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)
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Hurricane Sandy Relief Continues
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.
End of the week Highlights
End of the week we had some exciting birds arrive to the area. Had my first Rough-legged Hawk of the year (CHECK) and then Patty found our first of the year Turkey Vulture (CHECK).
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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.
Deer and Turkey Expo
Getting Excited . . . . . Two weeks from today we are Going to the Deer and Turkey Expo http://deerinfo.com/ohio in Columbus Ohio. This will be my first big hunting expo thing I have ever attended. Anyone have any tips or suggestions on things I should be looking for or be asking at the show? I do plan on attending a seminar or two and excited to see all of the new products that are being offered. I kind of hope my new compound bow will be in by then. Any vendors want me to visit their booth?
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Great Blue Heron
Saw 2 Great Blue Heron’s yesterday (wasn’t a year bird, saw one in Jan) but it was great seeing them because this means they are starting to move back into the area. Spring might be getting a little closer . . . . which I am ready for.
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Eastern Mole
Found an Eastern Mole dead in the road today. I forgot how big these guys are. It has been a few years since I can remember seeing one.
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Red Crossbill (LIFER)
3 Red Crossbill’s in the road.
Today while driving along the roads near Quaker Lake (Allegany State Park) . . . . I saw a some larger birds feeding on the salt in the road. I slowed the vehicle down and needed to take a closer look at these guys. I realized they were crossbill’s and quickly grabbed my binoculars (which I luckily had in the truck) to discover they were Red Crossbill’s (CHECK) 45 species for 2013. This wasn’t any ordinary check this was a LIFER CHECK!!!
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Eastern Skunk
I have been smelling them and also been seeing their tracks but last night was my first of the year Skunk running around! We probably saw 3 different ones out on the roads last night! (CHECK)
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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.
