Downy Woodpecker
As I speculated a few days ago, this is now the time when you will be finding more birds at your feeders – like this Downy Woodpecker. It goes beyond the ground being frozen, ice covering some food sources, or snow blanketing everything. While it is harder to literally feed, it is also much colder now, and the birds need many more calories in order to survive. A lot of people were inquiring about why their feeders were so quiet towards the end of 2015, and I think it was certainly related to the fact that we had some days with temperatures in the 60s and 70s across the region and...
Read MoreCozy Climate
As the snow falls across Chautauqua County and Western New York let us take a moment to remember when it was not a frigid arctic tundra and birds were singing, flowers blooming, and so forth…a few weeks ago. Those species that are expanding their range and trying to conquer new territory to the north as climate change makes it feasible are in for a rude awakening this week. Birds like this Northern Mockingbird or the Carolina Wren might have been living it up recently, feeding on anything they like in warm and mostly snow-free conditions. Now they will be in deep trouble, struggling to...
Read MoreWhere Are They?!
We have now entered December, and though we lack the truly cold air that the month and the beginning of meteorological winter can sometimes bring, we are cooling down and birds are still moving south. Regular arrivals spanning the spectrum from the American Tree Sparrows of our backyards to the Tundra Swans of Chautauqua Lake are joining us now. Where are we with the irruptive avian species so far this season across the Northeast and Midwest? I went through eBird maps this morning to find that out, and let’s start with the big name… The Snowy Owls started their annual southbound...
Read MoreRed Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
This Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) is a “vixen” (female), and the only reason I know that is because she is a dear old friend. The Red Fox pair who breed on the Stratford Point property are well known to us, and we are well known to them. The male, usually called a “dog”, has a scar on his face and a damaged eye. They are intelligent and inquisitive creatures, and they do learn a little about who is around them frequently and whether or not they are a threat. In this case she was very sleepy and sunning as she snoozed, making her all the more relaxed around me in her drowsy...
Read MoreProject Wild America Youth Ambassadors: Chadakoin River
During 2015, the Roger Tory Peterson Institute launched its Project Wild America Youth Ambassadors program employing six high school students and two college aged students. Throughout the course of the summer months, the PWA students worked alongside RTPI conservation staff to evaluate the Chadakoin River Corridor in the City of Jamestown. This urban river was found to be recovering from its long history of factory pollutants, channelization and overuse. It hosts a variety of flora and fauna including some that are quite rare within the state of New York. Species such as the Spiny Softshell...
Read More
