More Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Oriole
By: Pat Coate
We were very excited to have a Baltimore oriole visit our hummingbird feeder this year. First yard Baltimore oriole we have had.
Birding with Maddie
(photo by Dad)
By: Pat Coate
One of the benefits of a large family is that I have lots of nieces and nephews to enjoy and, as some might say, to try to brainwash. Of my 13 nieces and nephews, Maddie has shown the greatest interest in birding (and other critters) and is great fun to bird with. She is very adept at spotting birds and continues to impress her parents by identifying birds they see in their backyard and on various excursions. I recently got to spend a morning birding with Maddie and my father at White Clay Creek State Park in Delaware.
Here is the trip report from my favorite young birder:
ASP Geobash 6
This weekend (May 20-22nd) is the Allegany State Park Geobash Event. If you are a geocacher . . . . this is an event you dont’ want to miss! Last year we had 1140 people register making this the local MEGA event in the North East everyone comes to attned. For more info go to http://aspgeobash.com/
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Small Snapping Turtle
I helped a small snapping turtle across the road!! Wasn’t too concerned of it biting me!! Washed my hands good afterwords.
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Eastern Towhee
Eastern Towhee (male)
By: Pat Coate
What a beautiful spring weekend we had! I enjoyed some hiking and birding at Pfeiffer Nature Center and got a nice look at this beautiful male Eastern Towhee. These birds are normally scurrying about deep in the brush and I rarely get more than a fleeting glimpse of them. This fellow, however, was most accommodating, staying in plain view for several minutes and repeatedly giving a very clear ‘towhee’ call.
He may have tired of me watching him as evidenced in the next picture.
Some FOYs
Grey Catbird
By: Pat Coate
We finally got some spring-like weather with the sun making an appearance (brief as it turns out) and temps reaching the 70s. Inspired by seeing my first of year (FOY) Common Yellowthroat Warbler in the back yard, I decided to take my FOY bike ride to enjoy the weather and see what birds might also be out and about. I got an hour+ ride in with about 20 species seen before getting stranded under a bridge waiting out a downpour. In my 20 species I did pick up a couple more FOYs: Chipping Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow and Grey Catbird.
The pictures were taken during the bike ride.
Fish Stocking at Allegany
Had a great turn out today in Allegany State Park (30ish people) for Stocking Brook and Brown Trout (about 3500 fish). Little Clair even reached into the bucket and pulled one out to be released in Science Lake!! Good times seeing all the kids there today!!
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Tree Swallows and Cold Weather
The Tree Swallows are doing what they can with these cold temperatures. As I see snow flurries in the air the Swallows are gathering around the generator looking for some escaping heat. I really need to clean out the bird boxes and I hope we don’t find dead ones in there. What happens is they pile up into a box and the ones on the bottom get squished from the ones on top. I have found up to 9 dead tree swallows in a box. Hard times for these blue and white friends . . . . lets hope for warmer temperatures for them! (If you look hard at this photo you can see N. Rough Winged Swallows and a Barn Swallow).
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Common Loons
I counted 27 Common Loons on Red House Lake this morning! One flock had 22 birds in it the other 5 were scattered birds around the lake (prob ones that have been here the past few days).
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Canada Goose Nesting in an Osprey Platform
I was out earlier this week in Allegany State Park checking out the Osprey Platforms and happen to find this strange bird up in the nest. Could it seriously be a Canada Goose up there?? Next day returned and sure enough this Canada Goose is up in this Osprey Platform “NESTING”!! I am now starting to worry about these little guys jumping down . . . . ! Just never know what you might find in Allegany!!
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Bloodroot
Good day when you find wild bloodroot.
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Northern Saw-whet in Owl Woods
Northern Saw-Whet (adult)
By: Pat Coate
Due to an early morning flight for a business trip on Monday, I stayed in Rochester Sunday night. I decided to head up early and spend the day visiting some of the Rochester-area birding sites including Owl Woods and the Braddock Bay Hawk Watch. I am extremely thankful to Jim Adams (http://ayearinoatka.blogspot.com/) for meeting me, providing such a wonderful tour of the area and for sharing his experience and knowledge (and scope).
