Coldest day of the year!
Today was the coldest day of the year with a low temperature of -3.1F and a high of 14.7F. It is amazing how just a month ago I was discussing how unusual this warm winter has been. Now I am discussing how cold it is!! I have never seen so many weather advisories posted on my cell phone as I have in the past 36 hours. Snow just north of me has been getting dumped on by lake effect snow with whiteout conditions.
Of course the sun finally came out this morning and I did make an attempt to head outside to take a few pictures. I heard on the radio that the wind-chill temperatures were estimated to be around -15F and it surely did feel that cold!! With very few critters observed, I found myself only taking pictures of my snowshoes and then quickly headed back to the truck to stay warm!! Yesterday was equally as cold while snowboarding at one of the local ski resorts. Every few runs we needed to head inside for a short time to reduce our chances of frostbite (especially with the kids). But did have a wonderful day with everyone, thanks AW for the taking care of us!!
Groundhogs Day
To all my Flickr and Blogging friends; I Allegany Tom on the 2nd of February 2007 predict that spring will come early this year! Sorry everyone, I had to get that out of me!! BTW: I heard on the morning news that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning and also predicting an early spring. I have also heard by the weatherman that this summer is expected to be very hot and muggy one. I can only hope that we don’t get as much rain as we did last year (never seemed to end).
You might wonder why Groundhogs Day is so special to so many people! It started from an old German superstition that if a hibernating animal can cast its shadow on February 2nd that winter will last another six weeks. But, if no shadow is seen, the legend says spring will be early that year. You might ask why is this holiday so special to me?? Well, I consider this extraordinary day to be my official first day of spring! This is when we really start to notice more birds singing, displaying and pairs beginning to connecting together. I find this years Groundhogs Day to be extra unique because it falls on a full moon. After I get my taxes done, maybe I can get out doing some night time cross-country skiing this evening! I will do my best to take some pictures for everyone!!
PS: if you missed it, Allegany Toms prediction was accurate after see his shadow last year!
Nuthatch Fun Today
This White-breasted Nuthatch was teasing me all day with opening seeds in my window feeder. I happen to pull out my point-and-shoot camera and captured this mini video clip. It would take the seed, place it in the crack and chip away at the shell to open the seed. Yes – my windows are dirty.
I am extremely happy that blip.tv has finally worked out the code for adding video clips to wordpress blogs!!! Expect many more fun video clips from me here in the near future!
BIRD BANDING NEWS FOR THE DAY
Today I recaptured a male Red-breasted Nuthatch who I had first banded on the 5th of October 2005 (I have caught this guy a few times now). I have 5 or 6 Red-breasted Nuthatch who have been banded around the office but I seriously think this little guy probably visits my window feeder more than any other of those nuthatches. I always love watching him climb up and down the window frame.
Turkey Banding
Today I helped the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) band Wild Turkeys here in Allegany State Park. What a perfect way to start the DEC and National Wild Turkey Federation’s second season by catching, banding and releasing 7 Turkeys. The DEC teams will continue to band birds across the New York State and collect information on our Wild Turkey populations.
I quickly headed down to the banding site after learning that I was given the ok to join the DEC team for the day. Once I arrived the crew had just finished setting everything up and it was now time to wait for the birds to show up. This was probably the coldest day of the year and I feel so sorry for that biologist who was stuck in that very cold blind waiting for their arrival. I decided to sit in my warm truck just down the road waiting for the his go-ahead that the birds have been caught and everything is clear.
I first found myself chatting with everyone ……. then trying to stay warm in the truck …… eating a little …… looking through the binoculars for any possible birds moving through…….. playing with the radio ……. turning on the heater again …….. playing with my cell phone …… and then a few hours later we got those 5 words that I can still remember!! “Radio silence we have birds!!” Did he just say that he can see birds out there? Everyone started to get excited and then we saw that very large pooof of smoke from the large rocket nets.
Supposedly this flock of Turkey arrived from the forest edge and then ran directly towards the cracked corn as if they were racing to see who would make it there first. It was only a matter of minutes until all the birds were on the target and the trigger was set off sending the rocket net directly over the birds. Quickly everyone at the waiting point took off in their trucks to assist in the banding of the captured Turkeys!!
For as many times that I have seen turkey up close, I found myself dumbfounded by how colorful they really are. Of course these colors can not be compared to the many songbirds that I band like the Yellow Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers or even the Indio Buntings!! But for an ugly bird like the Wild Turkey, they surely have such a spectacular blue, red coloring in their head and even those glossy green feathers on them just made me say “wow look at how beautiful they are”!!
