Mon@rch's Nature Blog

Latest

SWAT END YEAR REPORT

Song Sparrow (most captured species)

I have finally gone through all of my 2007 SWAT MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) raw data this week. It has been hard trying to focus on this report with “other” new higher speed internet distractions that I have been having recently. Regarding the SWAT report: we had 6 banding sessions and able to capture a total of 164 different individuals with 34 same year recaptures. We used 8 (12 meter) polyester mist-nets and banded for 6 hours after the official sunrise time. That gave us a total of 198 captures for the station and we were very happy with the excellent year that we had. Even with the need to close the station early due to the Long-tailed Weasel that terrorizing us. We are not sure what we will do with next season (regarding the weasel) but we have all winter to figure something out. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by mon@rch | 17 August 2007 | Categories: Allegany State Park, Bird Banding, Birds, Flickr, Kids, Nature, Ornithology, Science, SWAT Station | Tags: checklist, discovery | 15 Comments

DUST BUNNIES AND CLEANING YOUR CAMERA

I love nature photography but when using a Digital SLR camera you quickly learn about Dust Bunnies. No they are not those cute little fuzzy creatures that I am normally blogging about or even those things you find in your belly button. They are very tiny particles of dust that somehow make it inside your camera and always find their way against your sensor. How apparent these dust spots are on your photo depends on the aperture setting that you are using with your camera. You can’t always photoshop these dust spots from the picture . . . . so their comes a time when you need to clean your camera sensor.

Dust Spots in the Photo. Click |HERE| to see the picture larger!

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by mon@rch | 16 August 2007 | Categories: Birds, Nature, photography | Tags: discovery | 22 Comments

A Day for Monarchs

a monarch pair doing . . . you know what they are doing!

Recently I have sought after changing my “custom header” to a new monarch picture! I have found it very hard to find that ideal snapshot due to the strange shape the header needs to be!! So, after work I was off to Red House Lake in search of some monarch butterflies!
Read the rest of this page »

Posted by mon@rch | 14 August 2007 | Categories: Allegany State Park, Blip.tv, bugs, Butterflies, Flickr, migration, Nature, video, Wildflowers | Tags: discovery, et al.., Fun, Hiking | 17 Comments

My Morning Alarm Clock

Ruby-throated Hummingbird!

When I lived in the city . . . . we typically had one, maybe two hummingbirds that regularly visited my feeder. Once I moved into a house in the woods; I quickly learned that the hummingbird feeders not only attract many hummingbirds but they also attract other critters (like bears). Three years ago I had a bear encounter that changed where I have placed my hummingbird feeder. Making the long story short; about 2am in the morning the bear destroyed the feeder, fell “threw” my screen window (was half into my house), broke the window frame and woke me up from a dead sleep. Now if I would like to feed the hummingbirds . . . . I need to place the feeder somewhere on the second floor (out of reach of the critters). The most convenient location was outside my bedroom window. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by mon@rch | 13 August 2007 | Categories: Birds, Blip.tv, Flickr, Nature, Ornithology, Science, video, Wildflowers | Tags: Birdfeeder, Birdfeeding, discovery | 37 Comments

BIRDING AND INTERNET

Solitary Sandpiper

Today I joined my friends Tim B. and Mike D. for a birding adventure for early shorebirds moving through the area. It was a beautiful sunny day but it seemed very quite with only a few songbirds vocalizing. Highlights were Solitary Sandpipers, Northern Harrier, flock of Kingbirds, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by mon@rch | 12 August 2007 | Categories: Birds, Blip.tv, Flickr, Nature, video | Tags: discovery, Fun, Hiking | 17 Comments

Back to Birding

ONE HUGE SCREAM!!

Things have been so hectic recently but I am starting to see everything getting back to normal! Work’s craziness is over, banding data has been going good and I don’t have many obligations for the next few months. My current goal is to get back to birding, nature photography and do some real writing here on this blog. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by mon@rch | 10 August 2007 | Categories: Allegany State Park, Birds, Blip.tv, Flickr, Nature, video | Tags: bird nest, Blogroll, discovery, Fun | 21 Comments

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

When it rains the Red-Efts come out!

Posted by mon@rch | 7 August 2007 | Categories: Allegany State Park, Flickr, Nature, Salamander | Tags: discovery, et al.., Hiking | 20 Comments

numbers and letters

data entry

If you don’t see me online for the next few days. . . . I will be going bug eyed entering many numbers and letters into two different databases! This is the part of bird banding that isn’t as much fun as being with the birds. I will try to take some breaks to see what everyone is up to this week!

Posted by mon@rch | 5 August 2007 | Categories: Bird Banding, Birds, CLDC Station, Nature, Ornithology, SWAT Station | Tags: checklist | 15 Comments

Last CLDC MAPS Session

A recaptured Common Yellowthroat who remembers me from last year.

Today was our last CLDC MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) banding session for the 2007 season! This was such a wonderful year and I can’t wait to enter all my data into the computer to learn how this season compared with other years. I promise in the near future that I will do a summary for both CLDC and SWAT banding station. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by mon@rch | 4 August 2007 | Categories: Bird Banding, Birds, CLDC Station, Kids, Nature, Ornithology, Science | Tags: discovery, Fun | 13 Comments