Peek-a-boo and Warblers 2
Northern Parula
By: Pat Coate
Happily a recent trip to Allegany State Park yielded a warbler that I don’t often see – a Northern Parula. It, along with several other birds, seemed to be playing peek-a-boo with me while working its way through this beautiful flowering tree. Some field marks for the Northern Parula visible to varying degrees in the photo include white crescents around the eyes, white wing bars (2), yellow neck and chest with a reddish bar across the chest, and grey-blue head and wings.
Spring Warblers
Prairie Warbler
By: Pat Coate
Great time of year for birding. Lots of warblers are moving through the area. Nine species so far, hoping to add some more this week.
Tree Swallows
Tree Swallow
By: Pat Coate
Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s AllAboutBirds.com gives a good description of tree swallows and their typical behavior, which I have observed often:
“Handsome aerialists with deep-blue iridescent backs and clean white fronts, Tree Swallows are a familiar sight in summer fields and wetlands across northern North America. They chase after flying insects with acrobatic twists and turns, their steely blue-green feathers flashing in the sunlight.”
But recently I watched about twenty tree swallows repeatedly fly along a small stream and seemingly dip down to the water. I figured they were feeding on insects, but this next photo made me wonder if they might instead be getting a drink.
Osprey Back and Building (again)
Osprey
By: Pat Coate
There are now two ospreys hanging out together on the nesting platforms at the Birch Run DEC ponds. I presume one is male and the other female. However, I did not see the “dark necklace” that usually identifies the female on either bird. They have been busy adding new sticks to the nest.
Waterfowl 1 – Northern Shovelers
Male Northern Shoveler
By: Pat Coate
This has been a very good spring for waterfowl. There has been good quality and quantity locally as well as in birding spots near Buffalo and Rochester. The pictures shown here were taken at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge and Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.
The Northern Shoveler is easy to identify due to its large, spoon-shaped bill. Its bill has over 100 small, comb-like structures that are used as a sieve to filter small invertebrates from the water. Marshes are its preferred habitat.
Elk of the Pennsylvania Wilds – Part 2
Pennsylvania Elk
By: Pat Coate
Here are a few more pictures taken in the Benezette area of the Pennsylvania Wilds, which is considered the heart of Pennsylvania’s elk country. Between a trip in mid-March and one this past weekend I ran into two herds totaling over 50 elk. One herd seemed very acclimated to people as the elk were grazing right on the lawns in the village, while the other herd was south of town in a more “wild” setting.
Mallards
Mallard (male)
By: Pat Coate
Based on how common mallards are, I think birders (me included) take them a bit for granted. But they are really quite beautiful birds, the male in particular displaying an impressive palette of colors.
Field marks for the male include:
• Shiny green head
• Bright yellow bill with black mark on tip
• Brown breast
• White ring around neck
• Silver on sides
• Blue speculum patch on wing (not always visible)
• Black and white in rear with a black tail curl
• Bright orange feet
All these field marks can be seen in the above or following pictures.
Saw-whet Success
Northern Saw-whet Owl
By: Pat Coate
Took advantage of my daughter flying into the Rochester airport to visit several birding spots in the area prior to her arrival. One stop was Owl Woods (part of Braddock Bay Fish & Wildlife Management/Braddock Bay Park) to search for migrating northern saw-whet owls. Success!
These owls are always a joy to see. They are only 7-8 inches tall and weigh in at a whopping 2-5 ounces.
Hurricane Sandy Relief Continues
By: Pat Coate St. Bonaventure University has a wonderful service group called BonaResponds (http://bonaresponds.org/) that recently spent their spring break helping with Hurricane Sandy relief on Long Island and at the Jersey shore. The group is headed by a finance professor, was started shortly after Hurricane Katrina and has assisted at most national disasters since – as well as doing a lot of good work locally. I had the opportunity to join the group for the week. I had been to Long Island with the Red Cross back in December. Though progress has been made there is still a tremendously long way to go. I was especially surprised by the amount of work to be done along the Jersey shore. We were in the Manasquan-Ortley Beach area and a good portion of this area looked largely untouched. There was a significant police presence and some utilities were not yet fully restored. We also noted that there were lots of billboards for lawyers offering their services to challenge insurance claim denials.
Oceanfront home for sale in the Rockaways (NY)
Elk of the Pennsylvania Wilds – Part 1
Pennsylvania Elk
By: Pat Coate
On my way home from a weekend trip to New Jersey I decided to stop by the Village of Benezette in the heart of Pennsylvania’s elk country to see what I could find. I got very lucky and ran into a herd of about 25 elk just outside of the village.
Hunting, logging and a growing human population drove the Pennsylvania elk to extinction in the late 1800’s. However, in 1913 elk were brought in from Wyoming and released into the Pennsylvania Wilds. For the first 50 years there was minimal population growth, but the past 50 years has seen the Pennsylvania elk population grow from about fifty to over five hundred.
Turkey Vultures
Turkey Vultures
By: Pat Coate
Turkey vultures are very common in most states (though some only during breeding season) including New York. The black vulture is a more southern U.S. species and had rarely been seen here in Western NY. But over the past several years black vultures are being reported more often as their territory seems to be expanding northwards.
One local area where black vultures are now consistently being reported, roosting in the same area as turkey vultures, is the Village of Lewiston. We made a quick stop there on our Buffalo-area birding trip. Though we didn’t see the black vultures there were about 20 turkey vultures in the area.
