Nature Haikus – Whales
By Young Naturalist C
Whales
Giant sea vessels
Traveling through large oceans
Singing as they swim
Nature Haikus – Apples
By Young Naturalist C
Apples
Flowering in the spring
In summer, ripe apples come
Red and delicious
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Nature Haiku [two]
By Young Naturalist C
Solitary Tree
Solitary tree
habitat for animals
standing quietly
Over a river
Water lapping at its roots
Elements combine
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Kid Birders at SWAT
Cedar Waxwing
On Friday the 12th of June 2009 we opened the 2nd session of the SWAT MAPS banding station! We captured 14 different species and banded 17 newly banded birds with 16 recaptures (total of 33 individuals). The weather was very cooperative and we had a great steady number of birds being captured in the nets.
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Life Appreciated
Their Kitten with Binocs
I have been blessed to know an amazing family for over two years and I am always finding myself dieing to find an update on her photostream!! It all started with friends commenting on other friend’s flickr pages when I suddenly found Colleen commenting on my photos . . . we suddenly became flickr contacts and I remember we were always viewing each others nature photography! Then one day you find pictures of her little girl after having two brain surgeries and you are lost with emotion!!
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Roger Tory Peterson’s 100 Year Birthday Party
RTPI Group for the Peterson festival!
This weekend the Roger Tory Peterson Institute (RTPI) celebrated the 100th anniversary for the birth of Roger Tory Peterson with a big birding festival. RTPI had lined up a world series of speakers and had many participants for his celebration.
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Banding Demo for Kids Last Friday
For the past 6 years I have had the opportunity to participate in Allegany State Park’s Great Outdoors Day with the Recreation Department. This year due to the scheduling conflicts . . . . I was only able to banding during the Friday Class Sessions. But I still had the opportunity to interact with over 200 children from numerous school districts.
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First Day at CLDC for 2009
Wilson’s Warbler
Last Sunday after the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage we started banding over at the CLDC MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) banding station. We placed bands on 14 species and we placed new bands on 19 individuals. In addition to the newly banded birds we recaptured 2 Song Sparrows, 4 Common Yellowthroats, 1 House Wren and 1 Indigo Bunting which were previous year banded birds (for a total of 27 individuals).
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Allegany Nature Pilgrimage 2009
Old Growth Walk (Photo by Patty)
Last weekend the 51st annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage was held in Allegany State Park. This is my 14th year attending the pilgrimage and my 11th year as a trip leader. The Allegany Nature Pilgrimage was started by Gilbert Burgeson (aka Gib) who traveled to Tennesee to visit their daughter. While in Tennessee he attended the Smokey Mountain Wildflower Pilgrimage and said, “Why can’t we have a pilgrimage? Why not at Allegany Park?”! Over the past 51 years the organization still frequently has visitors from all over the United States, Canada and other Countries to attend the Pilgrimage weekend. (more…)
Banding Starts Friday
I Miss Banding Season!
We start banding Friday Morning at the SWAT site! . . . . . CHEERS! The SWAT site is ready and I almost have the CLDC site ready! After Banding Friday morning we will be attending the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage over the weekend and then banding again at CLDC Sunday Morning! Look for the photos and updates once I can get to them!
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Nature Haiku – Tree
By Young Naturalist C
Tree
Standing tall and strong
It waves to the fluffy clouds
With its green fingers
Nature Haiku – Bees
By Young Naturalist C
Bees
Black and yellow stripes
Buzzing around the flowers
Spreading the pollen
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Nature Haiku – Dandelions
By Young Naturalist C
Dandelions
Bright dandelions
With time, turn to silken fluff
Little children’s friend
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April BOS Count 2009
Woodducks
Sunday was the annual April BOS Count and I truly enjoyed the most beautiful spring day looking for all these birdies! I ended up with 54 species and 441 different individuals observed within the Allegany State Park’s area of Section 24. What was even more exciting was the nine first of the year birds that I located.
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Caspian Tern
Caspian Tern
I took advantage of this sunny day to do some bird watching with Young Naturalist J since he is off from school this week. I told him that my target species was the Caspian Tern and after being on the road for about 15 minutes . . . . we found this group of Caspian Tern (CHECK)! This was a year bird for both of us and YN-J had also capture a few other first of the year birds throughout the day! He’s growing up everyone . . . I think soon that I will have to start calling him “Teen Naturalist J”! I had a wonderful day with him leading me around to all the birding hotspots in his neck of the woods! Cheers . . . we found the Caspian Terns!
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Nature Haiku [Nine Loons]
Common Loons on Red House Lake
By Young Naturalist C, Young Naturalist E and Adele
Nine Loons
Nine Loons on the Lake
Fishing for their favorite food
Ooo da loo da loo
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Nature Haikus – Flowers
By Young Naturalist C
Flowers
Blooming everywhere
Beautifully sweet smelling
Where the green grass grows
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Nature Haikus – Salamanders
Spotted Salamander
By Young Naturalist C, Young Naturalist E and Adele
Salamanders
Slick salamanders
Roaming in the wet, wild woods
Looking for their love
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Nature Haikus – Frogs
By Young Naturalist C
Frogs
The frogs are cheerful
Hopping onto lily pads
With a plip and plop
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Nature Haikus – Moon
By Young Naturalist C
Moon
Shining upon us
Glowing pale yellow with stars
In the blue darkness
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First Bat of the Year
Big Brown Bat
Temperatures have been in the 40’s°F over the past few days and I am sure that all critters have been enjoying the melting snow. Today I had a report from a friend that they saw their first Chipmunk and many others reported skunks being seen (or smelled) around their homes! I noticed that many of us humans have also been celebrating these wonderful signs of spring and that is exactly what happened with Adele, Young Naturalist C, Young Naturalist E and myself this evening! While dodging perfectly packed snowballs flying through the air . . . . . . . we looked up into the sky and Adele yelled “BAT”!! OMG . . . we only saw it for two passes but that was a Big Brown Bat flying around the lights! (CHECK) my first Big Brown Bat for 2009!
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Mon@rch's Nature Blog 