February Snowy Owls
This blog entry is a companion to the Winter Bird Forecasts brought to you by Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Be sure to check out Winter Bird Forecast #5! Oh my, has it been cold and snowy or what? The last month was historic for some of our region as Boston and many other areas of Massachusetts have been buried in feet of snow. Parts of Connecticut and New York have been inundated as well and everyone across the Northeast has felt frigid air with barely any days above freezing, totally lacking any significant thaws. It is the definition of...
Read MoreChautauqua County Snow Depth
Our friends at the Chautauqua Lake Snowmobile Club have this NOAA/NWS snow depth map regularly updating on their website to let members and the visiting public know how much snow is on the ground in Chautauqua County. While it has gone down a bit recently due to a brief warm-up (very brief, and I am being very generous in saying “warm-up”!) and some rain, freezing rain, and sleet, there is still a ton of snow covering the earth in the region. You can see the escarpment well in this photo and the effect of elevation on snowfall and temperature. It will be utterly frigid later this...
Read MoreSavannah Sparrow Up Close
This Savannah Sparrow would certainly rather be in the grasslands and farm fields than stuck to the pavement. Unfortunately for the bird at the moment, and often for the species in the winter, those favored habitats are covered in a very deep layer of snow and ice. Instead it feeds on any exposed seeds it can find in these grasses, just like other birds I have photographed and shown you lately. It is not an easy life but it may be easier and safer overall than migrating far to the south and having to return in a couple of months. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach...
Read MoreHorned Larks
I have had a great time seeing Horned Larks lately after striking out on them for all of the past autumn and and most of this winter in Connecticut. After having success this past week I ended up taking many photographs of birds feeding on edges and in snow-covered grasslands in Stratford, and I wanted to share a bunch of them with you all in a slideshow of sorts below. Here were a bunch of birds feeding on the edges in the roadways and exposed areas. Unfortunately there was one recently-deceased individual, the body still warm. Fortunately for science and research Patrick Comins, Audubon...
Read MoreSnowy February
With the sort of active, stormy and snowy weather we have been experiencing in the last few weeks the landscape takes on a very different appearance. Heavy snow in desolate, mature woodlands covers everything and leaves only hints of colors. Did you even notice that this photo is actually really and truly black and white?
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