Yes, let me tell you how hard it was to focus on preparing these birds for their removal from the net into their holding box. Each bird was banded one at a time with two metal bands placed around their legs. This allows each bird to be tracked individually like I do with my owls and songbirds.
To my excitement the team gave me an opportunity to band my very first Turkey with one of their bands!! As most know, I am currently a federal and state permitted licensed bird bander and I have handled hundreds of species of birds. My permits specifically say “all species except hummingbirds, gamebirds and endangered species. Wild Turkey are considered game birds and I know that I could have never dreamed of having an opportunity to band such a unique bird like the turkey. No doubt that I soaked up every second of the day and took a bazillion pictures.
We released these amazingly large birds as one group so that the flock would stay together (see me on the far left)!! There is no doubt that each one of these birds looked like flying bowling balls trying to make their quick getaway! This is just another winter day for a naturalist here in Allegany State Park.
Winter Beaver Activity
Typically this time of the year the water is covered over with a thick layer of ice and snow. Little work is done by the beavers while the females are preparing to give birth. I noticed with the above average temperatures this year that the beavers have been putting in some overtime doing what they do best. I noticed since my last visit last fall that they have been enlarging their dams, adding to their food storage and improving their lodge.
It is so hard to believe that these dams are built entirely by the beavers. The picture on the left shows their main dams that’s just over 6 feet in height. Since the fall these guys have added an additional 2 feet to this dam and it is unbelievable how much water they are currently backing up. The second picture shows one of their reservoirs just down stream that they built to give the beavers more access to their food. They need to back up the water with these dams to providing protection from predators, ability to float logs back to their lodge and soften up the mud which helps them build everything up better.
During the fall months the beavers are very busy adding sticks to their food storage stacks to feed on during the winter months. I was shocked to find this food storage larger than I normally find this time of the year. If you look at this picture above you will see their typical way the beaver store the family’s food storage piles. This gives the beaver access to their food when the water is frozen over and limited to just their pond. Then they can swim under the ice to their food storage and bring the sticks back to the lodge to eat.
As the water level rises by increasing the height of the dam these beaver will continue to work on the lodge. They will add more mud and sticks to the outside of the lodge but then inside the lodge remove sticks from the top to add it to the lodge’s floor. It is a perfect way of building the lodge up to the needed size for the family living in it.
These beaver dazzle me every time that I visit them with their ability to do amazing work with sticks and mud.
Fancher Swimming Pool
Allegany State Park – History Flashback
The historic Fancher swimming pool was first opened to the public during the summer of 1926, which measured 40 x 100 feet.
During the spring of 1934 the Fancher pool was replaced by a larger concrete pool (50’ x 100’) built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The funding for the new pool came from the late Senator Albert T. Fancher who passed away on the 30th of July 1930. Senator Fancher was one of the main people who helped develop the park in the early 1920’s.
This pool is always remember by its freezing cold temperatures, its size and socializing destination point for many of the campers, locals and employees. The picture below is just one of the numerous post cards which focused on people swimming in the Fancher pool.
I have been told that some of the reasons the beach was closed was due to a newer beach being developed over on Quaker Lake, failure to be able to repair cracks and that the park couldn’t keep water in it fast enough. It was last used Labor Day weekend in September 1981. It was finally demolished and filled up with gravel during September 1985. This pool is the currently location of the Fancher Bath House over on the Quaker Side of Allegany State Park, NY.
If you remember swimming in this pool, please feel free to add comments about some of your memories. I will be adding posts from time to time on Allegany State Park’s historic flashbacks. These are historic pictures from Allegany State Park’s archives (I do not know the dates of these pictures).
Downy Woodpecker
Been busy the past two evenings to post anything on the blog! So, I am just going to post this picture of a Downy Woodpecker which I photographed today during my lunch break!
Can birds learn?
Now you can officially accuse me of bring my nature studies into the office!! It started two summers ago when I placed a hummingbird feeder just outside my office window. Quickly these little green birdies started dazzling everyone by there charm and beauty. You never knew when someone was just outside my window taking pictures or video taping the 10 or so hummingbirds fighting for that perfect perch. Ultimately good things always come to an end and this happened when the hummingbirds decided to make their migration south for the winter. 
I found myself with a desire to bring nature back to the office again. Sunflower seeds were an excellent tool for inviting these birds back to my office and keeping me entertained. Birds like the Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse and Dark Eyed Junco are now regular visitors of mine. But, who would have expected birds like the Pine Siskin, Downy Woodpecker or even the Purple Finch to make numerous occurrences in my office window! Last year I even had friends from Buffalo make the hour trip south for the “possibility” of seeing an Evening Grosbeaks in my office window!!