We found this Northern Saw-whet Owl, nestled in an evergreen tree, resting up to finish its northern migration. These owls are quite small – only about 7-8 inches tall and weigh less than ½ pound .
Please note that the pictures were taken with a telephoto lens and we kept our observation time brief.
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Action Last Night
Lots of action happening in the vernal pools last night!
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Bonapart’s Gull’s arrived
Had 15ish Bonapart’s Gulls over on Red House Lake this morning! Mid April is typically when they arrive! Also yesterday had some Tree Swallows flying out on the lake.
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Mourning Cloak
My first of the year! Whoot! Saw on Sunday near the house!
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Another Osprey Encounter
from Pat Coate –
My sister, Lynda, lives near the Rappahannock River in Virginia and emailed me this recent encounter she had with an osprey (and company). What an interesting encounter with nature to have witnessed!
“The other day the girls and I were walking back home from across the street and we hear a noise and looked up and swooping down over the roofs of the townhouses right next to us comes an osprey with a big fish in his talons, being chased by an eagle, being chased by a crow!! It was so incredible! They were maybe 25 feet over our heads right in front of us!
The osprey gave up just then and dropped the fish with a splat onto the parking lot. It slid under a car. The eagle and osprey both kind of looped up and looked for it but couldn’t see it and flew away. I ran and grabbed the fish out from under the car and put it in the park across the street but they didn’t come back. It would have been cool to just chuck it up there to the eagle! : ) He started to move like he was going to dive for it after the osprey dropped it but he was just too low already to make a dive for it. We were stunned! You probably would have gotten awesome pictures of it! I’ve got an incredible one in my head though!
So there’s lots of fun bird watching around here right now. April is always my favorite month for the eagles around here. They are always chasing each other around in the sky and right now the river literally looks like it’s boiling with the shad running!”
Osprey Back and Building
Osprey adding to nest
By: Pat Coate
I am so glad I decided to set aside weekend chores for a bit and squeeze in some birding because I had a wonderful encounter with this osprey. Though I am sure it was aware of my presence, it did not seem to mind me watching it. I spent about 30 minutes watching and got to see it repeatedly snap off branches and carry them to this nest. There was only one osprey present, so I presume this is the male prettying up the place for the female’s arrival.
Ruffed Grouse
Ruffed Grouse feeding on tree buds
By: Pat Coate
A friend from the bird club and I spent a Saturday morning birding at Allegany State Park where we came across a pair of ruffed grouse feeding on the buds of this tree. I had never seen a ruffed grouse in a tree before and I must say it was a much more pleasant way to see them than the usual encounters with these birds. The normal encounter, of course, occurs while hiking when your peaceful bliss is briefly but emphatically interrupted by a sudden burst of feathers and squawking that for sure reduces your life expectancy by a few weeks.
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Purple Finch Singing
Loving this moment with a Purple Finch singing its heart out this morning.
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Looking outside!
Looking outside and it is sunny but still winter looking. Saw an American Kestrel in the park today! Whoot!!!
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Hocus Crocus – Has Spring Really Sprung?
Crocus are in bloom
By: Pat Coate
Or are the blooms just a teasing illusion…….
The birds give us hope as they seem to think spring is arriving:
Hermit Thrush
Seems a little early to me but had my first Hermit Thrush today (CHECK)! With the overnight snow last night, the birds were pushed over to the roadsides. That’s where I found a newly arrived Hermit Thrush!!
(BTW: Photo is from 2007 and wasn’t from todays bird)!
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Osprey arrived!
Right on schedule, the Osprey arrived in Allegany State Park today. I think someone forgot to tell them we are having 3-4 inches of snow tomorrow!!
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Snapping Turtle on Ice
Sometimes you come across pictures that need a re-visit!! Remember back in 2009 when I found this Snapping Turtle on the ice on Red House Lake? https://monarchbfly.com/2009/03/08/snapping-turtle-ice/
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