Stinky Bug
Whenever the outside temperatures start warming up, we will get many flies and ladybugs around the house. Living in the woods for the past three years has introduced me to a new resident living with me over the winter months. I had always called this a “stink bug” because whenever someone accidentally steps on one or grab it quickly the bug will produce an unpleasant odor. It has only been recently that I started to investigate the proper identification of this insect. I am proud to introduce you to my new room mate Western Conifer Seed Bug (Leptoglossus occidentalis).
Salamander Migration
Spring is a magnificent time of the year when nature does so many wonderful things. This is when I find myself on a set routine waiting for the next major natural event to happen (and it normally happens right on schedule). My biggest and most favorite activity to participate in is the migration of the Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum).
Bluebirds, Phoebe and Osprey
There have been soooo many “nature” things going on and I don’t even know where to start. I got back from Massachusetts on Sunday and realized that all 4-5 inches of snow had melted. These are the wonderful turning points in the weather where I could be spending all my time focused on the critters (but I need to work to pay the bills). I quickly opened all my windows so my kitties could get some fresh air and there was the “wonderful” sound of Eastern Bluebirds down near my bluebird box. Monday morning the Bluebirds were actively adding nesting material to the box and I plan on trying to get a video clip of them once I get a little more time.
Day Three – The Meeting
I woke up extra early to visit Nauset Beach at Cape Cod because there had been talk that this would be the best location for finding some Harlequin Ducks. I ended up not taking the required turn and found myself at this very cool dead end road (and probably where I shouldn’t have been). Not only were their a zillion birds swimming around but on one of the rocks was a harbor seal. It was not too cooperative in letting me get a close photo but I did squeeze in a few pictures before it disappeared in the water. I really have to appreciate everyone who has the opportunity in seeing these guys on a daily basis. (more…)
Dark-eyed Junco Behavior and Vocalization
You can learn a great deal about a bird once you begin watching their behaviors. There is no better time to start observing these behaviors than during the spring months when the birds are just starting establishing their territories. The Dark-eyed Junco or also known as the Slate-colored Junco (Junco hyemalis) is one of Allegany State Park’s early species that are just beginning to sing. Before we learning their song, here is a video for you to become better familiar with two of their calls. (more…)
Such a Warm Stinking Flower
As promised, I have finally gotten around to writing something about Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). My interest in this flower started late last week when two of my friends were posting pictures of their first of the year wildlfower; Jennifer photo 1, photo 2, and photo 3 & Salamanderdance photo 1 and photo 2. But, after thinking about it, this isn’t my first wildflower for 2007. In January before the 2007 “Ice Age”, I saw dandelions growing out on the lawn. So, this really is my 2nd flower species for 2007 but, does very much feel like my 1st flower also this year.
You might ask why this is a remarkable wildflower? (more…)
Going back to my roots!
I remember back when I started college that one of my professors was telling me “your life is like a tree … but it is up to you to decide which branch of the tree to sit on …. some branches might break …. you might get a little bored sitting on some branches ….. some branches might hold you strong forever …. but it is up to you to decide where to sit!”. Looking back to my past, I now seem to better understand his points that he was trying to get across to me. (more…)
Kenn Kaufman at RTPI
Kenn Kaufman spent the evening talking to many guest and members of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute (RTPI) in Jamestown, New York. Kenn is the fourth author who has been invited to speak at the Distinguished Speaker Series at RTPI (funded through the Johnson Foundation). Kenn is best known as the author of the book Kingbird Highway and his Kaufman Focus Field Guides. Tonight was the official release date for his newest Focus Guide on the Insects of North America and it looks like a very useful guide for any nature enthusiast (I know its going in my library).
Grounded with no where to go!!
