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.
Purple Flowering Raspberry
Fun plant seeing both the fruit and flower together.
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Turtle Update (Franklin)
> Just an update on the Box Turtle that I have been following here in Allegany State Park. Franklin has moved into a new area that I have never seen him at before and he has been in this area for the past 3 weeks. I anticipate him heading back up on the hill again in the very near future prepairing himself for going underground for winter.
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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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Franklin the Box Turtle
It has been a year and Franklin the Box Turtle is still wondering around his territory here in Allegany State Park. Not giving out too many details but for the past few months he’s been feeding on strawberries, blueberries and honeysuckle berries out in a field. Last week with the high heat he was right next to a seep that still had cold water flowing out of it. I was a little conserned with the 90+ degree weather and the no rain for the past month. His weight had gone down 18 grams but after spending some valuable time at the spring . . . . His weight went back up 12 more grams and now wondering through the woods (right around where he was last year).
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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.
Cedar Waxwing Courtship Behavior
Cedar Waxwing couple
By: Pat Coate
In May the Cattaraugus Bird Club had some outings at the Eschelman Tract of Pfeiffer Nature Center. During one of these outings I had the opportunity to observe this pair of cedar waxwings. They engaged in the classic “side-hop” and mate feeding courtship behavior described in the Stokes Nature Guides A Guide to Bird Behavior Volume II.
This behavior consisted of the birds perched near each other. One, with food, would hop towards the other and pass the food to its mate. The second bird would hop away, then hop back towards the first bird and food would be exchanged again.
Snapping Turtle Laying Eggs
I have been seeing many females Snapping Turtles laying eggs along the road side this year.
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Red-bellied Woodpecker Nest
Red-bellied Woodpecker (male) at nest
By: Pat Coate
Biking along the Alleghany River Trail, I heard persistent chatter of hungry young birds. When I investigated, I found this nest cavity of a red-bellied woodpecker. Both parents were busy bringing food to the nest, though I only got pictures of the male. The female was a bit more wary, but neither seemed particularly bothered my presence and I enjoyed the constant foraging and delivery of food for over 20 minutes. The young bird popped its head out once very briefly. I only saw one young one, but there may have been more – sure seemed like a lot of noise for one baby bird.
Wood Turtle
Have to love when you find a Wood Turtle!!
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Sharp-shinned Hawk
Last Bird of the Day! Great banding day!!
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Black-billed Cuckoo
Been a Cuckoo of a week!!
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Yellow-billed Cuckoo
So much fun today at Great Outdoors Days that I do every year! Caught a Yellow-billed Cuckoo this morning! This is the second time ever catching this species and this time I was sure to take a picture of it! Whoot what a great year I have been having with species banded.
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Battling Crows
Crow with an agitated Grackle below it
By: Pat Coate
On a daily basis I’ll hear the grackles, sometimes joined by the piercing alarm call of the robin, raising a ruckus. Inevitably, there will be a clearly apprehensive crow pinned down at the top of a tree withstanding a squadron of brave grackles who are taking turns dive bombing it. Eventually the crow will make a run for it and be escorted out of the territory by a grackle or two who continue their assault on the airborne crow.
Pileated Woodpecker at the Banding Station
Had a Pileated Woodpecker at the MAPS banding station here in Allegany State Park this weekend. First bird of the season and boy was it an outstanding bird!!! This was also my first Pileated Woodpecker ever caught in one of my Mist-nets. Exciting times!
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Singing in the Spring
Chestnut Sided Warbler
By: Pat Coate
The symphony of bird song has been truly wonderful this spring and here are a few shots of various birds in action. Some things to note about ‘singing in the spring’:
• Male birds of many species migrate first. They sing to stake out their territory and then to attract the females when they too begin to move north.
• In many species the females don’t sing.
• Birds also defend their territory against birds of the same species to reduce competition for food since both birds would hunt for food in the same manner
• It is believed that changes in sunlight/length of day trigger hormonal changes in birds that trigger ‘singing in the spring’.
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