You wonder how these unusual visitors are able to learn where I have placed a small pile of sunflower seeds in an unusual location like a window frame on the 2nd floor? Well, those nosy chickadees arrived within the first day and probably were investigating the disappearance of the hummingbird feeders (they must have known that this was a bird friendly window). Other species started visiting the window after learning that somewhere these chickadees were getting sunflower seeds. The learning process didn’t stop here; believe me when I tell you it continues.
Towards the end of the season last year I started to hear some knocking sounds. I turned around and found this White-breasted Nuthatch doing something that I have never seen before.
The nuthatch would grab a seed and bring it over to the edge of the window. Then it would place it between the metal frame and wooded base of the window and …..
put its full body into cracking open the seed!!
After a few hits the nuthatch would pull the seed out and continue the process all over again (or until the bird got sick of having my face 2 feet from the window watching)! If the seed fell out, the nuthatch would drop instantly down (see its position) to catch the seed in mid air!!
Now, I would call this very clever of this nuthatch to have figured out how to crack open these seeds. Quickly those nosy chickadees learned that this nuthatch would leave leftovers in the frame which were already shelled from the seed. Soon those curious chickadee were also giving the window thing a try.
This year for the first time the Downy Woodpeckers started visiting the window!! Not one but I have identified three different individuals coming to my window (how do I know three?? One female was banded by me, another female is bandless and there is a bandless male coming around)!!
As you probably expected, these Downy Woodpeckers have also learned how to crack open their seeds from their “birding” piers!! I can’t help but visualizing that these birds had to sit in a class room (taught by the ovenbird) on “how to crack open a seed in Tom’s window”!! So, learning is something done by not only humans but by birds also! I would love to hear how others have noticed birds learning!!
Sunday Birding
Today I forced myself to get outside and do a little birding for a few hours. I only wished that the sun was around longer!! But, I did enjoy myself and had some great birds show up.
I started off tottering around Wolf Run trying to explore the work done by the beavers this winter. With a lack of birds I figured it was time to head over to the Allegheny River and try to locate some Bald Eagles. Quickly 5 Bald Eagles were located gathering around something dead on the waters edge. Trying to focus the spotting scope better, I felt the hair on the back of my neck start to raise …. then turned around with a juvenal Bald Eagle flying over me. Lighting made it difficult but I was able to get in a few shots in before the bird disappeared into the trees. While getting back into my truck I was dazzled by 4 American Robins taking turns feeding on some sumac. I have been wondering were all my orange bellied friends have been hiding this winter. It is amazing how you have no birds all day and then surprise!
Once I made it back to Allegany, I spend some time searching Quaker Lake for some waterfowl. I only located a small raft of Hooded Mergansers and unsuccessfully searched the 100+ starlings for other blackbird species. Birds continued to be very quite in the France Brook area and then I finally hit a jackpot. There was a stunning pair of Common Mergansers and a Great Blue Heron hanging out at one of the Beaver ponds. Might not have been the best birding day but I just enjoyed getting out hiking around (and away from the computer for a little while).
My 2006 blogging review of this site
There is always that one moment in your life when something happens and your life is turned upside down! This could be your first up close encounter of that colorful small bird. You then find yourself becoming a birdwatcher within a matter of seconds. You remember those brown streaks down its body as clearly and those mini sideburns on its head. That’s right “how could I have forgotten its bright yellow ball cap on its head”?? You’re then looking through a line up of birds in your new field guide trying to figure out what it could be? Well, this Chestnut-sided Warbler wasn’t the bird that started my new love of blogging but a Black Bear visiting my bird feeder is what did me in!
For as long as I live, I will never forget my heart pumping almost 100 miles per/hour and this bears trashy mildew smell following it (the original post can be seen HERE). Yes, I have come across bears on numerous occasions but this one encounter was very special! It was me and the bear eye-to-eye and I had never been so scared in my life! Luckily I was able to capture a few photos before my neighbors dog started barking.
This was a time period which I had started visiting some of my flickr friends blogs and something just clicked that this would be a great experience to share through a blog? I find myself 6 months after starting this blog and excited that this will be my 100th post here on “Mon@rch’s Nature Blog”. I can’t believe how quickly time has gone by and I never would have expected to have so much to say to everyone.
I guess this is the perfect opportunity to reflect on a few of my favorite post from 2006 which I think you should go back and revisit again (or visit for the first time).
Back in August we rescued this Beaver who somehow got trapped in one of the Administration Buildings window wells. This is something that I could have never imagined having to save but there is no doubt that this has to be my all time favorite post for 2006. To see more go to: Is that a …. Your kidding me …
My saddest post for 2006 would have to be the loss of “Marshmallow” the albino woodchuck who everyone in the park tried to see but still fell in love with. This poor little thing lost its life when given the option of challenging a dog or taking its chances with a vehicle. To see more go to: It’s not my fault that I am a mutant!
