More Hiking in Allegany State Park
Conservation Trail, Allegany State Park (NY)
By: Pat Coate
Took advantage of the continued mild winter and got a nice hike in over the weekend along the Conservation and part of the Finger Lakes/North Country Trail in Allegany State Park. The Conservation Trail is a 4+ mile loop that starts behind the Red House Administration Building.
It’s a beautiful trail up the mountain, passing through several evergreen stands providing thick enough cover to provide a snow-free trail. The less protected deciduous tree sections of the trail ranged from snow covered to muddy to sun-dried. There are numerous fallen trees to navigate and it seems the trail has not been cleared for many years, though it is well marked with blue, orange and white blazes (different legs of the trail are different colors).
Birds we heard or saw along the way included chickadee, junco, downy woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, blue jay, and raven. We also saw numerous animal tracks in the snow that I will post next week – including one surprise for this time of year.
Tufted Titmouse
By: Pat Coate
The tufted titmouse is a somewhat infrequent visitor to our backyard feeder. So when this one stopped by this past fall I was happy to snap a few pictures.
These birds nest in pre-existing tree cavities, having to find ones made by other birds or natural ones as they are not able to create their own. Though I have never seen this, studies have shown that they often line their nests with hair. And it seems as though most any type will do as hair from livestock, raccoons and woodchucks, to mice and even humans has been found in their nests.
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Brown Pelican with Fish
Brown Pelican with fish speared on upper bill
By: Pat Coate
On a trip to Myrtle Beach earlier this year, my friends and I were sitting on the beach catching up and enjoying watching some pelicans and gulls feeding about 80 yards or so out in the ocean. In fact, most days we were treated to the sight of pelicans plummeting head first into the rolling waves in search of prey, and it was a spectacle I had not tired of watching. After a bit, we noticed some unusual behavior as one of the pelicans began flailing around and going through all kinds of unusual contortions. I didn’t have my binoculars with me so took a few shots with the telephoto lens and when I loaded them onto the computer saw what was causing the commotion. Not the greatest pictures, but they show that the pelican had speared a fish on its upper bill and was trying really hard to figure out how to make it dinner!
Hiking in Allegany State Park
Rock formations along the FLT in Allegany State Park
By: Pat Coate
As many of you know, Allegany State Park has some beautiful hiking trails. About 20 miles of trail through the park is also part of the Finger Lakes Trail (FLT), and coincides with the Conservation and North Country trails. Recently a combined group of 23 from the Olean Area Hiking Group and the Allegheny Outdoor Club met to hike the portion that begins in the Allegheny National Forest near the Willow Bay Recreation Area on PA Route 346. Starting at an elevation of 1370′, the trail climbs steadily for about 2 miles to an elevation of about 1700′ (elevations from the FLT map). About 1.1 miles in the trail crosses from PA to NY and enters Allegany State Park. The trail is marked with white blazes and part of the trail also has red marks that have been added above and/or below the white blazes. The red marks are new over the past 6 months and it was uncertain who had added these marks. At one point the red marks veer off the main trail and go to the stone structure shown in one of the attached pictures. This shuttle hike, of about 4 miles, veered from the FLT by taking Brown Hollow Road to the Wolf Run area of the park. The section of the trail along Brown Hollow looked down on a babbling brook whose sound was drowned out by the constant sloshing of many feet through the deep carpet of fallen leaves.
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
By: Pat Coate
Finally got a couple passable shots of one of my nemesis birds. The red-breasted nuthatches usually just grab a seed from our feeder and then head back into the trees to eat before returning to grab another. This one, however, stayed in a nearby tree allowing a few pictures, though they were in tough lighting. The pictures were taken the end of August.
Birding & Sisters Weekend
Eastern Bluebird along Radnor Lake
By: Pat Coate
Had a really fun sisters’ weekend in Nashville recently. Stayed downtown at Printers Alley, enjoyed the music at Tootsies and some of the other ‘honky-tonk’ venues, ate (twice) at Jack’s BBQ and even ventured out for a line dance or two. Non-birding sister, Kathy, very kindly found a park (Radnor Lake Natural Area and Wildlife Refuge) a few miles south of town where we were able to spend a few hours hiking and birding. Here’s a few shots from the park.
