Record February Cold
Look at some of these staggeringly low temperatures recorded overnight in western New York via the National Weather Service in Buffalo, New York! The Chautauqua County/Jamestown Airport ASOS recorded a low of -18, but a COOP observer on the outskirts of the city got it down to -30! Even Lake Erie didn’t help Dunkirk as it pushed down to -28! These are not wind chills – they are actual air temperatures. These are rather mind-blowing for mid-February, and once again it seems we have a year of extreme cold while the rest of the planet is warmer than usual. Is climate change going to...
Read MoreSavannah Sparrows Eating Driveway Grass
In this classic winter tradition we see Savannah Sparrows feeding on grass growing in and around a driveway that has been plowed, taking advantage of some of the only uncovered earth in the immediate area. Other uncommon species that often enjoy this method of obtaining uncovered food are the Snow Bunting, Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur, and White-crowned Sparrow. Checking out the side of roadways in the middle of winter can often yield some small gems like these all the way to birds like the American Woodcock or multiple species of owls. Birds are very creative and adaptable, often able to...
Read MoreNorthern Cardinals in the Snow
I photographed this pair of Northern Cardinals feeding on a cold and snowy afternoon yesterday, their colors piercing the dull and dark January landscape. All sorts of birds are moving off the snow-covered and frozen earth to feed in the trees on berries and seeds. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreeBird the New Year
If you have yet to join our partners at eBird as a citizen scientist please do so in 2015! This free global database will forever store your bird sightings for you and your friends to enjoy and researchers and conservationists to use to protect and save the very species you are seeing. It is a mutually beneficial contribution to science and our feathered friends. Can you imagine how high Roger Tory Peterson’s life list would have been? He would have had hundreds of thousands of checklists from every corner of the Earth. Please make eBird one of your New Year’s Resolutions!
Read MoreFiery Winter Sunset
Even when the ground looks bare or brown without the expected snow cover the sky can still be on fire, even in the middle of winter. You can practically feel the heat in these shots of our cold atmosphere being torched by the setting sun last evening.
Read More
