Surveying grassland birds
Here’s RTPI Conservation Technician Elyse Henshaw with JCC interns Kurt and Andrew in the wind and rain today working at the Chautauqua County Jamestown Airport looking for grassland birds and ground truthing point count locations. No matter the weather we’re outside now!
Read MoreSnowy Owl by Twan Leenders
Yesterday Twan found this Snowy Owl at the Chautauqua County Airport in Jamestown. It had been a while since we had one here and I have a feeling it will be an even longer while before we see one of these beauties around here again. Snowy Owls are on their way back north – hope it’ll be a safe journey for this bird.
Read MoreSnowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) by Twan Leenders
We have some Snowy Owls sticking around for the long haul, especially near water – even the mostly frozen Lake Erie. This Snowy was at the Chautauqua County/Dunkirk Airport on February 3, 2014 and beautifully photographed by Twan in some light snow. You can even see tiny flakes accumulating around its bright yellow eyes!
Read MoreHelp with winter raptor surveys!
The Roger Tory Peterson Institute and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation are teaming up to conduct wintering raptor surveys in Chautauqua County in 2014 and we need your help! The primary focus of these surveys is to determine where Short-eared Owls and Northern Harriers are spending the winter season to roost and feed. Western New York’s NYSDEC Region 9 is a large geographical area and we at RTPI volunteered our time to assist NYSDEC in covering this vast region. We are hoping some of Chautauqua County’s citizen scientists will also volunteer to help out...
Read MoreRough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) by Scott Kruitbosch
This light morph Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) was another fantastic raptor from the Jamestown Christmas Bird Count. I spotted it sitting on this pole before it flew off to a tree and then west. I do not believe any others were seen in our circle yesterday in the constant lake effect snow.
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