My most proud moment of 2006 was when the kids and I were able to complete our two day adventure backpacking along the North Country Trail. We started from my house and hiked to the kid’s parent’s campsite. To see more go to: Day 1 and Day 2
I think one of the most interesting discovery I had for 2006 was the young Woodturtle we found that had a broken shell. To be honest, that whole day was fun discovering wildflowers, herps, birds, ect… but this Woodturtle is a critter that I think about all the time. To see more go to: Young Woodturtle
There is no doubt that I banded many wonderful birds this season. I also had an amazing year banding the Northern Saw-whet Owls and documenting each day on this blog. But, I have to give this Barred Owl the award for my largest bird banded in 2006. To see more go to: An unusual visitor at the banding station
Lycopodium by Maxwell C. Wheat is such a wonderful poem and one that I have been thinking about using for Christmas for quite a while now. I have to give this post the award for the longest planned blog for 2006. Do expect more poems by Max to be posted here in 2007. To read the poem go to: Lycopodium
There were so many posts in this blog that I wanted to include but I needed to keep it down to only a few of my all time faves! So, please take the time to review the others from 2006 and I would love to hear which post were your favorites.
Might 2007 bring many wonderful things to blog and Happy New Year to everyone!
White-Blue Peacock
White-Blue Peacock, originally uploaded by chi liu.
Isn’t this an amazing photo of this half white and half blue peacock? Saw this today on flickr and thought this would be perfect to add to the blog! No photoshop was used on this bird, it is the real thing! Would love to hear what you think about it!
Sorry that I haven’t posted anything recently, I have been quite busy doing the holiday thing and currently my truck is being inspected, ect… gives me little time to travel around the park.
Regarding nature related things going on; Sunday December 17th, 2006 we had both Big Brown Bats and what looked like Northern Long-eared Bats still out and about. It was fun watching them flying up and down the road in search of insects. I would have expected them to be in hibernation already but with this mild winter…… I guess anything is possible! For sure this has been the latest in the year that I have seen any bats species flying around.
Last nights walk around the lake brought some fun activity with a Northern Cardinal. I took my Audubon squeakier with me and they came right up to me! Of course, too dark to try to take any pictures, so I just enjoyed the moment! Besides that, everything has been very quite outside.
Late December Bat
I took a quick walk around Red House Lake this evening with temperatures around 50 degree’s. Things really seemed like spring weather. Snow has mostly melted away and half of the lake has already started thawing out. We are only lacking the singing birds and spring time butterflies. I did find something unique though. To my memory, I have never seen a Big Brown Bat flying around looking for food this time of the year. This winter is starting to become a very interesting season!
Geminid Showers
Normally I am not fond of rain showers but those Geminid meteor showers last night were spectacular. I would like to thank Driftless Skies for alerting me to the Northern Lights and Geminid’s occurring right now. Last night’s watch was very enjoyable due to the warm temperatures and crystal clear skies. I did not encounter any aurora but I think the possibilities tonight will be much better.
Most every night I have been finding myself staying up late because I am unable to break my bad habits from two months of owl banding. But, how could I have missed this meteor shower last night?? When “going” and “returning” home from work in the dark every day, one must find nature activities any chance I get!
I quickly got my butt outside after watching the David Letterman show with his “science kid” guests. It took a few minutes before my eyes could adjust to the darkness but slowly some stars started to appear. I started to wonder “where are these meteors”?? Then you think you see something out of the corner of your eye! Was it – yep it was! Again, Again and Again they fly across the sky with ewww’s and awww’s!!. One or two appeared to have a small tails following as it enters earth’s atmosphere and boy – were they bright. I caught one greenish meteor in the lower southern sky that had to be my favorite for the night. They happen so quickly, you wonder, what color was that one?? Last nights showers were not the best shower ever but was still one of the better ones with meteor’s seen about once every +/- 20 to 30 seconds!!
I started to realizing how much I miss the night time sounds and wildlife. Due to the lake being frozen, I didn’t hear any more Geese honking and Eastern Screech Owls appeared to be very quite. Everything appeared to be so peaceful until those Coyotes started howling. The Coyotes are very commonly heard around the house and I love how once one dog starts howling, many others from across the valley join the song. You can almost distinguish different individual’s howls once you take the time to listen! It almost makes you want to join the pack and howl along!! FYI: I didn’t start howling but really wanted to!! My neighbors already think I am nuts!
After spending more time outside than I should have, I finally made it to bed. Ever close your eyes and reflect everything you just did? Well, couldn’t sleep because those howls stayed in my head and I kept on visualizing those shooting stars streaking across the sky!! Only difference was that I wasn’t getting any warbler neck trying to look up at the stars for a half-hour straight. But, those are the moments that you remember forever.
