Tree Swallow
Happy Easter! This Tree Swallow is one of many returning individuals migrating north this March, heading back to your yard or patch for the spring nesting season. I thought I would show you this bird from last week instead of showing you some eggs from past years and remind everyone to clean out their boxes now! Birds will be pairing up and starting to build those nests next month. After a cool start to April the long-term forecasts for spring look very warm, and there will be plenty of bugs for these birds to eat. Don’t forget to help them out with the spring cleaning… Scott...
Read MoreBrown Creeper
Brown Creepers must be the winner in the category of “most calm, friendly and tame birds that are yet the most difficult to get a good photo of” because they stay glued to the tree bark and rarely stop moving, spiraling up and down the trunk. They examine every crevice they can for any small insects or spiders, locking those big feet on the bark and staying steady with their long tail, using that large curved bill to snag their snack. I have plenty of semi-blurry photos of the species and even more that are too dark or obstructed. Today I took out my camera to photograph a few of...
Read MoreSo Far So Good
So far we have monitored five sites of interest within Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties in search of new infestations of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. For the third year in a row, all of our sites still appear to be HWA free, and are full of healthy trees that support beautiful ecosystems. This past week in particular, we monitored South Valley State Forest and learned from a local volunteer that the streams running through it are excellent trout streams. Thanks to the shade the hemlocks provide, these streams stay cool and therefore highly oxygenated for trout and other species within the...
Read MoreEastern Phoebe
Here is a Throwback Thursday to a little more color! I photographed this Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) around a month ago with the fall foliage still just beginning to change. It will be a while before we see that sort of green background again, but these birds could have stayed here for longer than usual with all the insects we still have in the air thanks to continued warmth. You never know, some may still be here…check out any hotspots, literally, and you could find some very late birds. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreLate Eastern Kingbirds
These Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) are running a bit behind schedule, and September 30 is now the latest sighting of the species I have had in Connecticut. These photos are of two continuing birds at Stratford Point, the first two shots of the same individual taken against the blue sky on September 28, and the other two being one of each while viewed simultaneously after a cold frontal passage today on September 30. My previous late date was September 19, 2011 at the Boothe Park Hawk Watch. Fortunately for these birds it has been an extremely and historically warm September, but...
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