The Perfect Fluff Ball Night
Ok, let me cut to the chase! First net check and there she was the most beautiful fluff ball that I have ever seen!! I must admit that I had a feeling that this night would be good but I never expected this to be the best night in this banding stations history!
I really need to go back in time and tell you what is going on. For numerous nights the weather here in Allegany State Park has not been the best for my owl studies. The discussions with other owl banders from across the eastern United States have all been disappointed by the low numbers being captured. Some of the theories are that food supply is very good up in Canada and the owls just don’t need to migrate south this year. I guess we will never know until the season is over. Small banding stations like Allegany rely on good weather conditions to have a good owl night. If you look in some of my previous post, you will notice that I have been watching radar for good movements of birds. Tonight’s weather is almost perfect with very calm winds, clear sky, cold temperature and a waxing crescent moon. I believe that many of these birds were bottled up due to weather and just waiting for a night like tonight. Please check out this radar image from this evening to see the millions of birds that are moving south.
On my first check this hatching year female was just waiting to be banded. She was the most perfect owl and I took some pictures of her talons for a future blog!! After processing her and then with her release, I realized that it was almost time to head back up the hill for another check. As I turned the corner of one of the nets, I could see something up on the 8th trammel. Could that be leaves?? Nope, owl number 2 for the night!! It wasn’t until my fourth net check that I recaptured both previously banded owls from earlier in the evening! Not wanting to catch them for a 3rd time, I decided to take them a little further away so onward over to the Park Police station for a quick visit (they always enjoy seeing the birds being released). I was joined by one of my neighbors for the next net check (getting excited with all the owls being caught). It must have been his luck because we caught two more Saw-whet Owls. I quickly gave a banding demo after returning to the station and we laughed because one of my cats (Lazy) stood there looking through the window trying to figure out what we were doing.
My neighbor and I continue back up to the hill to check the nets once again! He said “did we catch another one”?? My comment was, “did we catch one?? we have three owls in the net”! You talk about things starting to get hectic!!! I just knew that there was no way that I would be going to bed any time soon and of course I need to be at work at 8am in the morning!
My record for the station was 5 birds on two occasions and I never expected to have banded 10 new birds with 13 total captures for the night! I kept the nets open until 3:30am and I am now off to bed. Please don’t mind any grammar errors; it’s been a long night!
Just another day!
These days happen to all of us from time to time! Mine started with my nose running and throat all scratchy. I almost forgot about doing a needed net repair after my last banding session. A flying squirrel had chewing through one of my trammel lines which I needed to replace before sunset. I had fallen in the mud numerous times while checking for owls. On my 9:15pm check I heard that flying squirrel going “squeak, squeak” not far from my nets. I looked around saying, “please not tonight – please”! Over and over again I end up checking my nets with no fuzz balls. Even worse, I forgot that the TV series Lost was on tonight and missed the first 45 minutes of the show!
Then again, days like today are what keep me one of the happiest naturalist in the world! I observed my first two Horned Grebes this fall swimming in Red House Lake. Weather has allowed me to open my nets again after many frustrating nights of rain and lake effect. The fresh air has allowed me to breathe again and it feels wonderful to be able to walk around!! I saw my little wild mouse buddy hopping around the path, I had to say hello. I continued to find myself turning off my headlamp while walk back to the house. It is amazing the numerous little sounds you’ll hear. Some of the sounds included small mammals squeaking, passerines calling over head, geese honking and the trickling sounds of the water in the drainage ditch! I also happen to catch a few stars trying to peek through the clouds (All of which I have not seen or heard in a quite a few days).
I might not have caught any owls tonight but it was well worth the attempt. There is always tomorrow to try again!!
Lake Erie Gulls
Herring Gulls riding the wind, originally uploaded by Mon@rch.
For lunch last Wednesday I decided to take a little walk to try and photograph some birds. Lake Erie State Park is known as a wonderful migration area for many ducks and songbirds. Could it be possible that I will get skunked and not see any songbirds? Luckily…. I did locate a small flock of Cedar Waxwings and several White Throated Sparrows among the shrubs. But this time I didn’t mind being teased by them keeping their distance with no opportunities for capturing that perfect shot.
I decided to work my way over to the beach in search of a loon or even a raft of ducks along the shores edge. Those Greater Black Backed Gulls on the bluffs are what I seemed to keep my eyes on. Since there were no songbirds around, I decided to wait for these black-backs to take flight. While waiting, I happen to notice this young Herring Gulls found some food and kept dropping it into the water (then picking it back up). It almost appeared as if it was washing its food and trying to get it to a point to quickly swallow. Without delay it flew away and I realized this adult Herring Gulls had approached as if to steal this younger birds lunch.
I continued to watch all these gulls moving up and down this small section of the shore. On occasion one of these birds would quickly drop into the water to picked something up and fly out to a deeper section of the water. This explains why these birds were ignoring me and focusing on their food. Soon my lunch was over and I need to return back to work to finish my day. I did enjoy my limited time watching these birds and of course it didn’t take long to fill up my memory cards.
An Owls 3rd Eyelid
Today we caught two Northern Saw-whet Owls with wonderful WNW winds. While Photographing this owl, we happen to notice that with each picture it would use its 3rd eyelid (as if to protect itself). After looking in a few of my Ornithology Manuals – I finally learned that this eyelid is called the Nictitating membrane!! After a quick google search: answers.com I found this about the eyelid: nic·ti·tat·ing membrane (nĭk’tĭ-tā’tĭng) also nic·tat·ing membrane (nĭk’tā’tĭng) n. – A transparent inner eyelid in birds, reptiles, and some mammals that closes to protect and moisten the eye. Also called third eyelid.