I only hope weather allows me to give tonight another try with the possibilities of the Northern Lights appearing. I hope you get out as well and enjoy the natural light show instead of watching your television. Ok, its Thursday night and maybe I will do both!
winter blues
A good birding friend once told me that he “makes it through the winter knowing the warblers will be back in the spring”! I now live by this saying; well maybe just during the winter months!
Nesting Female Hooded Warbler
I figure with the shortest day of the year around the corner, why not just post a reminder of summer time fun!
I would love to hear what helps you make it through the winter months?
I think winter is finally here
Allegany State Parks Red House Lake officially froze over yesterday. I recorded the low temperature for the day as being 9.1 degrees Fahrenheit. I guess that’s enough to freeze it over good enough to keep the ducks out. What a difference this is from just the other day.
I think winter is finally here. Note the current and before pictures!
North America Marsupial
Wednesday evening while returning from the Bill Thompson III talk, we came across an Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) near where I had my truck parked in Allegany State Park, NY. Those red reflected eyes from the vehicle are unmistakable. After being skunked (not getting a good photo) of the skunk last month, I wanted to approach this little critter from a different angle. It started to run away as I approached and I did my very best to get between the goldenrod field and the Opossum. Everything happened so quickly but what I do remember is that it froze in place as if I couldn’t see it! No doubt that it played possum on me which is where it probably got its name. Opossum isn’t spelled how you expect it to be spelled, so I always call it the O’ possum.
Slowly – I moved closer and it allowed me to capture these pictures! You could tell that it was looking out the side of its eye, as if to wonder “what was the proper second for it to bolt away”! Moments later this gray mammal took advantage of me trying to get that close look and took off in a blink of an eye! I do remember looking at their funny feet and almost hairless tail. They can use this tail for assistance in climbing and on occasion hang upside down in a tree by their tail only.
As most know the Opossum is a members of the marsupial family (same family as the Kangaroo). They are unique mammal because the female carries their undeveloped young in an external abdominal pouch. I have seen an Opossum once around the feeder where the female was carrying around ~10 little ones. Those cute (yes I said cute) little ones quickly disappeared once I shined the flashlight on her (going into the pouch around the sides of her) and then she snarled at me. I quickly backed off realizing what I just witnessed.
You need to be very careful around the Opossum because they have very sharp teeth and will bite if they are threatened. What is unique is that they have more teeth than any other mammal in New York State (with 50 teeth total, 26 upper and 24 lower). They have a very large distribution across the east coast from the Great Lakes down to the tropics and South America. They typically live in hollow trees but on occasion are found under porches or even living in woodchuck holes.
The Opossum will leave little evidence that they in an area and are solely nocturnal. The males are more nomadic than the females and both just wonder around the woods/wetlands. They are omnivores and will eat nearly anything they can. Majority of their diet is smaller animals like insects, mice and even ground nesting birds (eggs, chicks).
I truly enjoyed getting this close encounter with this funny looking O’ possum last Wednesday. If you ever encounter this cat sized critter, please appreciate how unique it really is and get a good look of it. I promise it will be something that will remember for a long time.
Facts taken from: Jackson, Hartley H. T., 1961. Mammals of Wisconsin The University of Wisconsin Press. pp17 -25
what is that in my bluebird box
Yesterday, I took a little hike down ASP Rt. 2 looking for some Shrikes or any other unique winter bird hiding in the shrubs. Being so quiet, I found myself looking inside some of my bluebird boxes that I have not checked since August (removing the older nest left by the bluebirds).
One of the boxes had been filled up with grass. Anyone who has worked with nest boxes knows that I am about to deal with some little furry mammal (not birds). Sure enough, there were 2 Deer Mouse holding their ground and not wanting to leave the box. I was just glad they didn’t run down my arm like they normally do when I open the box.
I questioned if I should have left these mice alone or just evict them. If this box was regularly used by Tree Swallow’s, I probably would have let them spend the winter there but this exact box has been one of my better Eastern Bluebirds boxes for the past 5 spring/summers. I am afraid that these mice might discourage any bluebird looking for a winter roost or for when the birds decided to start investigating for an empty box. I am also concerned that the urine left by the mice could attract predators which might destroy the box trying to get inside (This summer I had a Black Bear shred apart a box to get inside, ugg). Anytime you remove a mouse nest, you should always use protection over your face so that you don’t inhale any of their dandruff. You should also try leaving the box open for a week to dry the soaked mice urine left buy these cute furballs.