This morning a fellow employee came into the office saying “Tom, we have an injured bird in the snow!!” He told me how “a bird watcher found this bird and asked if he would go get some help”. I agreed to help out and while looking for a box; I started asking questions like “how big was it?”, “what was it doing” etc.. I quickly realized that the bird being described was probably a grebe species. I went down the hall and asked “Randy” a fellow naturalist to give me a hand with the bird. (more…)
Bird Feeders and Sleeping Birds
Yesterday I started feeding the birds again after the feral cat took the cardinal a few weeks ago. Rumors have it that the cat was seen about a mile + away from my house. I hope it lost some interested with my empty feeder and gets lost in the deep woods. I will keep my eye open for any cat tracks and if found again, I will stop feeding for a second time. I enjoyed seeing my feathered friends again during my lunch break. I was amazed that chickadees returned within minutes of placing the feeder back in its spot on the tree.
Bear Safty Education
Recently the park obtained a large, male, black bear from the Department of Environmental Conservation. The bear was killed out of season by a deer hunter who clamed that it attacked him. It was donated to the park for educational purposes. A taxidermist mounted the head and front paws, and prepared the skull. These are materials the park naturalists will use for the Bear Safety program. Bear Safety was added to the list of program offerings in an effort to educate campers to the dangers of feeding and getting close to bears. Bears in the park are used to people, and they seem tame. Even so, they are still potentially dangerous wild animals.
The right side of the skull of a big male black bear. The canine teeth (fangs) are normal. (more…)
Roger Tory Peterson Institute has a blog
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History has just taken a big step into the blog world. I was lucky to watch the development of this blog over the past few months and proud for the opportunity to announce this to my nature blogging friends!! So be sure to add this site to your blog roll (or RSS feed) or you might miss something essential to the study of nature!
If you’re not familiar with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute (RTPI), they have been named in honor of America’s preeminent naturalist of the twentieth century (Roger Tory Peterson)!! The Institute is based in Jamestown, NY which is also the birthplace of Dr. Peterson (and just around the corner from where I live). To hear more about the many programs, exhibits, special events or even their numerous collections, visit the blog at http://www.rtpi.org .
Turkey Banding
Today I helped the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) band Wild Turkeys here in Allegany State Park. What a perfect way to start the DEC and National Wild Turkey Federation’s second season by catching, banding and releasing 7 Turkeys. The DEC teams will continue to band birds across the New York State and collect information on our Wild Turkey populations.
I quickly headed down to the banding site after learning that I was given the ok to join the DEC team for the day. Once I arrived the crew had just finished setting everything up and it was now time to wait for the birds to show up. This was probably the coldest day of the year and I feel so sorry for that biologist who was stuck in that very cold blind waiting for their arrival. I decided to sit in my warm truck just down the road waiting for the his go-ahead that the birds have been caught and everything is clear.
I first found myself chatting with everyone ……. then trying to stay warm in the truck …… eating a little …… looking through the binoculars for any possible birds moving through…….. playing with the radio ……. turning on the heater again …….. playing with my cell phone …… and then a few hours later we got those 5 words that I can still remember!! “Radio silence we have birds!!” Did he just say that he can see birds out there? Everyone started to get excited and then we saw that very large pooof of smoke from the large rocket nets.
Supposedly this flock of Turkey arrived from the forest edge and then ran directly towards the cracked corn as if they were racing to see who would make it there first. It was only a matter of minutes until all the birds were on the target and the trigger was set off sending the rocket net directly over the birds. Quickly everyone at the waiting point took off in their trucks to assist in the banding of the captured Turkeys!!
For as many times that I have seen turkey up close, I found myself dumbfounded by how colorful they really are. Of course these colors can not be compared to the many songbirds that I band like the Yellow Warblers, Scarlet Tanagers or even the Indio Buntings!! But for an ugly bird like the Wild Turkey, they surely have such a spectacular blue, red coloring in their head and even those glossy green feathers on them just made me say “wow look at how beautiful they are”!!
Yes, let me tell you how hard it was to focus on preparing these birds for their removal from the net into their holding box. Each bird was banded one at a time with two metal bands placed around their legs. This allows each bird to be tracked individually like I do with my owls and songbirds.
