Surprised Big Fluff Ball Night!
Don and a Fluff Ball
Saturday evening a fellow bird bander Don Watt and his family joined me for some Saw-whet Owl banding here in Allegany State Park. He is interested in starting his own owl banding station and joined me to get a better idea on how I am catching these tiny owls. I was happy to capture a Northern Saw-whet Owl for them just before they headed home (High Five!). (more…)
Ring-necked Pheasant Release
The Release of some Ring-necked Pheasants
Today we released a few dozen Ring-necked Pheasants for an early kids hunt scheduled for this Saturday. They have such stunning colors that I had to take a few photos of them. The big release will be next week before the official start of the season. (more…)
Glow Worms and Saw-whets in that order!
Glow Worm (Lighting Bug Larva)
Last night (9th October) was another successful evening with my Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding Project here in Allegany State Park. I opened the nets just after dusk and then headed out for my first net check at 8pm. I had hoped for some owls but was more dazzled by the number of lighting bug (or firefly) larva that I found moving along the ground. (more…)
Fluff Balls
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Yeah! I finally caught not just one but two fluff balls last night (8 October 2007)! I have had the Northern Saw-whet Owl banding station open here in Allegany State Park since the 30th of September and was starting to wonder “where are they”!! This isn’t my latest dates but it was very close to it! Back in 2004 when I first started banding Saw-whets . . . . I caught my first bird on the 9th of October and was my first night “ever” trying to catch any! Then in 2005 we caught our first one on the 3rd of October and last year (2006) we caught one on the 1st of October. It has been promising to know that other local (Western New Yorkers and North Western Pennsylvanian) Saw-wheters also have been behind in catching these guys. (more…)
NYS Ornithological Association Annual Meeting
Peregrine Falcon at Iroquois
This weekend I attended the New York State Ornithological Association Annual Meeting in Batavia, New York. This meeting was hosted by the Buffalo Ornithological Society and I would like to say “thanks” for doing such an astonishing job organizing everything. You guessed it . . . . I had a LIFER this weekend!! (more…)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak Crazyness
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Today I headed over to a local elementary school and did a mini banding demo for some 2nd and 3rd graders. This was a very fun day with 30+ kids who were excited about birds and I was sooo happy to catch a Rose-breasted Grosbeak for them. This is a hatch year (born this year) Rose-breasted Grosbeak who is in its basic (winter) plumage. The red/yellow on the under wing coverts is the easiest way to determine the sex of the bird. Males have red and females have the yellow on their under wing covert. I just love the berry mess on this birds bill. (more…)
Everything but Saw-whets Last Night
What an evening!
The goal of my Northern Saw-whet Owl project is catching Saw-whets! But, in order to make that happen . . . . you sometimes have a few obstacles to work around. The video above was the Barred Owl who spent a great deal of the evening vocalizing around the nets. Hello Mr. Barred Owl . . . You are not helping me!! Go fly somewhere else!! (more…)
Opening Night
White-throated Sparrow
Busy weekend but I was still able to get my Northern Saw-whet Owl nets up for the 2007 season. If you didn’t know . . . . for the months of October and November (with cooperative weather) I am out banding Northern Saw-whet Owls here in Allegany State Park. (more…)
BBBO Birdies
Golden-crowned Kinglet and my thumb
This week I have been posting pictures from our “big” banding day at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, which is located in Rochester, NY. My first two post talked about the Wood-Warblers and the Thrush species that were banded by the BBBO Staff. Today I wanted to do a post on some of the other great birds that were banded and how the staff is able to run a station like this. (more…)
BBBO Thrush
Hermit, Gray-cheeked and Swainson’s by Young Naturalist J
My previous post showed the amazing warbler day that we had at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory on Monday. But note that the warblers were not the only family of birds that we caught!! We had just as wonderful of a day with 4 species of thrush. (more…)
BBBO Warblers!
Magnolia Warbler
So many photos of our amazing banding day at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory . . . . I just had to split the pictures into 3 different post!! The first post is about warblers. I figured that I would look up “Warbler” in Wikipedia and they state “They are mostly brownish or dull greenish in color, of small size, easier seen than heard, and harder to determine to species. To Old World birders, “warblers” are the the archetypal “LBJ” (“little brown job”).” Must have been a non birder who wrote that . . . . warblers are easy to identify when looking at all their fieldmarks!!! (more…)
Spending the day at BBBO
Braddock Bay Bird Observatory
When you find yourself completely exhausted after taking a day off from work . . . . you just know you had an awesome day!! Today, I took my banding assistant (Young Naturalist J) to our favorite migration banding station. Typically when we head off to Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, it always seems like that we had picked the day after their best day of the year (and then end up getting skunked)! But . . . . this time we hit one of their best days of the season with bird’s being caught non-stop!! Young Naturalist J had two lifers and we had a handful of birds that we don’t normally get to handle. (more…)
Pine Warbler Visit
While working on my laptop this morning . . . . I had phoebe (my cat) sitting next to me purring! She learned that if I ignore her long enough that by tapping my shoulder is enough of a reminder for me to continue petting her again (normally it works). Although our pet/owner bondage was disrupted when I had been a little too focused with the computer. As always phoebe would tap my shoulder . . . . I would ignore her and she would tap again. I said “Ok phoeobe” and as I turned around . . . . I saw this adult male Pine Warbler looking right into my window!!