Last spring I encountered this Red Squirrel in one of the new boxes built by some Boy Scouts. It is hard to believe that something so big can live in such a little box. I have found that these squirrels do all kinds of damage by chewing the hole bigger which can then make it easier for predators (raccoons, ect..) to steal the baby nestlings or eggs from the box.
It can become a full time job taking care of all your bluebird boxes but very well worth seeing and hearing the birds out in the fields. I promise to keep you updated with this blog on how the boxes are doing here in Allegany State Park.
Morning Hike
The sun woke me up this morning and I had decided that I needed to take a nice hike. While filling the feeders, I found a cool bird wing imprint in the snow. Then I decided to head down to France Brook which always brings me some excitement. Had the most fun crunching the ice puddles along the road!
Birds were acting funny and the Bluejays kept on making these strange clicking sounds. To my surprise there was an adult Bald Eagle near the Beaver Ponds. It was a stunning bird and took off before I could get a good picture. Suddenly the Common Ravens circled and started chasing the Eagle. It was wonderful thing to watch! Besides this excitement with the eagle and Raven; there was your typical birds moving around in the shrubs which I enjoyed watching.
Tree Sparrow with more sticks in the way!! The one picture is of it itching.
Enjoyed finding a Song Sparrow in there!
After my hike, I visited my family and lost a bunch of money at the Casino!! Ugg, they opened a section in the new building and I had to check it out! It’s going to be a LONG time until I visit that place again!!
No power brings me to an early night’s sleep
Around noon yesterday there were numerous Severe Thunderstorm warnings issued by the National Weather Service! Once I got the report; I jumped right onto NEXRAD radar to see what was going on. There were numerous green, yellow and red images moving directly towards Allegany State Park. We started to prepare to notify everyone what was about to hit.
We witnessed rain like I have never seen before! With the ground over saturated, water started to puddle up everywhere!! A fellow worker called me over to her window to show me how the rain was moving sideways. I was just amazed at how the wind was pushing the puddles on the roads like waves on the beach. In just over an hour the rain had stopped with sunny and clear sky. I knew at this point this was truly a goofy day. The sun didn’t last long before the rain started up again but this time it didn’t come down as hard. Streams were rising quickly and we are all concerned that there could be some flooding.
About 3pm the lights started flickering and then you guess it, everything became dark. Things started to became hectic, phones ringing, people talking, ect..!! Didn’t take long before we realized that the power outage stretched further than just the park! Preliminary talk by police was that National Grid is expecting to get everything going again by 8pm (ya right). I needed to reschedule my haircut appointment and then decided to join my parents (who also didn’t have power) for a fish fry at my uncle’s restaurant (who did have power). I truly enjoyed seeing everyone and we had a wonderful meal. But we had no clue what to expect once we got home.
I saw my boss at the police office and decided to stop in to see what was going on. I learned that they had just got the emergency generator hooked up to the Administration Building and that there was a fire going in the fire place. The earliest the power will be turned back on is around 5am in the morning. I quickly went back home and spent a little time with the kitties. I figured that I would grab my laptop and return to the Administration Building to pass the time with power.
Back at the Administration Building there were a few families there who were also trying to get out of the darkness and stay warm. Last October they had experienced the week long power outage up in Buffalo. I pulled the TV out for the kids and we all watched the “Christmas Vacation” movie!! A few employees and myself had some wonderful conversations about what we had experienced throughout the day. I really enjoyed myself and glad that I decided to spend my evening with everyone (and with electricity). I was unable to connect to the internet (to update the blog) due to my phone service being out. So, I decided to head to bed early for once.
I noticed that my furnace started working again around 5:30 in the morning. I woke up with snow on the ground and found temps inside got as low as 48 degrees F. My phone service still isn’t working but now that the state of emergency and the driving ban has been lifted; I plan on going into town to find some phone service to upload this blog.
Update: I called windstream and they told me that someone will check my house by 5pm Monday evening (maybe sooner). I am not sure when I will be able to update the blog again (yes still have dial up).
The End of a Good Season
This year the Allegany State Park (Northern Saw-whet Owl) Banding Station was open for 28 nights and we captured 40 individuals with 49 total NSWO captures. We do not catch the large numbers like what the big migration sites catch but the numbers this season was significantly better than the previous two years. We caught an additional Barred Owl and Eastern Screech Owl during the project with the unexpected captures of some Northern Flying Squirrel, a Northern Long-eared Bat and then a White-tailed Deer which run through one of the nets.
A NSWO just after being released.
