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Posts Tagged "frequency"

Rough-legged Hawks Irrupting

Posted on Feb 1, 2015

Rough-legged Hawks Irrupting

This is a companion blog entry to the Winter Bird Forecast by Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Be sure to watch for our fifth forecast, coming soon! Wherever you are across the Northeast you have likely seen or read a report about a Rough-legged Hawk nearby this winter. This beautiful raptor, available in both a light and dark color morph, has irrupted across a broad swath of the upper parts of the Lower 48. The wintering specialty is at home in open and coastal areas such as marshes, grasslands, airports – hey, a lot of the same places the...

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Purple Finch and Pine Siskin invasion

Posted on Nov 14, 2014

Purple Finch and Pine Siskin invasion

Two species have recently flooded the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic according to list serv reports, accounts from friends and my own personal observations – the Purple Finch and the Pine Siskin. The former has been unbelievably abundant in my experience, often being difficult to go outside for any length of time without seeing one in the past month. The latter, while a bit tougher to spot, has nonetheless zipped by in sizable groups and maintained their nomadic feeding habits. Just how massive are these irruptions in our region? I turned to eBird to find out the truth. Here are both...

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Blue Jays on the move?

Posted on Oct 6, 2014

Blue Jays on the move?

Whether I have been in New York, Pennsylvania or Connecticut recently it feels like everywhere I turn I see a Blue Jay. Whether it’s one, two, several or more they are filling up every bit of land they can find. I mean this quite literally – every time I walk outside of RTPI it seems as if there are Blue Jays active all over the place. Considering the calendar it occurred to me that we are probably experiencing an influx of migrant Blue Jays. Being such common backyard birds and a widely adaptable species it can be difficult to discern when a Blue Jay movement is taking place. We...

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June fireflies

Posted on Jun 20, 2014

June fireflies

Take a few minutes one of these nights to get outside and listen in on the conversations of fireflies. It’s quite the spectacle when their chatter heats up – note the different frequencies and patterns that different species and individuals use to communicate. Even though is not quite the 4th of July yet, beautiful evening light shows are in full swing right in your backyard!

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