Red-bellied Woodpecker
This is one gorgeous bird! It is a male Red-bellied Woodpecker enjoying the warmth of this December weekend, soaking in some sun between feeding on acorns and all sorts of natural food – which seems to be in abundance this season. Between the temperatures in this wonderfully warm stretch of weather and the varied menu to select from it is easy to see why species like this one are able to make a push further north to expand their range. The last two frigid years were an exception to the new warmer-than-average rule, and this incredible positive temperature departure is really going to...
Read MoreNorthern Cardinal
Here’s a female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) enjoying another lovely November day during what was one of the warmest meteorological autumns (September, October and November) on record for our region. We often forget the familiar backyard species is another bird expanding their range northward, using the changing climate, regrowth of woodlands and expansion of suburban yard and bird feeders to their advantage in the Northeast. They do look so wonderful against a snow cover, but we may have to wait on that for a while.
Read MoreRed-bellied Woodpecker
Over the course of Roger Tory Peterson’s lifetime the Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) pushed its typical range much further north, moving into his homes in Jamestown, New York and Old Lyme, Connecticut. This was likely due to a combination of climate change, agricultural areas and grasslands being allowed to mature into woodlands, and humans spreading into suburbs creating additional favorable habitat and feeding birds year-round in their yards. The species can now commonly be found in both of Roger’s favorite locations. This bird is a male, showing his red forehead...
Read MoreNorthern Mockingbird
The Northern Mockingbird does not need a mask because its incredible vocal range can turn it into nearly anything imaginable. Depending on where you live Mimus polyglottos may be an uncommon to rare species or a typical neighborhood pest. They have been advancing north in the past several decades, possibly because of development and more favorable habitats and likely thanks to climate change. They are still a scarce bird in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region likely for both of those reasons, as well as our higher elevation. Why the pest, you ask? One day, if you’re fortunate, you may wake up to...
Read MoreParasitic Jaeger
Here are a couple greats photos of a Parasitic Jaeger (Stercorarius parasiticus) via our friend, superb birder and expert naturalist Frank Mantlik as seen from Stratford Point a couple of weeks ago. Long Island Sound has been alive with everything from humpback whale sightings to various uncommon or rare fish, turtles and birds. This Parasitic Jaeger looks like an intermediate morph juvenile, and you can see it chasing a juvenile Laughing Gull in one of the photos. We observed this behavior from at least a few individual Parasitic Jaegers over several days during feeding frenzies involving...
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