Portrait of a Sanderling
Sanderling
By: Pat Coate
The sanderling is a fascinating bird to watch. They seem to have eyes in the back of their heads as they scurry along the shoreline never letting the ocean’s waves catch them off guard. They are rarely still and I just happen to have caught this one preening on the beach. These pictures were taken in October in Mytrle Beach.
Birdie Blog 2
Tammy, Tina, Pat
By: Pat Coate
The birdie blog is back. I had a wonderful golf get away weekend in Myrtle Beach with the extended NJ gang. We had perfect weather, played gorgeous courses, and three of us were lucky enough (speaking for myself anyway) to score a birdie.
There were lots of other birdies to be found too.
Central Park
Bethesda Fountain
By: Pat Coate
A business trip took me to NYC this week so I ventured into Central Park for a couple hours one evening. What an amazing amount of people and activity – joggers, dog walkers, soccer games, tourists, serious bikers, rent-a-bikers, strollers, horse drawn buggies, roller bladers, jugglers, food carts. I learned they mean business about keeping bikes separate from walking/jogging trails as I was threatened with a $500 fine for parking my bike in the wrong spot when I took a picture.
Bird sightings were slim and ordinary but at least there was some bird life amidst all the human activity: robin, blue jay, house sparrow, starling, pigeon, mallard, Canada goose, white-throated sparrow, blue jay, gulls, flicker.
Wye Marsh (Ontario)
Trumpeter Swan
By: Pat Coate
Recently spent some time in Ontario and visited the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Midland, not too far from Barrie. They have over 3000 acres of wetlands and forest with miles of hiking trails, which I spent a fun afternoon exploring.
Raccoon
By: Pat Coate
While taking the pooch for a walk this week we came across this raccoon. Though they are abundant in our area I seldom see them. This one seemed to be doing well in its preparation for the coming cold weather as it was quite plump. At one point it slid down several feet and I thought it might fall out of the tree.
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Fly like a bird?
Checking one off the bucket list
By: Pat Coate
For many years I have wanted to try skydiving. On a recent visit with my son I decided it was time – and that it would be a memorable way for us to celebrate our birthdays. So after some research, we decided to go to No Limits Skydiving and hope for the best. Actually, we gave serious consideration to where we went to do this and the reviews on this company were right on target – just like our landings. All the folks working there had a GREAT sense of humor, seemed very safety oriented and delivered on what they promised. Really don’t think we could have had a better first jump experience.
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North Chagrin Reservation (OH)
Wood Duck (male, non-breeding plumage)
By: Pat Coate
On the way back from taking my daughter to school, I made a quick stop at North Chagrin Reservation. North Chagrin is located near Willoughby, Ohio just east of Cleveland and is part of the Cleveland Metroparks system. It is renowned for its wood ducks and I wasn’t disappointed. These pictures were taken at Sunset Pond and Sanctuary Marsh on the west side of the park near the very impressive nature center.
Maddie’s Bird Art
American Robin
By: Pat Coate
A special post this week – I am VERY excited to be able to show some of the terrific artwork of my niece, Maddie, who is an awesome young birder. She has started a collection of sketches of birds she has seen – and is up to 15 so far. Here are her first two.
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Road Trip
Sand Hill Cranes (IN)
By: Pat Coate
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…or so many parents think as summer begins to fade and school swings back into session. For me, the back to school ritual has come to include a 600 mile trek to the Midwest to drop my daughter off at college. It is always a fun trip – I love having a captive audience and our conversation topics are varied and entertaining. We have also started a little tradition of (or really, my daughter puts up with) a contest to see which we see more of along the way– state license plates or bird species.
Some trip highlights:
• Packing the car was a bit like playing Tetris; the neighbors were amazed all her stuff actually fit.
• Despite the shaky economy, there seem to be a lot of people traveling. We saw a record 37 state license plates (74%), 3 Canadian provinces, and a car with Diplomat plates – going about 85 mph, of course.
