Roger Tory Peterson Birding Festival Part 1
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
By: Pat Coate
On June 10-13 the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, NY held its second birding festival. The days were filled with wonderful field trips led by incredible guides, and workshops by some of the top men and women in the field. I feel very lucky to have this opportunity so close to home and I really, really enjoyed myself (I sense a certain son of mine will shake his head as he reads this – and speaking of shakes, we felt the tremors from the 5.5 earthquake centered near Ottawa, Canada on 6/23, a first for me).
The yellow-billed cuckoo shown above was one of the many (over 50?) species seen on the Woodchuck Hill field trip. It was a crowd pleaser, giving the whole group an unusually long look. It seemed to many attendees that there are more cuckoos around this year, likely because of the abundance of tent caterpillars.
Pfeiffer Nature Center Part 2
Eastern Kingbird
By: Pat Coate
Had a nice hike around the Eshelman Tract at Pfeiffer Nature Center. It offers several miles of well-marked trails through a variety of habitat. The Bullhead Pond Trail and creek area were full of activity including loud, croaking bullfrogs, great blue heron, chestnut-sided warblers, eastern phoebes, and the eastern kingbird shown above.
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Pfeiffer Nature Center Part 1
Hairy Woodpecker
By: Pat Coate
A couple weekends back I was dropping my daughter off in Cuba, NY and while on the way had the belated idea to head over to the Eshelman Tract of the Pfeiffer Nature Center for some birding. I had my camera with me, no binoculars and I wasn’t really dressed for hiking since we had pretty much left from church. But the draw was too strong…..
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Birdie Blog
Me, Tina (birdie), Vicki
(front row) Trish, Brenda, Tammy (birdie)
By: Pat Coate
I had the good fortune to spend May13-16th in Pinehurst, NC with some very good friends on an awesome golf getaway weekend. I promised anyone scoring a birdie (one under par) a place on the ‘birdie’ blog. Well, between us we played 23 rounds of golf and managed two birdies – kudos to Tammy and Tina. The other type of birdies were in much more abundance…
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Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting (male)
By: Pat Coate
On our way back from our son’s graduation from Lafayette College, my husband was kind enough to make a slight detour so I could bike a converted rail trail off of Route 287 near Wellsboro, PA (close to the ‘Grand Canyon of PA’). It is a terrific trail that passes through some state forest, farmlands, and marshy areas providing diverse habitat and nice wildlife/bird viewing opportunities. The weather was not as cooperative as my husband, so it was going to take a special bird for me to get my camera out.
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Visitors
Visitors
By: Pat Coate
I work out of my home and have an office in the basement. I have had quite a few visitors over the years at my office window, but these are by far my favorite. Other visitors have included a ground hog and a mouse. My window is also on the regular patrol route of the neighbor’s cat – whom I really didn’t want coming by with this little one stuck in the window well.
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Budding Birders – Florida: The Final Chapter
Alligator
By: Pat Coate
This is the last posting on my nieces’ and nephew’s trip to Vero Beach, Florida in early April. I had taken a similar trip the prior year and had pictures of many of the animals they saw while visiting. The kids liked seeing all the birds that they don’t get to see at home. And they really liked seeing the gators.
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Budding Birders – Florida Part 2 (Ospreys)
Osprey
By: Pat Coate
While in Florida, my sister and her family got to go on an airboat ride near Vero Beach. The kids really liked seeing the osprey since they got to see them up close, with fish and with their babies. During the breeding season the male does the hunting for food and brings the fish to his mate and the offspring. He will often chow down on some of the fish before bringing it to the nest.
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Budding Birders – Florida Part 1
Sandhill Crane (2009)
By: Pat Coate
My sister, her husband and their young children recently spent Easter visiting my parents in Florida. When I called on Easter, my niece, Maddie, was very excited to share a sighting of a Sandhill Crane. And, Maddie, I was very excited that you were excited! I hear she has her own bird book now. Below are some of the birds the kids saw at Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop’s, and in next week’s post I hope to share their favorite animals from the trip – ospreys and alligators.
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Love is in the Air
Mourning Doves – Courtship Display (2010)
By: Pat Coate
I have been enjoying watching a pair of Mourning Doves that have been regulars at my feeder this spring. Earlier in the spring, two, sometimes three, would seem to chase each other through the neighbors’ trees. But now a pair comes together to the feeder and on several occasions they’ve perched next to each other and exchanged ever-so-romantic head bobs. One, presumably the male, had been seen gathering nesting material.
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Upside Down
White-breasted Nuthatch (male)
By: Pat Coate
My husband and I are fond of walking along the Allegany River Trail. He’s a birder by marriage only, though he has become quite adept at identifying “green-headed ducks” (aka mallards) on the river. On one of our walks we had (at least I had) the pleasure of watching a pair of white-breasted nuthatches working the woods along the trail. These are one of a few birds that will move down a tree headfirst. And unlike woodpeckers or brown creepers, their tail is short and not used for support while climbing or foraging.
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For My Brother
Male Brown-headed Cowbird
By; Pat Coate
My post last week on Canada geese behavior prompted the following comment from my brother: “…here in the sophisticated South, we view Canada geese as poop-spewing menaces.” There are actually quite a few birds that people consider menaces for a variety of reasons. So, sticking with that theme, today’s post covers a few ‘menace’ birds.
The brown-headed cowbird is not so much a menace to people as to other birds. The female brown-headed cowbird does not build its own nest but lays its eggs in the nest of other birds. Its eggs often hatch before the host bird’s eggs and its young develop faster increasing their chance for survival.
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Mon@rch's Nature Blog 