The percentage of captured males / female / unknown sex were fairly consistent with the previous year’s numbers. We also found similar consistency with hatch year and after hatch year birds. There was a significant increase of birds per 100 net hours and our capture numbers were also increased due to two big migration nights. On 26th October we had a 10 bird night with 3 additional birds returning to the mist net that same evening. The next big night was on the 10th of November with 9 new captures, 2 recaptures from the 26 th of October and one same night recapture. The birds who returned 15 days later both lost weight during their stopover.
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Captured Individuals |
% Male |
% Female |
% Unknown Sex |
% Hatch Year |
% After Hatch Year |
Birds per 100 nethours |
|
2004 |
13 |
8 |
77 |
15 |
31 |
69 |
4.03 |
|
2005 |
26 |
12 |
69 |
19 |
58 |
38 |
2.87 |
|
2006 |
40 |
10 |
70 |
20 |
60 |
40 |
5.25 |
Part of being involved with Project Owlnet is the ability to network and share everyone’s knowledge with other Northern Saw-whet Owl Banders across North America. We are able to look for unique differences or similarities throughout each of the stations by using similar protocols. The obvious observations this year across the East Coast were that the Northern Saw-whet Owls were a week or two behind in their movement south. I have a strong suspicion that many of those birds had a longer stopover here in the Western New York area (as reported by my two 15 day recaptures). This season our last capture date was on the 24th of November which was 12 days after our 2005 late date. I have to agree with my fellow banders that these birds were behind in their movement south.
This picture is of a NSWO caught in the mist net.
On occasion we capture foreign owls originally banded by another bander. After reporting these finds to the Bird Banding Lab the Project Owlnet will sometimes assist in quickly connecting your wonderful find with the original bander. This season we were able to capture 3 foreign recaptured birds. We learned that 2 of the birds were originally banded in Ontario Canada and the 3rd owl had not been reported to the Banding Lab yet. I have a strong suspicion that this bird also came from Ontario Canada (time will tell).
A foreign recaptured NSWO (after second year) with a unique wing molt pattern
I would like to thank my banding assistant Jordon and numerous other volunteers which assisted me with the banding operations. It is with their help which keeps this station in operation and keep me entertained after my many long hours of sleepless nights. The season is being scheduled to start again October 1st, 2007 for Fall Migration here in Allegany State Park. I have to work out the detail but I would love to give Lake Erie State Park a try for Spring Migration. Please return to the blog to see any updates on my visits to the numerous Saw-whet Owl boxes which were placed by some Eagles Scouts last summer and any summer breeding pairs located!
Are Muskrats being territorial or just having fun
Yesterday, I truly enjoyed my walk around Red House Lake in the warm sunny weather. I saw numerous birds including Dark-eyed Juncos, Tufted Titmouse, American Tree Sparrows, and even some Horned Grebes. In the area that I call “duck pond” there were 11 or so Mallards feeding in the weeds.
Something didn’t appear to be right with these Mallards due to a majority of the ducks were ignoring me and swimming around
in an almost circle direction. A few did take flight but there were others that just held their ground. I knew this couldn’t be a game of duck-duck-goose; so the binoculars came out for a closer inspection. To my surprise there was a Muskrat chasing the Mallards around the pond! I have always understood that Muskrats are commonly found in areas the dabbling ducks like to feed and that they are mainly herbivores (but on occasion will feed on crayfish, ect). Could this muskrat be looking for a quick meal?? I doubt it!! But, I never expected to see such persistency in this mammal moving these ducks away from this particular area. It almost became comical to watch.
The Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) gets its name from a musky aroma which follows them around into their grass lined dens. I questioned if this Muskrat was having fun or just being very protective of its territory. Numerous of the field guides that I have been flipping through do note that they are very territorial and one did note that they “have been observed chasing away dabbling ducks”. Doesn’t matter what the books say, this Muskrat appeared to be having fun to me!! I think that over the winter months that I need to keep an eye on this musky furry friend. (Did the best I could photographing the Muskrat through the trees)
fun two owl species night!
We caught and banded two different species of owls last night. Since this project is about studying the migration of the Northern Saw-whet Owls, we obviously did catch one of these fuzz balls. If you would have told me a month ago that I would still be catching so many of these owls this late in the season, I would have just shook my head and smiled. Once again, there is still a great deal that needs to be learned about these owls! About 10-15 years ago we didn’t even know that Saw-whet Owls migrated, yet alone realize how common they really are.
Didn’t I mention that I caught two different species of owls?? Sometimes you “JUST” have a feeling that there are birds around. I had this “feeling” on my midnight check last night. I walked to the end of the nets – with no owls. Turned around and started walking back with a larger bird which I spooked and it flew right into the nets. With my mind started thinking quickly, “no way is that a saw-whet”, then “could it be a Long-eared Owl”??. Ok, I did hear one in 2004 vocalizing around the nets but someday my dream might come true that we’ll catch one! This time it was the turn of the Eastern Screech Owl (gray phase). Although they are commonly heard around the house, I have never heard one vocalizing way up the hill where the nets are located. This was an absolute surprise and a first for the project. I do hope in the future that these birds decided to use my nest boxes that I have placed back behind the house. It has been 3 years now and I probably should choose a better location which would be less interesting to the starlings.