To my excitement the team gave me an opportunity to band my very first Turkey with one of their bands!! As most know, I am currently a federal and state permitted licensed bird bander and I have handled hundreds of species of birds. My permits specifically say “all species except hummingbirds, gamebirds and endangered species. Wild Turkey are considered game birds and I know that I could have never dreamed of having an opportunity to band such a unique bird like the turkey. No doubt that I soaked up every second of the day and took a bazillion pictures.
We released these amazingly large birds as one group so that the flock would stay together (see me on the far left)!! There is no doubt that each one of these birds looked like flying bowling balls trying to make their quick getaway! This is just another winter day for a naturalist here in Allegany State Park.
Waterfowl Survey
Today I participated in the NYS DEC / NYSOA annual waterfowl survey. Each January a quarter of a million ducks are counted across New York State by bird clubs, state officials and your average birder. While out looking for ducks, we also participated in the National Winter Bald Eagle Survey that is conducted at the same time each year. The results of these two surveys will help determine the long-term monitoring of waterfowl and Eagle populations within New York State during the winter months.
Today was our target date for the waterfowl survey and the weather man wasn’t predicting the best of weather. There were predictions of freezing rain and lucky the whole morning the temps stayed above 36° F. But, we did have continued rain the whole day which made visibility extremely tough (and not great photos). I felt that the Eagles and Ducks were tucked in very tightly which resulted in our need to work harder in finding great birds.
|
2006 |
2007 |
|
| Bald Eagle |
8 |
1 |
| Canada Goose |
125 |
185 |
| Mallard |
89 |
96 |
| Black Duck |
7 |
3 |
| Common Merganser |
26 |
46 |
| Hooded Merganser |
2 |
3 |
| Bufflehead |
2 |
|
| Common Goldeneye |
|
1 |
| Long-tailed Duck |
|
1 |
| TOTAL DUCKS |
259 |
336 |
We had a total of 29 species observed (except Tim & Mike who heard a Titmouse which I missed because I was a little behind arriving). Highlights included the Northern Shrike (see photo below), Common Raven (displaying), American Coot, Long-tailed Duck and Common Goldeneye.
I am off to bed after this long day making me totally exhausted.
Can birds learn?
Now you can officially accuse me of bring my nature studies into the office!! It started two summers ago when I placed a hummingbird feeder just outside my office window. Quickly these little green birdies started dazzling everyone by there charm and beauty. You never knew when someone was just outside my window taking pictures or video taping the 10 or so hummingbirds fighting for that perfect perch. Ultimately good things always come to an end and this happened when the hummingbirds decided to make their migration south for the winter. 
I found myself with a desire to bring nature back to the office again. Sunflower seeds were an excellent tool for inviting these birds back to my office and keeping me entertained. Birds like the Black-capped Chickadee, American Goldfinch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse and Dark Eyed Junco are now regular visitors of mine. But, who would have expected birds like the Pine Siskin, Downy Woodpecker or even the Purple Finch to make numerous occurrences in my office window! Last year I even had friends from Buffalo make the hour trip south for the “possibility” of seeing an Evening Grosbeaks in my office window!!
You wonder how these unusual visitors are able to learn where I have placed a small pile of sunflower seeds in an unusual location like a window frame on the 2nd floor? Well, those nosy chickadees arrived within the first day and probably were investigating the disappearance of the hummingbird feeders (they must have known that this was a bird friendly window). Other species started visiting the window after learning that somewhere these chickadees were getting sunflower seeds. The learning process didn’t stop here; believe me when I tell you it continues.
Towards the end of the season last year I started to hear some knocking sounds. I turned around and found this White-breasted Nuthatch doing something that I have never seen before.
The nuthatch would grab a seed and bring it over to the edge of the window. Then it would place it between the metal frame and wooded base of the window and …..
put its full body into cracking open the seed!!
After a few hits the nuthatch would pull the seed out and continue the process all over again (or until the bird got sick of having my face 2 feet from the window watching)! If the seed fell out, the nuthatch would drop instantly down (see its position) to catch the seed in mid air!!
