Flicker Feather
This feather is another find from exploring the outdoors this weekend with my dog Zach. The number of birds with long yellow feathers around in the autumn or winter seasons is relatively short, and it looks like a Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus). Roger Tory Peterson saw this brilliant flash of gold in a flicker’s wings and it helped inspire him to change the world. What always makes me use my imagination is thinking about seeing a deep red explosion coming from a Northern Flicker bursting from the ground. The red-shafted forms fill the American west, and someday I hope to go see...
Read MoreAmerican Coots
A species such as these American Coot (Fulica americana) entered January finally having to find some open water as the freezing line has penetrated regions like Chautauqua County, quickly locking up the open water of small ponds and waterways. While Lake Erie can still provide a comfortable spot for many waterfowl this winter others will migrate south to the Atlantic Coast and warmer shoreline quarters. These American Coots are actually in the rail family and more closely related to Sandhill Cranes than their duck friends, and if you have ever seen their legs and feet out of the water then...
Read MoreFighting Osprey
I recently came across this old image of mine and had to share the story with everyone. RTPI President Twan Leenders and I captured this injured female Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) on June 28, 2010 after she was reported by concerned citizens as unable to fly on Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Pleasure Beach near her nest site. She had dislocated her left shoulder when being battered by a tornadic supercell thunderstorm a couple days earlier. The storm moved over the barrier beach after a tornado had touched down in the city minutes earlier. She was successfully rehabilitated and later...
Read MoreRed-bellied Woodpecker
Over the course of Roger Tory Peterson’s lifetime the Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) pushed its typical range much further north, moving into his homes in Jamestown, New York and Old Lyme, Connecticut. This was likely due to a combination of climate change, agricultural areas and grasslands being allowed to mature into woodlands, and humans spreading into suburbs creating additional favorable habitat and feeding birds year-round in their yards. The species can now commonly be found in both of Roger’s favorite locations. This bird is a male, showing his red forehead...
Read MoreTurkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
Here’s a Halloween-themed sight! Non-hawk watchers often ask me, “How do you know if a Turkey Vulture is migrating?” instead of it soaring around looking for a meal. Even this photo can help explain that to some degree. Most folks, even non-birders, can picture a Turkey Vulture in the sky with wings extended, held straight, in a dihedral – wings angled above horizontal. Sometimes this is dramatic and the bird looks like it is making a V. However, if this photo was a silhouette you may think Osprey before anything else. Turkey Vultures on the move at lofty heights,...
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