The Release of some Ring-necked Pheasants
Today we released a few dozen Ring-necked Pheasants for an early kids hunt scheduled for this Saturday. They have such stunning colors that I had to take a few photos of them. The big release will be next week before the official start of the season. Read the rest of this page »
Glow Worm (Lighting Bug Larva)
Last night (9th October) was another successful evening with my Northern Saw-whet Owl Banding Project here in Allegany State Park. I opened the nets just after dusk and then headed out for my first net check at 8pm. I had hoped for some owls but was more dazzled by the number of lighting bug (or firefly) larva that I found moving along the ground. Read the rest of this page »
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Yeah! I finally caught not just one but two fluff balls last night (8 October 2007)! I have had the Northern Saw-whet Owl banding station open here in Allegany State Park since the 30th of September and was starting to wonder “where are they”!! This isn’t my latest dates but it was very close to it! Back in 2004 when I first started banding Saw-whets . . . . I caught my first bird on the 9th of October and was my first night “ever” trying to catch any! Then in 2005 we caught our first one on the 3rd of October and last year (2006) we caught one on the 1st of October. It has been promising to know that other local (Western New Yorkers and North Western Pennsylvanian) Saw-wheters also have been behind in catching these guys. Read the rest of this page »
Phoebe lying Around
Holiday’s are for lying around and that is exactly what I did. I took “2” naps today and they were very much needed after being skunked once again last night (with Saw-whet Owls)!! My first bird will arrive one of these days and just maybe it will happen “tonight”?? Although, it is good to know that another fellow Western New Yorker that lives about an hour (North) from here also hasn’t caught anything (well as of this weekend)! Read the rest of this page »
Peregrine Falcon at Iroquois
This weekend I attended the New York State Ornithological Association Annual Meeting in Batavia, New York. This meeting was hosted by the Buffalo Ornithological Society and I would like to say “thanks” for doing such an astonishing job organizing everything. You guessed it . . . . I had a LIFER this weekend!! Read the rest of this page »
My wonderful hotel stay at 11pm in the evening!
. . . . the Holiday Inn has the fire alarms go off. Hello Mr. Manager . . . . “this is a Birding Conference . . . . we birders wake up extra early in the morning to look for the birds!” Now I am too awake to fall back to sleep, so as you can see I am helping promote the wonderful things you will find when visiting a Holiday Inn around 11pm at night. Please make this your first choice of a hotel to stay at because your safety is our number one priority! Did I mention that it was only a false alarm and couldn’t turn the alarms off till the fire trucks arrive? They sure know how to do wake up calls to the whole building! Read the rest of this page »
Foggy Morning at Red House Lake
I am not banding Saw-whet Owls this weekend because I am out of town at the New York Ornithological Association conference. It should be a good birding weekend and will post more once I return (or sooner if I get some time to write/edit during the conference).
Do you really want a closer look?
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Today I headed over to a local elementary school and did a mini banding demo for some 2nd and 3rd graders. This was a very fun day with 30+ kids who were excited about birds and I was sooo happy to catch a Rose-breasted Grosbeak for them. This is a hatch year (born this year) Rose-breasted Grosbeak who is in its basic (winter) plumage. The red/yellow on the under wing coverts is the easiest way to determine the sex of the bird. Males have red and females have the yellow on their under wing covert. I just love the berry mess on this birds bill. Read the rest of this page »
What an evening!
The goal of my Northern Saw-whet Owl project is catching Saw-whets! But, in order to make that happen . . . . you sometimes have a few obstacles to work around. The video above was the Barred Owl who spent a great deal of the evening vocalizing around the nets. Hello Mr. Barred Owl . . . You are not helping me!! Go fly somewhere else!! Read the rest of this page »
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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