Now, I would call this very clever of this nuthatch to have figured out how to crack open these seeds. Quickly those nosy chickadees learned that this nuthatch would leave leftovers in the frame which were already shelled from the seed. Soon those curious chickadee were also giving the window thing a try.
This year for the first time the Downy Woodpeckers started visiting the window!! Not one but I have identified three different individuals coming to my window (how do I know three?? One female was banded by me, another female is bandless and there is a bandless male coming around)!!
As you probably expected, these Downy Woodpeckers have also learned how to crack open their seeds from their “birding” piers!! I can’t help but visualizing that these birds had to sit in a class room (taught by the ovenbird) on “how to crack open a seed in Tom’s window”!! So, learning is something done by not only humans but by birds also! I would love to hear how others have noticed birds learning!!
Goofy Weather Goofy Animals
This year the El Niño weather in New York State has made this the most unusual winter than I can ever remember. It almost feels like a roller coaster with temperatures last week above average, this week average and then soon to be above average again next week. I have never experienced anything like this before and have started to wonder what effects this could have on our local animals?
You wouldn’t think that warm temperatures in January could affect our local butterfly communities this summer. Take a caterpillar that hatches from an egg in the early spring and takes advantage of the spring wildflowers, tree buds or even early leaf development. After constant warm temperatures in January the caterpillars could emerge extra early and now starve from not finding enough food. Numbers for that population could drop drastically overnight and take it numerous years before the population returns back to normal. Looking one step further, this could affect the migrant birds searching for food on their journey north, etc….
The Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) will winter in underground caves, sometimes hundreds of miles away from their nursery colonies. These nursery colonies are typically in buildings, hollow trees or even in bat boxes (which we have placed here in Allegany). While hibernating they will wake up every few weeks and fly around when warm near their wintering cave. So, how is this weather affecting Little Brown Bats?? Last Thursday I was asked to move this Little Brown who found itself in an unwanted location. We rarely find them in this area of the park until March at the earliest and I never expected to find this species here in January. They should be further south in Pennsylvania, but with warmer temperatures this year; they are able to survive closer to their nursery locations than they could in previous years. This could benefit the bats if temperatures stay good but if we get a cold spell it might make it harder for them to survive?? At this point it is hard to tell!
Photo by flickr friend annkelliott so please be sure to visit her photostream! Thanks for permission to use this picture!
In the northern latitudes the Long-tailed Weasel will go through a color change from its basic brown with (whitish – yellow) on its belly to its alternate color phase of all white except a little black tip on its tail. Annkelliott told me this interesting fact when I emailed her for permission to use her picture. She said “I found it interesting to read that the reason the Long-tailed Weasel has a black tip on its tail is so that for example, a hawk, would see the dark tip and grab that instead of the body, allowing the Weasel to escape”. With that in mind, you have these bright white weasels running around with no snow on the ground!! Predators like hawks, owls or even the fox can now easily see this prey from a good distance and reduce its chances for survival.
Good or bad the El Niño year is part of the life cycle and animals have survived years like this before! While some species are benefiting from the warmer temperatures; some could have their cycle disrupted and lose their life. Currently we are under a snow advisory with 6 inches of snow expected tonight. I can’t believe that just last week the average low temperature was 33°F and the average high was 49.6°F.
St Bonaventure Christmas Bird Count
This Black-capped Chickadee is counting its seeds at the feeder! Tomorrow I will be counting the birds during the 107th Christmas Bird Count in the Saint Bonaventure circle here in Cattaraugus County, NY. I have been doing this circle since 1994 and been doing section 3 for the past 8 maybe 9 years now. After the count we all have dinner together to discuss who had the best birds of the day.
If you would like to participate in a count near you, please visit this “Audubon CBC” site. Stay tuned to hear what birds we end up finding in this circle.
Upper Allegheny Basin Workshop
Recently I have been involved in a two day workshop sponsored by the Nature Conservancy and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. They have brought together many scientist, universities, governmental partners and natural resource professionals to assist in putting together an in depth conservation plan for the Upper Allegheny River Basin.
