Piping Plover hatchling success
We at the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds are thrilled that this could be an enormous year for Piping Plovers successfully fledged in Connecticut. We may even near the all-time record high for the state! It’s been a great season already and it could be a historic one with continued hard work by our staff and volunteers and a little luck over the next month. Fingers crossed…
Read MoreMonarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
Yesterday I saw my first Monarch of the year…not a good sign to me considering how much time I have spent outside in New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut in the past few months. It was a migrant that did not pause. Here’s an old photo from a southbound fall migrant along the Connecticut coast where mere years ago you could count on seeing hundreds a day in some locations. We’ll see how 2014 turns out. Have you been fortunate enough to spot one yet?
Read MoreYellow-breasted Chats in New York
Earlier today I uploaded this video of a notorious skulker, the Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens), to our YouTube Channel. The bird was foraging for prey in dense brush and thickets. This behavior is typical of the often hidden species. While it is not necessarily shy – this individual feeling comfortable enough to feed as I filmed shows that much – it certainly knows how to stay out of sight for the most part. It made me ponder the current status of the species as a whole in Western New York and the surrounding region. Back in Connecticut I actually saw several...
Read MoreBird Fest 2014 day 2
The second day of RTPI’s Bird Fest 2014 took place on Saturday, June 7. The first day featured two excursions focused on wetlands and grasslands while this second day moved us to the forest and the escarpment. The morning trip was to Allegany State Park in Cattaraugus County led by Tim Baird, an exceptional birder and naturalist. It was another lovely day weather-wise in Western New York and the group got to enjoy a lot of warblers in the Red House Lake area. The most vocal and significant warbler was the Northern Parula, an intriguing find in terms of a nesting species as several pairs were...
Read MoreBird Fest 2014 day 1
This is the first of two blog posts on RTPI’s Bird Fest 2014 which took place on Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7. The first day featured two excursions focused on wetlands and grasslands. The wetlands stop took us to Akeley Swamp Important Bird Area just south of the New York-Pennsylvania border in Pine Grove Township, Warren County for a walk led by Don Watts. As you can see our morning fog lifted out and revealed a perfect June day. This afforded us a lot of good viewing opportunities and a chance to conduct rail callback surveys via my iPhone – we had Virginia Rails and a...
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