Buffalo Area Birding
Long-tailed ducks
By: Pat Coate
Had a lot of fun on Monday birding in Buffalo with Joe and Bert. We started at the Erie Basin Marina where the focus was on gulls. Using their scopes, Joe and Bert picked out Glaucous and Iceland gulls from the more run-of-the-mill and abundant Herring and Ring-billed gulls; Great Black-backed were also present. Among the ducks were Canvasbacks, a life bird for me.
Ice Rings around Trees along the Allegheny River
By: Pat Coate
A trek along the Allegheny River Trail earlier in the week yielded these unusual tree rings. Best guess is they formed as the partially frozen river receded after being swollen by recent rain and melting snow.
Jim A., aka Tree Master, if this guess is not right please let me know how these rings form – thanks!!
However they formed, they were beautiful to see.
American Tree Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
By: Pat Coate
Sparrows are often referred to as “LBJs”, or Little Brown Jobs, among birders. Many species can be difficult to distinguish due to subtle differences in field marks and others due to their skulking behavior making getting a good look hard to come by. So, when a firm ID cannot be made, the “LBJ” column gets checked.
The East Aurora Bird Club recently held a helpful workshop on identifying some of the more common species in our area. Shortly afterwards I came across this very photogenic American Tree Sparrow, which gave me a chance to try out my new found ID skills.
Tundra Swans along the Niagara River
Tundra Swans
By: Pat Coate
While driving along West River Parkway on Grand Island I saw several groups of tundra swans swimming and feeding near shore. In total, there were at least 30 swans – the most I have ever seen at one time.
Bonaparte’s Gulls
Bonaparte’s Gulls, non-breeding plumage
By: Pat Coate
Another quick stop I made while up in the Buffalo area was Beaver Island State Park. The park sits on the southern edge of Grand Island, which is an island in the Niagara River. The park offers a number of habitats including wetlands, lagoon/pond, wooded, and beach areas. At the southern-most end of the park, there were mudflat and shallow areas on the river where hundreds of Bonaparte’s gulls had gathered.
Red-tailed Hawk with Squirrel
By: Pat Coate
With a few hours to kill while my daughter had an appointment up in Buffalo, I decided to make quick visits to a couple birding spots along the Niagara River. One stop was Goat Island, which is on the U.S. side of Niagara Falls. Just as I drove into the parking lot a red-tailed hawk carrying some prey flew over me then disappeared into the nearby woods. I thought the odds of seeing it again were low, so I headed down to see the falls and to walk along the pedestrian bridge to see what gulls were around. As I was returning I happened upon the hawk in a tree right along the road. My first thought was “how lucky”, followed immediately by “I’m glad I’m not a squirrel.”
Winter Scenes
View from Christian Hollow Trail, Allegany State Park
By: Pat Coate
It has been a winter wonderland in WNY with the 20+ inches of snow we have received since Christmas. The cross country ski trails at Allegany State Park have been awesome as have some of the other area state forest lands. After skiing only once during last year’s very mild winter, we’ve been out about 10 days so far this year.
Common Redpoll
Common Redpoll
By: Pat Coate
Nice to start the new year off with a new bird – the common redpoll is a lifer for me. We’ve had a pair at our feeders this week. These little finches seem a bit mixed up as they have chosen to winter in WNY where we have a beautiful 18 inches of snow on the ground. In the arctic regions, where common redpolls spend their summers, they have been known to burrow into the snow to sleep (and better maintain their body temperature) and have survived temperatures well below zero (-65 degrees!)
Hurricane Sandy and the Power of Nature
By: Pat Coate
Recently back from spending 2 ½ weeks working with the American Red Cross on Long Island (there were a couple hundred volunteers assigned here). Many of us, including me, spent the time working at a (client) shelter for people displaced by Hurricane Sandy. The Red Cross provided food and ran the shelter, while a combination of agencies (Red Cross, FEMA and Social Services) worked with clients on moving forward to rebuild or relocate. Many other Red Cross volunteers served as crews on the Emergency Response Vehicles delivering meals and supplies to residents affected by the storm.
While most of my group’s time was spent at the client shelter at Nassau Community College, we did see some of the coastal areas hit hard by Sandy including Long Beach, Atlantic Beach, and Breezy Point. This allowed us to see firsthand the overwhelming power and physical impact of this storm.
Ruddy Turnstone
Ruddy Turnstone
By: Pat Coate
Always seem to catch these birds in non-breeding plumage. Photos from Myrtle Beach.
Bear Claws
Bear Claws on Beech Tree
By: Pat Coate
While hiking this past fall in Ontario I came across these beech trees that appear to have bear claw markings. I have occasionally seen bears while hiking in this general area and I am happy to report that they were good bears and ran off without incidence.
Huntington Beach SP – The Beach & Gators
Willet
By: Pat Coate
This is the final posting on Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. The park is a birders’ wonderland containing many habitats including saltwater marsh, freshwater lake, beach and wooded areas. Today’s pictures are primarily from the beach and freshwater lake.
There are about 3 miles of beach with a jetty at one end. While walking out to the jetty I came across the willet pictured above. It was interesting to watch him (or her) with his prey. First, it kept running away from a second willet that was trying to move in on its dinner. Then, when it got a moment’s respite from the competition, the willet would drop the fish into the water and pick it right back up.
