
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Wildlife Wednesday [Exciting Find]
I always seem to say “I had an amazing day yesterday” but this time I really had “an amazing day yesterday”!!! I was traveling through Allegany State Park and noticed an unusual dark fuzzy thing crossing the road (around 9am in the morning)! This mammal was something that very few have had an opportunity to see and for a second I couldn’t believe my eyes . . . could it have been?? Yes – it was!! ! I know they are in this area of the state and during the summer nights, I regularly hear them vocalizing around the house!! But, I couldn’t believe I was seeing one crossing the road!! Obviously I am still in an Awww!! I quickly started pulling my camera from my backpack and hoped to capture its picture. This furry thing moved so swiftly into the woods and by the time I had my camera ready to capture this moment . . . . the critter was gone! I was left with only a memory in my mind!! (more…)
Muskrat [Video]
Muskrat smiling for the camera
Yesterday while looking for some Waterfowl . . . we came across this very cooperative Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) who put a show on for us. We watched it dive underwater, grab some vegetation from under the ice and come back up to chew all of the best parts of the plant. We could have watched this cute little guy all day long! These over-sized rodents get their name from some scent glands they have for marking its territory with a strong musky odor! Lucky we didn’t get to smell that odor today but did get some cool photos of the muskrat!
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Mid March Waterfowl
Hooded Merganser
This morning I headed out with Mike D to find some mid March waterfowl that are moving through the area. Actually, it was more of a trip to enjoy nature and get a few birds checked off my year list. We ended up locating 39 species of birds and 8 of which were my first for 2008!
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Daytime Barred Owl [video]
A hunting Barred Owl in the Rain
This evening I went on a dusk birding trip for some Short-eared Owls within our county (with my birdclub friend Mike D.). This has been a fun project that we have been doing for many years and are never successful in finding any owls (of course). We went a little early this time to look for waterfowl (scouting for tomorrows trip) and came across this bird. We discussed this large bird we found and trying to decide if it was a Red-tailed Hawk or Rough-legged Hawk (something didn’t look right). We moved my truck for a better angle, pulled the spotting scope out and noticed this bird had dark eyes. Could this have been a Short-eared Owl?? Naaa just a Barred Owl!! Wait . . . it wasn’t even dusk yet??
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Raccoon Hike
Prints walking towards the sunset!
After work, Grace (aka Ninehtotoo5) and myself headed out to the France Brook area of Allegany State Park to enjoy a hike along the Snowmobile Trail. We quickly saw the Raven’s doing their courtship display and then heard the Red-shouldered Hawks screaming (CHECK) as if they showed up on cue. The truth is that we were after capturing a photo of this Buteo . . . which never really happened!! But we did capture some adorable Raccoon pictures.
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Wild Turkey [Wildlife Wednesday]
Wild Turkey in the corn field
I wanted to give the “Wildlife Wednesday” thing a try since Young Naturalist J started using it over on his blog. High five to his family for coming up with the great idea. Yesterday I located a huge flock of turkey along the side of the road while heading out to photograph the nesting Eagles. The Turkey were just clucking along and probably one of the largest flocks I have seen this year! Happy Wildlife Wednesday everyone!
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Buffalo [Wordless Wednesday]
American Bison
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Our Nesting Eagles
An adult Bald Eagle on the Nest
I got a phone call from a birding friend that one of our Bald Eagle pairs started sitting on her nest last week. After work I jumped into my truck and headed over to see if I could find the nest again. The nest looked a little different from the last time I saw it because a windstorm damaged it last fall. After spending the winter rebuilding/repairing, the pair finally was able to get their eggs laid. Young should hatch in just over a month and the young will be fledging from the nest by mid July. I just love this time of the year.
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Nature Haiku [Poem]
Photo by Marg (thanks Marg)
Nature Haiku
Mockingbird at night
would disturb the universe
and sing forever
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 