• Birds ranged from bald eagle in WNY to sand hill cranes along the Indiana tollway to the ubiquitous house sparrow found at most stops along the way. We totaled 32 species versus the 37 state license plates.
• Made a quick but productive birding stop at North Chagrin Reserve east of Cleveland. More details in a future post.
Are you my mother?
Where’s my mother (and my tail)
By: Pat Coate
I came across this youngster in Allegany State Park the end of June. Never did see an adult bird and I hope things worked out okay for it. I believe it is a juvenile Baltimore Oriole.
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More from Muskoka
Mizzy Lake Trail – Muskrat
By: Pat Coate
While in the Muskoka region of Ontario, several of us spent a day up in Algonquin Provincial Park doing some hiking or, more accurately, partaking in my annual search for moose. Struck out on the moose (tracks and droppings don’t really count), but we enjoyed a sunrise hike along the Mizzy Lake trail and then a couple of other trails off of Highway 60.
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Conesus Inlet
Red-headed Woodpecker
By: Pat Coate
On my way home from a work trip to Rochester I stopped by Conesus Inlet to see if I could find the Red-headed Woodpeckers that were reported there over the weekend. I was lucky enough to get a couple of brief sightings and a couple pictures for ID. This is a new bird for me and it was quite striking.
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Scenes from Muskoka
By: Pat Coate
I have been doing a little traveling and here are some quick pictures from Muskoka Lakes area in Ontario, Canada. Been some nice wildlife sightings including pine marten, bear, turkey, deer; and lots of birds too.
More MAPS Bird Banding
Noah getting ready to release an American Goldfinch (photo by Noah’s dad)
By: Pat Coate
There was a nice group of folks keeping Tom company at his bird banding site this past weekend. Some of the visitors included Grant and his dad and grandfather who traveled all the way from Ohio to check things out after hearing Tom speak at the Chautauqua Institute. And Noah and Sammy came with their parents to see the birds and to help release them. Despite the heat, it was a very ‘birdy’ morning with lots of activity in the nets as well as the area around the site.
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It’s Not a Bird…..
Up, up and away
By: Pat Coate
Hope Tom doesn’t mind a different kind of flying object this week. My daughter and I took in the Wellsville Balloon Festival on Sunday morning (6am launch!) and what a spectacle it was. Thirty-one gaily colored balloons took flight over a 45 minute time span enlivening the Allegheny foothills with their brilliant colors.
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Bird Banding at Allegany State Park
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (juvenile)
By: Pat Coate
Enjoyed spending a recent Saturday morning at Tom’s bird banding station in Allegany State Park. It is always fun to be able to see the birds so closely – and to really examine the features that often only seem to exist in field guides!
This second year yellow-bellied sapsucker was a bit unusual because it has not started showing any red on its head (or throat if it is male).
Tom’s bird banding is part of the Institute of Bird Population’s MAPS program. MAPS stands for Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship. Analysis of the data Tom and other bird-banders collect “provides critical information relating to the ecology, conservation, and management of North American landbird populations, and the factors responsible for changes in their populations.” (Source: http://www.birdpop.org/maps.htm).
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House Finch Fledglings
House Finch (male) with fledgling
By: Pat Coate
Like the crows, the neighborhood house finches successfully raised two babies. Over the past couple of weeks they have been regulars at our backyard feeder. The parents will come to the sunflower seed tube feeder, load up and fly up to the eager young ones waiting in the maple tree branches above. Their arrival sets off an enthusiastic begging and ‘me first’ frenzy as the young ones jostle for position and first dibs.
Fledgling Crows
American Crow (fledgling)
By: Pat Coate
For the last couple of weeks the neighborhood bird ‘song’ has been dominated by the begging calls of two fledgling crows. As loud as they have been, I must admit it has been fun watching them as they have gained confidence and skill in flying. At first they were rather uncoordinated and a bit ungainly as they awkwardly hopped around the branches of the maple tree out back. It seemed like they really wanted to take flight but couldn’t quite get up the nerve.
The young were fairly approachable, but if an adult was with them it immediately took off if we ventured too close.
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