Long-tailed Ducks
These Long-tailed Ducks are showing off some unexpected camouflage on a cloudy day, their black and white plumage matching the patterns of water while on the surface. This species of diving duck certainly spends a long time underwater when it is feeding, and they can even go down to near 200 feet! You never realize how much these birds look like waves until you watch them bobbing up and down on a lake or the sea.
Read MoreNeon Glow
These leaves have a neon glow! Taken before the rain and wind of the last couple of days eliminated a lot of our fall foliage until 2016, the trees have been hauntingly beautiful as we approach Halloween. What a fiery feel to the landscape. Please remember that if you can leave the leaves where they fall it is better in all regards. It will save you time, possibly money and perhaps a sore back. It will help the environment locally and globally, saving unnecessary pollution (leaf blowers to trucks hauling them away) and making your yard look all the better as a natural fertilizer. Yes, it may...
Read MoreYellow Autumn
Even on the gray and cloudy days of late October there can still be plenty of bright yellow light reflected throughout our landscape. The brilliant golden hues reverberate through our forests as one last hurrah before the beginning of winter grabs at our region. Will we be retaining some of this implied warmth thanks to El Niño? It may be a record-shattering season for the Pacific Ocean which could mean we see above-average temperatures. This can actually spell more snow than usual if the Great Lakes remain open and if the jet stream steers major low pressure systems up the East Coast,...
Read MoreBlackpoll Warbler
This female Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) gave me decent views on a cloudy, foggy morning, but of course the one photo she posed perfectly for – and actually stopped gleaning snacks for a moment – involved a stick over her face. Naturally! May migration continues as we wrap the movement up in the last couple weeks of the month with the later species like this one. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreYellow Warbler
This male Yellow Warbler was more engrossed in feeding and foraging than singing and calling on a recent cloudy May day, with many, many others of the species migrating through the area. Will this guy be a resident or is he a migrant, too? I’m leaning towards the latter with how little he spoke. Even when the weather is drab, gray and dreary these little beacons of light shine out among the growing leaves. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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