Screech Owls do come in two color phases. The gray phase is the most common color phases but on occasion, we do encounter the red phase. About two weeks ago; one of the maintenance guys (for the museum) brought me a dead red phase which was located along the road here in Red House. They said they had a small brown owl and my first thought was “Saw-whet”! But this bird did turn out being my first red phased Eastern Screech Owl that I have encountered here in the park in a very long time. It was a sad find but also an interesting find.
Winds are picking up this evening and I plan on staying open as long as possible without having to close. I do anticipate this might be my last evening unless the weather man is wrong with his predictions for the rest of the week. Winds are picking up, bad weather is approaching quickly and the moon will be getting brighter and higher in the sky every night. It has been a wonderful season and it is very sad that this will be coming to the end soon. When I do finally call it quits, I will give an overall summery for everyone to read. Wish me luck tonight!
Thanksgiving Day
Today I had a wonderful day off going for a long hike and having Thanksgiving dinner over at my parent’s house. I did make it back from Thanksgiving dinner to open the mist nets on time. Three more Northern Saw-whet Owls were caught this evening with perfect light NE (becoming northern) winds coming from the nor’easter moving up the east coast.
This might sound strange but I was excited to see a Porcupine walking down the middle of the trail during my second net check. After living here for 3 years, this is the first Porcupine that I have encountered around the house! Although, they are extremely common throughout the park; I believe the absences of the Porcupines in this area is due to a Fisher that has become more numerous over the past few years. They live in trees and are specialized in flipping over Porcupines without getting injured from their quills. Tracks were first observed in this area around 2001 and this summer we were able to spotlight one while it was calling around midnight. This helped me confirm those unusual vocalizations which have been keeping me awake in the late hours of the night. I even chased one through the picnic grounds, through a wetland and up into a pine plantation about 5-5:30am trying to get a photo of this critter (without any luck). The presents of this Porcupine has to be a sign that the balance between the Fisher and Porcupines must be good and those unusual sounds will continue many more nights next summer.
This is a little off track but I needed to include this in tonight’s blog!! One of the neighbors had Thanksgiving dinner over at their house and their family wanted to see me band one of the owls that I caught! So, a few of them came over to the house and I started doing a mini banding demonstration. Moments later one of their cell phones started to go off with “get over here right now, your stove is smoking!!”. Good thing they did, they opened the oven with a fire extinguisher in hand and there were large flames coming out! Although the house filled up with smoke, no one was injured and the fire was put out before anything got worse. I have a feeling he spent the night cleaning up after the fire extinguisher and smoke!
I hope your evening wasn’t as eventful and you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sun, Stars and the Night Sounds
I find myself turning off my headlamp after checking the nets for owls!! There is nothing like walking through the woods in the absolute darkness. It’s only you and the sparkling stars which are leading you back to the banding station. Yes, I slip in the mud, crunch in the frozen leaves and even trip over twigs, but there is no way I would have wanted to miss that green shooting star streaking across the sky. Looking up, I see my favorite star cluster which takes me back to the main part of the road. Hmmm ….. Oooo ….. wait…… what is that cluster called??? Ugg, I can never remember those star names!!
When you find yourself in total darkness, your other senses take control. What are those squeaking sounds?? Isn’t this where I always see that Peromyscus mouse looking for food in the mud?? What’s that smell?? Are those Geese down on the lake?? No wait, that’s a pack of coyotes vocalizing?? Quickly, headlamp comes on; flash light come out from the pocket; I start walking quicker.
This is the coldest it has been since early November when we were hit with the lake effect snow. Even with the sun out today, the temperatures never got above 37 degrees F. I seriously considered taking the day off of work to get out enjoying the sun. But, I continued the numerous projects that I was working on and dreamed about the possibilities of catching a fluff ball tonight.
The past two nights had perfect North West winds which resulted in no birds. Now tonight we had light South West winds and resulted in catching three Northern Saw-whet Owls. One of which was a foreign recaptured bird (originally banded by someone else) from Ontario Canada in 2005. Isn’t it amazing that I can report a band number to the Bird Banding Lab and within seconds have its life history? Then again, isn’t it amazing your all reading my blog and finding out what I have been up to??
BTW: I remember now, Cassiopeia is the star cluster which I love! Why can’t I remember this Queens name?? You think I would remember!!
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 