Leaf Lovers
Welcome to October! It is a wonderful month of the year for the leaf lovers among us, and one of the crew is certainly the Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla). These little warblers prefer to stay on the forest floor among the dead leaves that have now started to fall. I was very grateful for such an uncommonly sensational look at the loud but typically unseen species earlier this year. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreScott Shalaway – Nature Writer and Bird Biologist – to Visit RTPI
Scott Shalaway, Ph.D. is a certified wildlife biologist, ornithologist, birder, and nature writer. He holds degrees in entomology (University of Delaware), biology (Northern Arizona University), and wildlife ecology (Michigan State). Shalaway has written a weekly nature column for newspapers (including Jamestown’s Post-Journal where it appears every Saturday) since 1986, and has hosted a weekly nature-themed radio show entitled Birds and Nature since 1992. On Wednesday, September 27th, Shalaway will be in the Jamestown area to deliver a series of nature-themed programs. At 7pm, Shalaway...
Read MoreField Sparrow
Chautauqua County certainly has an abundance of old farm fields, but we should be hearing more Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla), and other grassland birds, singing in the fields and other open areas across our region. The prairie habitat that once covered our landscape is long gone, but old, overgrown fields and hay fields provide a decent substitute for grassland birds. Even though their substitute habitat provides most of what these animals need, management practices can be challenges for them. Timing the mowing of these fields is important to protect nesting birds, and cutting in early...
Read MoreWildLife Guards Alumni Leading
RTPI teamed up with Audubon Connecticut and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut to run the 2015 and 2016 WildLife Guards program. We have expanded the very successful initiative to include the City of West Haven at the Sandy Point Important Bird Area in 2017. Both teams of WildLife Guards have been hard at work monitoring nesting birds and conducting stewardship concerning our beaches and ecosystems. Our crews do everything from removing invasive plants to learning about our local dragonfly populations, staying engaged in education, conservation and advocacy five days a week. We reach...
Read MoreAmerican Redstart Changing into Fall Plumage
Many of our migratory birds are on their second or third brood for the season already and slowly are starting to prepare for their journey south. Most flashy warblers molt out of their brightly colored breeding plumage in the next few weeks and will start migration once all flight feathers are grown in to the point that they can safely sustain their long journey. Although we have not quite reached Roger Tory Peterson’s notorious “Confusing Fall Warblers” level of alternate plumage yet, the first signs are here. Even though this male American Redstart still displays its characteristic black...
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