FYI: Nexrad Radar shows a very strong movement of birds taking off just after sunset. Click link to see the Clip.
An unusual visitor at the banding station
The Barred Owl (Strix varia) is a year round resident who doesn’t migrate like the Northern Saw-whet Owls. They have a very large 42 inch wingspan and a very rounded head. I hear many more Barred Owls than those I get to see. Their very well known for their calls in the middle of the night which sounds like “hoo hoo ho-ho, hoo hoo ho-hoooooaw” or also known as “who cooks for you, who cooks for you all”. Bents life history series of books mentions that they are more diurnal than nocturnal but I guess that depends on the neighboring food supply.
I have had these owls in my nets before but they always seem to get out before my opportunity to band them. The banding team took no chances in giving this owl a chance to get out. This is an adult bird which I was unable to determine its sex! You can be sure that everyone at the station was extremely excited once we realized what we had just captured. As you can see they are very large in size compared to the tiny N Saw-whet Owls that we are use to handling. The moon was bright and we truly didn’t expect a saw-whet (which I should mention we also captured) yet alone a Barred!
As you can see, most of the movements of birds were mostly along the eastern side of New York and New Jersey! Althought there was some movement across all of the North East.
Fun Day With the Kids
Took a half a day off of work today to head over to the Elementary School to do a banding demo for 43 kids (2nd and 3rd graders). Here are some photos from the wonderful day. The 4 birds that I was able to capture were Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Common Yellowthroat, Gray Catbird and Gray-cheeked Thrush.
They just loved this kind of hands on experience!
Grouse Displaying
I have never seen so many grouse as I have just before the start of Grouse season. While getting out of my truck for a closer photo, this grouse started to display.
Suddenly the male Ruffed Grouse took off and stopped my heart from whizzing past my head. Now all relaxed, I started to walk towards the tree (saw a feather on the ground and wanted a closer look) and then my heart stopped again! There was a female behind the tree which I didn’t realize was there. What a wonderful life I have.
The Day of Exploring New Territory
Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis)
This was a wonderful day today! Weather was perfect and I was given many photograph opportunities. I was invited to join two inspirational biologists in search of some fall wildflowers in an area of the park that I have never explored before. Here I would like to include a few other photos from our hike trip up into the woods.
These two flowers (Zigzag Goldenrod and Crooked-stem Aster) were located along the forest edge. They both have that Zig n Zag feel to them and its ironic that they were growing together. The Zigzag Goldenrod was a wildflower that I never took the time to identify until this trip.
This Magnolia Warbler was showing off its yellow coloring which let me get a quick photo or two before disappearing into the shrubs. There were a few Magnolia’s flying around but most of them were high up into the canopy. Some Common Yellowthroats, Chickadees and a Thrush species was in the same area with the Magnolia.
While leaving, we came across this Green Heron in the wet grass while searching for some shorebirds. Was wonderful it would pop its tuft up and get a grasshopper or two. We were lucky to have watched it for about 4 minutes before disappearing into the grass.
Some time between rain showers
September is appearing to be the month of rain! I took the opportunity to get out and take some pictures between the rain showers.
This Winter Wren was hanging out around the Bova area where I was looking for some snakes. What was interesting about this bird was the way it would pop up (look for an insect) and then dart back into the shrubs. Few seconds later it would come back (eat its insect) then dart back into the shrubs! Between all that I was able to get a few photos!
This Bull Frog was located while hiking down ASP Rt. 2. I typically encounter a splash or see a quick movement when walking along any wet area. Rarely do I encounter or visually get a good look at these squishy little critters. But, today was an exception. I happen to encounter it just before the big jump and started to move slowly. With a blink of an eye it disappeared into the water but just after a few clicks of the camera.
Snapping Turtles are sometimes encountered along the roadside in the spring laying their eggs. In September you’re more than likely to find them along the waters edge looking for food. This snapper was spending most of its time with its head underwater moving very slowly. It seemed to peak its head out of the water, check me out and continue what it was doing.
Visit to Jamestown Audubon
Today I visited Jamestown Audubon for their exhibit grand opening. The day was truly joyful and I was able to visit with many friends. Before the Audubon opened, I took a walk around the big pond and this is what I saw.
Nashville Warbler
Nashville Warblers are always fun to find. Not my best shot in the world but this bird just wouldn’t come out of the pines for a clear picture! I think part of my problem was that I tried to get the right angle and while hand holding the 400mm – I just couldn’t hold it still enough for the sharp image! I learn with each picture that I take! You can see some of the chestnut brown streaks on this birds head with the photo on the right! Not the best photos in the world but was happy to have photographed it!!
Dogwood Berries is good source of food!
I have been seeing many birds recently feeding on the Dogwood Berries along the bike path here in Red House!! Here are some of the birds that I observed:
Red Eyed Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler (note its banded and probably one of my birds)
Lots of fruit in the forest for both birds and other wildlife! Do keep your eyes open!!
Labor Day Bird and Turtle
While visiting Quaker – I found this Double-crested Cormorant hanging out in the lake at Friends Boat Launch.
Banding Session
TODAY – Hot and Muggy Sunny day with a High of 89.6F and Low of 61.0F
Saturday was our 5th MAPS session and we ended up getting rained out with only an hour of operation completed. We finished the session today with it being very hot and muggy. Both days the birds were quite but I blame it on the weather!! We still caught some great birds like: Cedar Waxwing, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Blue Headed Vireo, and a Magnolia Warbler.
I would like to say thanks all my volunteers that came out in the rain and in the sun to assist. I will let everyone know once the hats are completed.
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 