Pine Warbler photo from September 2006.
Enjoying My Last Days Of Summer
I shot this long video of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird yesterday morning . . . . fully anticipating that my hummingbird friends would soon be gone. As of Tuesday 3 individuals were still coming to the feeder and then I noticed on Wednesday only 1 hummingbird was feeding. I said that if it returned on Thursday morning that I would be ready to record it (before going to work). I thought with the nice weather they would stick around for a few more days but this video clip was the last time I had a chance to see her. I looked but could never find her in the evening or anytime (morning-evening) today.
I think they have finally left the area but this does not mean that a few stragglers from up north might not be seen. But those stragglers are not my morning alarm clock. I guess this just means that summer is finally over and on Sunday fall can officially begin (if I like it or not)!!
Good-bye feathered friends, see you next Spring!
Wordless Wednesday (Turkey Vulture)
Do they watch us or do we watch them?
Migrant Waterfowl Moving Through Allegany State Park
American Coot with Canada Goose.
Today was my first sign that waterfowl started moving through the Allegany State Park area. Canada Goose have been in the area all summer long (go figure!) and the Double-crested Cormorants have been around for the past month (or two). Woodducks and Mallards . . . where did you go?? But I never expected to find this odd shaped bird swimming in Red House Lake?? . . . . YEAH!! An American Coot!! Lucky the Geese were keeping this Coot’s attention while I was trying to photograph it . . . . I got “fairly” close to it. (more…)
Osprey
Osprey at Quaker Lake
I get many bird questions when campers are visiting Allegany State Park. Some of those questions asked include “Where is the best place to go birding?” or “What is the rarest bird that can be found in the park?”! But the most commonly asked question “is that an Eagle nest I sw when I enter the park?”! I am always happy to say “those birds called an Osprey”! It is truly sad when these birds migrate south because I will no longer get any of these Osprey (Eagle) questions! It has been a week since I saw my last Osprey and I am starting to feel like our local birds have finally headed south. (more…)
Hide and Bird Seek
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
I have dishes to clean, laundry to do, cat fur to vacuum up, etc . . . . but after dinner I craved the need to find warblers! Who doesn’t have a bazillion of things to do at home?? But, I couldn’t help heading over to Allegany State Park to seek out some birdies (You shocked?). Within the first few minutes of walking along the bike path I heard a Red-Eyed Vireo calling!! The little red eyed freak wouldn’t show itself but did get a quick glimpse of a Magnolia Warbler. I finally gave up looking and continued walking along the path. “Shhhhh, their is a bigger bird in the dogwood”!! I use my bird squeaker that I keep on my camera and what pops up but a Rose-breased Grosbeak!! Hey, I have not seen these guys in a few weeks! “What Up”?? That was enough to scatter not the one but probably 10 Grosbeaks in their! Nope, make that 9 . . . . one of them is a Gray Catbird. (more…)
Movement South
Sun Set Along Red House Lake
Every day is feeling more like fall with a few leaves changing color and goldenrods becoming bright yellow. I only had two (maybe three) hummingbirds visiting my hummingbird feeder this morning and couldn’t find any Chimney Swifts this evening (assuming they are all gone now). During the daylight hours there was a migrant Phoebe wondering around the yard. I can’t even tell you the last time I saw an Eastern Phoebe in my neighborhood. As much as I hate to admit it . . . . fall is here and migrants are moving south in full force. (more…)
Dear Mr. Goose
Typically I am ignoring you but finally Allegany State Park is quit again . . . . and well, I am also a little bored. Everyone is back to work and the kids are in school learning things. Swimmers are not running around barefoot on the beach . . . . but I still would like you to stop pooping everywhere (that’s just nauseating). Right now it is just you and me my friend hanging around Red House Beach. Those warblers are too high up in the trees for me to photograph, although I can hear them calling down to me. Mr. Goose, I have a confession to make. . . . I love taking pictures of birds and you’re all I have today . . . . I am sorry that I caught you preening your feathers . . . . I could have waited until you were done prettying yourself up for the camera. (more…)
Chimney Swifts in Allegany State Park
Chimney Swift
One of my joys of being around Allegany State Park is watching the Chimney Swifts entering chimneys around the Administration Building during dusk hours. These unique birds look almost like flying cigars and are remarkable fliers. You typically hear them chattering before you ever get a chance to see them. Chimney Swifts are constantly flying throughout the day in search of food and can travel long distances. They will roost and nest in chimneys and are historically known to use the hollow trees in the forest for nesting. I sometimes wonder if they are not still doing this in some areas. (more…)
Bird Searching
Green Heron
This weekend we made some time searching for some birdies! The Osprey continued hanging out around the Osprey platform as many small warblers were peeping along tree tops among the leaves. Cedar Waxwings appeared to be everywhere but it was this Green Heron who really allowed us to get the closest to it. (more…)
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 