Smoke and fire
Fall foliage can take on so many appearances, especially when combined with the sky above us. This scene has a look of fire and smoke as the leaves continue to change and the sky fills with lake effect clouds in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region while temperatures continue to drop. Autumn has arrived. Be sure you make the time to get outside to enjoy it because it does not last long.
Read MorePlease use eBird!
Are you using eBird? If you are logging all of your bird sightings there, helping scientists around the world via personal observations, fantastic – please share and recommend it to a friend! If not check it out yourself and sign up. It’s fast, easy, and free, and you’ll soon be addicted to entering all of your birds. You’ll have your own data stored forever alongside that of millions of others allowing us to better understand and help global avian populations. We especially need more citizen scientists filling in the blanks here in the Chautauqua-Allegheny...
Read MoreAmerican Redstart
Adult male American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla) like this one are such a symbol for the season to me. Yes, I can hear their spring song in my mind, especially after seeing so very many in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region this year. Nevertheless, they were usually one of the first and most obvious migrants I saw in late August and September each year when I was a beginning birder, getting me excited for a busy fall migration. Their Halloween tone around the beautifully decaying vegetation helps, too.
Read MoreTimber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus)
Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) earlier today. More to come on this spectacular species…
Read MoreMore thunderstorms and flooding
I would say “another day, another thunderstorm” but we get multiple events in a matter of hours lately. We’re well past water capacity in a number of areas in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region as flood advisories and flash flood warnings are already posted in places getting even more heavy rain now. Lightning is flashing intermittently as I type this. Stubborn and “stuck” patterns are becoming more and more common thanks to climate change and our jet stream. We need a trough in the west and a ridge in the east soon please. Be safe out there and remember…turn...
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