Fresh Red Admiral
This Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) butterfly is as fresh as you can get! Having emerged probably earlier this very day, the photo does not do it justice as it was both so black and so vibrantly red/orange in a way that is impossible to capture in one shot. Lenses have limitations that nature does not.
Read MoreCedar Waxwings Drinking
It is getting warm out there! As we move towards summer you will find more and more birds trying to stop for a drink or a bath in a puddle or rain pool near you. If you have a yard that you can provide fresh and clean (and clean cannot be emphasized enough) water then you will find a lot more visitors stopping by, including some you didn’t expect. A flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum), like these birds enjoying rainwater, might be an unusual sight from the window of your home when they come over for a drink. If you can offer water year-round from a well-maintained and heated...
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 MoreBlack-crowned Night-Heron
Here we have a foraging Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax), a long-legged wader of marshes, ponds, and wetlands, enjoying fresh, salt or brackish waters. They are actually the most widespread heron in the world! Have they spread to your neighborhood? It is yet another of the many species we work to help through our efforts in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreNorthern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Depending on where you live the Northern Mockingbird (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. Why the pest, you ask? One day, if you’re fortunate, you may wake up to a car alarm going off all night long outside your window…except it’s a bird doing a perfect imitation and it will...
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