This was the second of four workshops scheduled for completing this plan. This workshop was focused on establishing the threats of the Upper Allegheny Basin. Back in April 2006, they had their first workshop and kicked everything off by bringing everyone together for the Allegheny Biodiversity Symposium. I presented an oral paper on the Changing Butterfly Fauna in Allegany State Park and one of 50 papers/posters presented that day. I felt honored to be involved in this important long-term conservation plan for the Allegheny River System and can’t wait to see the finished product.
North America Marsupial
Wednesday evening while returning from the Bill Thompson III talk, we came across an Opossum (Didelphis marsupialis) near where I had my truck parked in Allegany State Park, NY. Those red reflected eyes from the vehicle are unmistakable. After being skunked (not getting a good photo) of the skunk last month, I wanted to approach this little critter from a different angle. It started to run away as I approached and I did my very best to get between the goldenrod field and the Opossum. Everything happened so quickly but what I do remember is that it froze in place as if I couldn’t see it! No doubt that it played possum on me which is where it probably got its name. Opossum isn’t spelled how you expect it to be spelled, so I always call it the O’ possum.
Slowly – I moved closer and it allowed me to capture these pictures! You could tell that it was looking out the side of its eye, as if to wonder “what was the proper second for it to bolt away”! Moments later this gray mammal took advantage of me trying to get that close look and took off in a blink of an eye! I do remember looking at their funny feet and almost hairless tail. They can use this tail for assistance in climbing and on occasion hang upside down in a tree by their tail only.
As most know the Opossum is a members of the marsupial family (same family as the Kangaroo). They are unique mammal because the female carries their undeveloped young in an external abdominal pouch. I have seen an Opossum once around the feeder where the female was carrying around ~10 little ones. Those cute (yes I said cute) little ones quickly disappeared once I shined the flashlight on her (going into the pouch around the sides of her) and then she snarled at me. I quickly backed off realizing what I just witnessed.
You need to be very careful around the Opossum because they have very sharp teeth and will bite if they are threatened. What is unique is that they have more teeth than any other mammal in New York State (with 50 teeth total, 26 upper and 24 lower). They have a very large distribution across the east coast from the Great Lakes down to the tropics and South America. They typically live in hollow trees but on occasion are found under porches or even living in woodchuck holes.
The Opossum will leave little evidence that they in an area and are solely nocturnal. The males are more nomadic than the females and both just wonder around the woods/wetlands. They are omnivores and will eat nearly anything they can. Majority of their diet is smaller animals like insects, mice and even ground nesting birds (eggs, chicks).
I truly enjoyed getting this close encounter with this funny looking O’ possum last Wednesday. If you ever encounter this cat sized critter, please appreciate how unique it really is and get a good look of it. I promise it will be something that will remember for a long time.
Facts taken from: Jackson, Hartley H. T., 1961. Mammals of Wisconsin The University of Wisconsin Press. pp17 -25
The End of a Good Season
This year the Allegany State Park (Northern Saw-whet Owl) Banding Station was open for 28 nights and we captured 40 individuals with 49 total NSWO captures. We do not catch the large numbers like what the big migration sites catch but the numbers this season was significantly better than the previous two years. We caught an additional Barred Owl and Eastern Screech Owl during the project with the unexpected captures of some Northern Flying Squirrel, a Northern Long-eared Bat and then a White-tailed Deer which run through one of the nets.
A NSWO just after being released.
