Moose in Algonquin
Algonquin Moose
By: Pat Coate
Even more than birds, I really enjoy seeing moose (and catching them with my camera is an added bonus). As such, I spend some time each year ‘stalking’ them in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario. Most years I am able to at least see them along Highway 60, which cuts across the southern portion of the park, and other years I have been lucky enough to see them while canoeing or hiking. Here are some photos of this year’s moose, seen along Highway 60.
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Budding Birders Meet Tom
Logan, Maddie and Lilly with Tom (check out the Mon@rch tattoos)
By: Pat Coate
My sister and her young family recently visited and we had a wonderful morning learning more about birds and getting to see them up close at Tom’s banding site in Napoli. Tom is very knowledgeable, gracious, and a born educator.
What fun we all had – as expressed so well by Maddie: “Bird banding was awesome! You should have seen the birds that were there!” Here are some pictures from our birding experience.
Butterflies on my Finger
Common Ringlet
You always need to stay close to nature . . . . have you ever given a try to holding a butterfly on your finger?
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Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Oriole & Fans
By: Pat Coate
My husband and sons grew up fans of the Baltimore Orioles. Over the years we’ve enjoyed games at both Memorial Stadium and Camden Yards. So it was a special pleasure to spend some time observing the team’s namesake at a nesting site near Jamestown, NY (Audubon location).
The Nature Conservancy
Spotted Salamander
Exciting News: The Nature Conservancy has recently published an article on Critical Linkages: Resolving the Conflict Between Roads and Wildlife. With permission TNC used video footage of the Spotted Salamanders that I have filmed here in Allegany State Park. They also used the above photo in the cover of the Massachusetts Nature Conservancy Newsletter.
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Tess at Swat
Tess and her first live bird!
Just over 100 days old and Tess is already enjoying bird banding! I can’t wait for her to get older and start to explore what nature has to offer her.
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SWAT Bird Banding
Red-eyed Vireo
By: Pat Coate
I had a lot of fun spending Monday morning with Tom at his SWAT bird banding station.
To me, birding is a bit like a treasure hunt. Sometimes a frustrating treasure hunt, but a treasure hunt nonetheless. There are birds everywhere you just have to look and listen for them. There are maps, field guides, iPhone apps, etc. to help you along the way. There is always more to learn in birding – the male and female usually look different, each gender can look different at different times of the year, and the young often look different still. There are the birds’ calls to learn – and each bird has more than one. If that’s not enough challenge, the little buggers don’t stay still very long making it hard to get a good long look at them.
That is why I really enjoy visiting Tom at his bird banding station. It is really nice to get an up-close, prolonged look at the many different birds that he is able to capture, band and release.
Roger Tory Peterson Birding Festival Part 2
Swamp Sparrow
By: Pat Coate
The pictures in this post were taken during the Roger Tory Peterson Institute’s Birding Festival held in Jamestown, NY from June 10-13. It was a really fun event with some great fields trips and leaders. The Swamp Sparrow pictures were taken at the Jamestown Audubon Society site south of Jamestown. I love to catch the little guys throwing their heads back and singing their hearts out.
Educational programing!!
I am at it again . . . . the park is a little short handed with naturalist leading nature hikes this summer. I have been barrowed from my department to be helping do educational programs on Wednesdays. If you’re in the Allegany . . . look for me on Wednesdays!!
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Green Frog
Sometimes my iPhone will amaze me in the great pictures it takes!!
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Babies are starting at SWAT
Had a great day at the SWAT –MAPS banding station this morning! We had a great assortment of birdies with woodpeckers, thrush, sparrows, finches, flycatchers and warblers!! Highlight was the Swainson’s Thrush which could be a first for this banding station but I knew that it would only be a matter of time till we got this species here.
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Roger Tory Peterson Birding Festival Part 1
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
By: Pat Coate
On June 10-13 the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, NY held its second birding festival. The days were filled with wonderful field trips led by incredible guides, and workshops by some of the top men and women in the field. I feel very lucky to have this opportunity so close to home and I really, really enjoyed myself (I sense a certain son of mine will shake his head as he reads this – and speaking of shakes, we felt the tremors from the 5.5 earthquake centered near Ottawa, Canada on 6/23, a first for me).
The yellow-billed cuckoo shown above was one of the many (over 50?) species seen on the Woodchuck Hill field trip. It was a crowd pleaser, giving the whole group an unusually long look. It seemed to many attendees that there are more cuckoos around this year, likely because of the abundance of tent caterpillars.
Pfeiffer Nature Center Part 2
Eastern Kingbird
By: Pat Coate
Had a nice hike around the Eshelman Tract at Pfeiffer Nature Center. It offers several miles of well-marked trails through a variety of habitat. The Bullhead Pond Trail and creek area were full of activity including loud, croaking bullfrogs, great blue heron, chestnut-sided warblers, eastern phoebes, and the eastern kingbird shown above.
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Sunset
Out on Red House Lake with Nicole, Patty and I!!
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Birdie Blog
Me, Tina (birdie), Vicki
(front row) Trish, Brenda, Tammy (birdie)
By: Pat Coate
I had the good fortune to spend May13-16th in Pinehurst, NC with some very good friends on an awesome golf getaway weekend. I promised anyone scoring a birdie (one under par) a place on the ‘birdie’ blog. Well, between us we played 23 rounds of golf and managed two birdies – kudos to Tammy and Tina. The other type of birdies were in much more abundance…
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First morning at SWAT
Started the morning at SWAT with a Blackburnian Warbler and Black-billed Cuckoo. It was hot and muggy so numbers were no huge!! But still great birds today.
Helpers included Jen, YNJ and YNJ’s girlfriend CR!! 
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Indigo Bunting
Indigo Bunting (male)
By: Pat Coate
On our way back from our son’s graduation from Lafayette College, my husband was kind enough to make a slight detour so I could bike a converted rail trail off of Route 287 near Wellsboro, PA (close to the ‘Grand Canyon of PA’). It is a terrific trail that passes through some state forest, farmlands, and marshy areas providing diverse habitat and nice wildlife/bird viewing opportunities. The weather was not as cooperative as my husband, so it was going to take a special bird for me to get my camera out.
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red admiral
Anyone notice that here in Western New York we are having a big arruption (or migration) of the Red Admiral?? Last time I found as many Red Admirals was in back in 2001!!
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Swimming
Mackenzie enjoyed her swim today! Boy was it a hot one!
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May
You have to love this time of the year! Lots of Pollen today!
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Visitors
Visitors
By: Pat Coate
I work out of my home and have an office in the basement. I have had quite a few visitors over the years at my office window, but these are by far my favorite. Other visitors have included a ground hog and a mouse. My window is also on the regular patrol route of the neighbor’s cat – whom I really didn’t want coming by with this little one stuck in the window well.
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Baby Mergansers
Common Merganser mom and babies
Today found a mother Merganser walking her babies down a drainage ditch. Mom quickly flew when I first saw them and babies followed (see following videos from my iPhone)
Budding Birders – Florida: The Final Chapter
Alligator
By: Pat Coate
This is the last posting on my nieces’ and nephew’s trip to Vero Beach, Florida in early April. I had taken a similar trip the prior year and had pictures of many of the animals they saw while visiting. The kids liked seeing all the birds that they don’t get to see at home. And they really liked seeing the gators.
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Mon@rch's Nature Blog 