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.
Huntington Beach State Park – Saltwater Marsh Life Birds
Semipalmated Plover
By: Pat Coate
This is Part Two (of three) on Huntington Beach State Park located near Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. As I mentioned last week, one of the highlights of the park is the causeway you cross as you enter the park. On one side there is a freshwater lake and on the other a tidal marsh (pictures of the causeway below).
While enjoying the many birds and alligators along the causeway, I was able to add three life birds: black-bellied plover, semipalmated plover and clapper rail.
The semipalmated plover is a fairly common shorebird during migration. (Dad, this is the ‘fake’ bird you took a picture of on your trip to New England). This bird breeds in Alaska and many of the northern most Canadian provinces. It is an active feeder, walking about and pecking here and there for food.
Huntington Beach State Park (SC)
Great Egret
By: Pat Coate
While in SC, I spent some time at Huntington Beach State Park near Murrells Inlet. What a great place! It has three miles of beach with nesting Wilsons plovers and lots of sea and shore birds. But what’s really fun is the causeway as you enter the park. On one side is a freshwater lake complete with alligators, osprey and eagles, and the other side is a very active tidal salt marsh.
Today’s pictures are from the salt marsh – many of birds fishing at low tide.
Birdie Blog
The Gang (minus one): Vicki, Tina, me, Chris, Jo, Brenda
By: Pat Coate
Great girls’ get-away in Myrtle Beach. Trip co-ordinator Brenda got us great deals at terrific and challenging courses (Founders, World Tour, Prestwick) and most of us did manage a birdie somewhere along the way. I don’t think it ever rains there as we had gorgeous weather every day – though Hurricane Sandy may soon change that.
Birds seen along the courses included great egret, great blue heron, pileated and red-bellied woodpeckers, Carolina chickadees, fish crows, mallards, mute swan, yellow-rumped warblers, boat-tailed grackles, double-crested cormorant, blue jay, cardinal, turkey vulture, mourning dove, gulls, hawks, eastern phoebe, and mockingbird.
Ravens 2 – The Original Quidditch Games?
Trying to snatch the Quaffle?
By: Pat Coate
As mentioned last week, there was a group of about 20 ravens hanging out near where I stayed in Ontario. It was amazing to watch this group soar and play. I really think that J.K. Rowling got her inspiration for the game of Quidditch from watching ravens. Quidditch is an aggressive, somewhat contact sport played by teams of wizards/witches flying on brooms in Rowling’s wildly popular Harry Potter series. The teams represent the four houses of Hogwarts, a school for wizards and witches. Furthering my suspicion that Ms. Rowling drew her inspiration from ravens, I note that one of the four houses is named Ravenclaw.
Quidditch is played with a Quaffle, or enchanted ball, that is used to score points by shooting it through a hoop. In the raven version of quidditch, it seems that a pine cone or twig serves as the Quaffle.
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Ravens 1
Raven in silhouette
By: Pat Coate
While in Ontario a group of ravens were usually hanging out nearby and when the winds were right they put on quite a show right above me.
Most of the photos are silhouettes. This one here shows a couple of the key field marks of ravens (versus crows): deep, slim “fingers” at the tips of the wings and the wedge-shaped tail.
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Swimming Buck
8 pointer
By: Pat Coate
Was lucky enough to spend some time at a cottage on a beautiful lake in Ontario recently. I looked up from my breakfast one rainy morning to see a brown blob swimming out from the bay. I thought “Hmm, that’s an awfully big bird”. When I got the binoculars on it, it was quite clear that it was not a bird at all!
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Happy Autumn
Fall beginning to bloom
By: Pat Coate
The calendar, cool nights and the landscape say that fall is upon us. The Enchanted Mountains are such a beautiful and inspiring place to live – gorgeous in all seasons, but especially in the fall.
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Shorebirds along Lake Erie in Northern Ohio
Greater Yellowlegs
By: Pat Coate
Here are a few shots of shorebirds seen while visiting some of the northeast Ohio birding spots along Lake Erie. I made stops from Magee Marsh to Sandusky. Hopefully I have made the correct IDs.
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Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
By: Pat Coate
The backyard feeder and garden has been quite busy over the last couple of weeks. This ruby-throated hummingbird was one of several that visited our bee balm and butterfly bush. This is the only species of hummingbird known to breed in the eastern United States.
When a chickadee had the audacity to land in the bee balm, a hummingbird aggressively chased it away. Hummingbirds, weighing only about one-tenth of an ounce, are extremely quick with a remarkable ability to change direction seemingly instantaneously. Their wings beat about 53 times per second.
I believe the hummingbird shown above is an immature female based on the streaking on the throat and a lack of red on the throat. Female hummingbirds raise the brood on their own as the male moves on after mating.
(Still working on the shore bird photos, hope to have them next week.)
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Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Northern Ohio
Magee Marsh in Northwest Ohio
By: Pat Coate
On a recent return trip from Milwaukee, I took a detour along the shores of Lake Erie in Northern Ohio making quick stops at Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and Magee Marsh. As mentioned last week, Magee Marsh is a top spot for spring migration and a must for those undertaking a ‘big year’.
The Big Year
Birder extraordinaire – Greg Miller
By: Pat Coate
Enjoyed meeting and birding with Greg Miller, one of the birders that the book and movie The Big Year was based on, at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute Birding Festival. His character was played by Jack Black in the movie. Found Greg to be a very down-to-earth, genuine, humble guy who was a wonderful keynote speaker who appealed to birders and non-birders (my husband) alike. He discussed how he got into birding (largely his father), why he decided to go for the big year (way to deal with challenges in his personal life) and lots of anecdotes from both the big year and the filming of the movie, for which he was a consultant.
One of the many stories he told was that Jack Black wanted to go birding with him – to watch birds but mostly to watch Greg watching birds. The actor asked Greg what the name of a black bird they saw was – to which Greg said “red-winged blackbird.” Jack started to ask why it is called that – and on cue the bird showed its colors eliciting an ‘OOOOHHHHHH!’
One of the key places for spring migration on the big year circuit is Magee Marsh in northern Ohio. I got the chance to visit there last week and will show some offseason pictures from the area next week.
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Green Herons
Green Herons (2) in willow tree – can you see them?
By: Pat Coate
While visiting my father-in-law in Virginia we saw a family of green herons in the willow tree near his pond. The sequence of three pictures shown here move from distant to close-ups. The close-up photos are of an immature green heron, identified as such by the streaking on its neck.
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Phoebe adult with food for recent hatchling
By: Pat Coate
We had another pair of Eastern Phoebes nesting on the porch. It’s always fun (and tiring) to watch the parents in action as they dutifully provide seemingly non-stop feeding. One of the parents, presumably the male, just flies right up to the nest with food; while the other, presumably female, approaches much more cautiously.
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