The percentage of captured males / female / unknown sex were fairly consistent with the previous year’s numbers. We also found similar consistency with hatch year and after hatch year birds. There was a significant increase of birds per 100 net hours and our capture numbers were also increased due to two big migration nights. On 26th October we had a 10 bird night with 3 additional birds returning to the mist net that same evening. The next big night was on the 10th of November with 9 new captures, 2 recaptures from the 26 th of October and one same night recapture. The birds who returned 15 days later both lost weight during their stopover.
|
|
Captured Individuals |
% Male |
% Female |
% Unknown Sex |
% Hatch Year |
% After Hatch Year |
Birds per 100 nethours |
|
2004 |
13 |
8 |
77 |
15 |
31 |
69 |
4.03 |
|
2005 |
26 |
12 |
69 |
19 |
58 |
38 |
2.87 |
|
2006 |
40 |
10 |
70 |
20 |
60 |
40 |
5.25 |
Part of being involved with Project Owlnet is the ability to network and share everyone’s knowledge with other Northern Saw-whet Owl Banders across North America. We are able to look for unique differences or similarities throughout each of the stations by using similar protocols. The obvious observations this year across the East Coast were that the Northern Saw-whet Owls were a week or two behind in their movement south. I have a strong suspicion that many of those birds had a longer stopover here in the Western New York area (as reported by my two 15 day recaptures). This season our last capture date was on the 24th of November which was 12 days after our 2005 late date. I have to agree with my fellow banders that these birds were behind in their movement south.
This picture is of a NSWO caught in the mist net.
On occasion we capture foreign owls originally banded by another bander. After reporting these finds to the Bird Banding Lab the Project Owlnet will sometimes assist in quickly connecting your wonderful find with the original bander. This season we were able to capture 3 foreign recaptured birds. We learned that 2 of the birds were originally banded in Ontario Canada and the 3rd owl had not been reported to the Banding Lab yet. I have a strong suspicion that this bird also came from Ontario Canada (time will tell).
A foreign recaptured NSWO (after second year) with a unique wing molt pattern
I would like to thank my banding assistant Jordon and numerous other volunteers which assisted me with the banding operations. It is with their help which keeps this station in operation and keep me entertained after my many long hours of sleepless nights. The season is being scheduled to start again October 1st, 2007 for Fall Migration here in Allegany State Park. I have to work out the detail but I would love to give Lake Erie State Park a try for Spring Migration. Please return to the blog to see any updates on my visits to the numerous Saw-whet Owl boxes which were placed by some Eagles Scouts last summer and any summer breeding pairs located!
Learning about Animal Sounds
This evening at the Roger Tory Peterson Ornithological Club, we had Greg Budney present a program on Animal Sounds. Greg is the Director of the Sound Collections from the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Don’t expect the Macaulay Library to be your typical library because they have very few books on their shelves! They have the largest archive of animal sounds and associated video located anywhere in the world. You can find the natural behavior/vocalizations from the large whale to your local tiny leaf hopper. They have a very long hisotry of inventorying from way back when the lab first originated.
I had an opportunity to visit the library back in 1997 when working on some studies with post nesting vocalizations of the Veery. The staff was extremely helpful with our numerous goofball questions and they gave us a wonderful tour of their facilities (3 years ago they moved into a new building). After leaving the Library, we felt more confident in capturing the needed data for the project but funding never became available and we only collected some preliminary data for the project!
Greg Budney’s program this evening didn’t consist of any slides or pictures but we solely used our ears for this program. He played some sounds from animal that are commonly heard in movies to very low frequencies of the alligator which show vibrations of water before hearing the sound. We learned how researchers use these sounds for endangered species and discovered how insects use vibrations for communications. Best part of the program was learning what a researcher accidentally hitting another research’s head with a paddle (waking them up) sounds like over the microphone. Greg was a wonderful speaker and he helped remind me how important it is to use our ears while out in the field. While leaving the Roger Tory Peterson Institute we heard a Spring Peepers vocalizing behind the building (Linda and a few others at the meeting talked about hearing these guys squeaking, glad to have heard them also).
Do visit the Macaulay Library free online Animal Behavior Archive website.
fun two owl species night!
We caught and banded two different species of owls last night. Since this project is about studying the migration of the Northern Saw-whet Owls, we obviously did catch one of these fuzz balls. If you would have told me a month ago that I would still be catching so many of these owls this late in the season, I would have just shook my head and smiled. Once again, there is still a great deal that needs to be learned about these owls! About 10-15 years ago we didn’t even know that Saw-whet Owls migrated, yet alone realize how common they really are.
