Female Cardinal
By: Pat Coate
Over Columbus Day weekend my husband and I visited our son in Durham, NC. I snuck out early on Sunday morning and spent a couple hours enjoying the Duke Gardens. There were lots of birds to see including these cardinals chowing down on this colorful, healthy breakfast.
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Today was the first day of frost up at the new house! This photo was
taken at Red House Lake this morning on my iPhone. Owl net not set up
yet. . . Hope to get that going ASAP!!
Uploaded Via my iPhone!
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By: Pat Coate
I drove out to Randolph this past Saturday and these are some of the scenes from my day. It was a rather dreary day but I found some sights to brighten it.
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Common Yellowthroat Warbler (female)
By: Pat Coate
During my visit to Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Midland, Ontario I ran into a very cooperative female common yellowthroat warbler. I had seen lots of common yellowthroats – mostly males – at Tom’s bird banding stations but had not really had more than a quick look at this bird in the ‘wild’. So it was nice to have an extended look.
Me with Franklin
I keep hearing from everyone “ PLEASE BLOG” . . . . “TOM you have not updated in forever”!! Ok . . . I love you guys also! Here is the skinny . . . I do plan to do Owls this Fall but it will not be in the park this year!! Yes . . . Patty and I purchased a new home!!! Just closed yesterday!!! Perfect for Owl Banding!!!
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Cedar Waxwing Pre-puff
By: Pat Coate
I love telecommuting and very happily spent the last two weeks on a working vacation up in the Muskoka Lakes region of Ontario. I spent a cool, rainy Labor Day visiting Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Midland. I had seen a tree full (~30) of cedar waxwings by Black Ash Pond early in the day but the lighting was tough for a decent picture. I checked back in the same area later in the day. This lone, inquisitive cedar waxwing landed fairly close so I decided to try a few shots despite continued tough lighting conditions. To my amusement, it “blew up” right in front of me. The pictures aren’t the greatest but it was a fun experience to see this sleek, attractive bird puff itself out in such dramatic fashion. Not sure if it was trying to warm itself or if it was a reaction to my presence but it didn’t stay puffed very long.
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Common Grackles (2010)
By: Pat Coate
From time to time we will see parents and fledglings coming to the feeder. It is always fun to watch their interactions and see the maternal/paternal instincts in action. The young ones are quite demanding and seem to unmercifully beg for food from the parent. In these two cases, the parents were accomodating.
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Broad-winged Hawk
By: Pat Coate
Last Sunday the Canyon Camera Club sponsored its 8th Annual Photographer’s Dream Day at the Mount Morris Dam & Visitor Center. There were tours of and views from the dam and a couple of great seminars on photography in Letchworth State Park presented by Gary & Phyllis Thompson of Image City Photography (Rochester). There were many different subjects to photograph, including antique autos and bikes, and people in costume – a bagpiper, Seneca Indian, Mary Jamison, pioneers.
My favorite subjects to photograph, however, were provided by Ron Walker of Friends with Feathers. Friends with Feathers is an organization whose stated mission is to educate the public about birds of prey. Mr. Walker had on hand a broad-winged hawk, barn owl and barred owl that for various reasons cannot be released. It was fun to see these birds up close and learn more about them. Tidbits of information from the Friends with Feathers website are shown below in quotes.
Marquette Golden Eagles
By: Pat Coate
We recently trekked out to Milwaukee to drop our daughter off at Marquette University. Situated on Lake Michigan, Milwaukee seems to be a vibrant city with an appealing waterfront offering biking/walking/jogging trails, parks, an art museum, Discovery World, ethnic and music festival sites. Milwaukee also offers a great variety of ethnic food and we enjoyed a Mexican restaurant, La Fuente, for dinner in the 9th (?) Ward.
The Marquette Golden Eagle was the most unique bird we saw. During our limited time along the waterfront, we only saw fairly common birds such as Canada geese, mallards, mixed flocks of swallows, ring-billed gulls, and pigeons. During our drive (near Crystal Lake, Illinois) we passed two groups of Sandhill cranes in the fields but not conveniently located for photo ops.
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Black-capped Chickadee
By: Pat Coate
Over the past couple of weeks, the chickadee count at our backyard feeder has increased and their busyness and calls greet me most mornings. They are the first to the feeder after a refill, often barely able to contain themselves while waiting for me to move the requisite few steps away. They don’t seem to require this distance for our dog, who is often right under the feeder while they grab a seed and retreat to the nearby maple tree.
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Welcome to the mon@rch nature blog and I hope you join us in some of our nature adventures through the Allegany State Park area!
I am a naturalist, field biologist and nature photographer from the Western New York area. I have started exploring nature writing through this blog and it truly has been fun sharing my numerous adventures with everyone. Thanks to the many other authors that help me with my post and they will be sharing some of their nature explorations.
I have always had a latent interest in birds and photography and have been lucky enough to find time to explore these interests over the last few years. I am very thankful to the Cattaraugus County Bird Club for getting me started, sharing their wealth of knowledge and for their wonderful programs. And many thanks to Tom for letting me share some of my adventures and photos on the Monarch Nature Blog.
Thank you for taking the time visiting and commenting on this blog.
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