Didn’t I mention that I caught two different species of owls?? Sometimes you “JUST” have a feeling that there are birds around. I had this “feeling” on my midnight check last night. I walked to the end of the nets – with no owls. Turned around and started walking back with a larger bird which I spooked and it flew right into the nets. With my mind started thinking quickly, “no way is that a saw-whet”, then “could it be a Long-eared Owl”??. Ok, I did hear one in 2004 vocalizing around the nets but someday my dream might come true that we’ll catch one! This time it was the turn of the Eastern Screech Owl (gray phase). Although they are commonly heard around the house, I have never heard one vocalizing way up the hill where the nets are located. This was an absolute surprise and a first for the project. I do hope in the future that these birds decided to use my nest boxes that I have placed back behind the house. It has been 3 years now and I probably should choose a better location which would be less interesting to the starlings.
Screech Owls do come in two color phases. The gray phase is the most common color phases but on occasion, we do encounter the red phase. About two weeks ago; one of the maintenance guys (for the museum) brought me a dead red phase which was located along the road here in Red House. They said they had a small brown owl and my first thought was “Saw-whet”! But this bird did turn out being my first red phased Eastern Screech Owl that I have encountered here in the park in a very long time. It was a sad find but also an interesting find.
Winds are picking up this evening and I plan on staying open as long as possible without having to close. I do anticipate this might be my last evening unless the weather man is wrong with his predictions for the rest of the week. Winds are picking up, bad weather is approaching quickly and the moon will be getting brighter and higher in the sky every night. It has been a wonderful season and it is very sad that this will be coming to the end soon. When I do finally call it quits, I will give an overall summery for everyone to read. Wish me luck tonight!
Thanksgiving Day
Today I had a wonderful day off going for a long hike and having Thanksgiving dinner over at my parent’s house. I did make it back from Thanksgiving dinner to open the mist nets on time. Three more Northern Saw-whet Owls were caught this evening with perfect light NE (becoming northern) winds coming from the nor’easter moving up the east coast.
This might sound strange but I was excited to see a Porcupine walking down the middle of the trail during my second net check. After living here for 3 years, this is the first Porcupine that I have encountered around the house! Although, they are extremely common throughout the park; I believe the absences of the Porcupines in this area is due to a Fisher that has become more numerous over the past few years. They live in trees and are specialized in flipping over Porcupines without getting injured from their quills. Tracks were first observed in this area around 2001 and this summer we were able to spotlight one while it was calling around midnight. This helped me confirm those unusual vocalizations which have been keeping me awake in the late hours of the night. I even chased one through the picnic grounds, through a wetland and up into a pine plantation about 5-5:30am trying to get a photo of this critter (without any luck). The presents of this Porcupine has to be a sign that the balance between the Fisher and Porcupines must be good and those unusual sounds will continue many more nights next summer.
This is a little off track but I needed to include this in tonight’s blog!! One of the neighbors had Thanksgiving dinner over at their house and their family wanted to see me band one of the owls that I caught! So, a few of them came over to the house and I started doing a mini banding demonstration. Moments later one of their cell phones started to go off with “get over here right now, your stove is smoking!!”. Good thing they did, they opened the oven with a fire extinguisher in hand and there were large flames coming out! Although the house filled up with smoke, no one was injured and the fire was put out before anything got worse. I have a feeling he spent the night cleaning up after the fire extinguisher and smoke!
I hope your evening wasn’t as eventful and you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Another frost night brings in the birds!
Can you believe it; I caught two more Northern Saw-whet Owls tonight. One was what we call a hatch year bird (born this summer and the other was a foreign recaptured bird (originally banded by someone else). The Bird Banding Lab didn’t have any data on the recaptured bird, so it will be a little while until I learn where it originated.
Weather looks good for the next few nights; I plan on continuing the project until the Owls stop moving or weather forces me to close! Working around the holiday will be hard but I will make it happen (somehow). Ugg!! Winds should be too perfect not to open!
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 