White-throated Sparrows massing and feeding
White-throated Sparrows have arrived in tremendous numbers across the region, ready to eat you out of house and home all winter long! Before then, while the grass and earth is still exposed, without being snow-covered or frozen, they can feast on more natural meals. I took a bunch of photos of a few individuals in a group feeding on the lawn last week. There would not be much to chow down on if this were uniformly treated bright, green grass, one species that was chemically induced to look like the perfect lawn. These monocultures are taking up valuable habitat real estate and often consist...
Read MoreVesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus)
In the continuing spirit of “it’s time to find [bird X]”…it’s right about time to find the Vesper Sparrows! This large sparrow has a bright, bold white eye ring that stands out in nearly any conditions. It can find the perfect habitat for migration throughout the Chautauqua-Allegheny region favoring farms, grasslands, fields and even scrubby or rocky areas like this one. If you ever spot a Vesper Sparrow during nesting season please let us know so we can help you do all you can to protect the habitat. They are decreasing in many areas of their range including...
Read MoreWhite-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
If you’re out and about enjoying fall foliage, heading to a farm or a pumpkin field, or spending time in other agricultural, grassy, weedy areas you may be about to see many White-crowned Sparrows like this autumn one. Here in Western New York we can find them in the dozens during the peak of migration. I remember – thanks to my eBird checklist – that I saw 41 of them at the Jamestown Airport this past May. I know there were likely many more present there. See if you can beat that total on a fall birding day!
Read MoreForage Looper moth (Caenurgina erechtea)
This appears to be a Forage Looper moth (Caenurgina erechtea), another one of our common enough neighbors that we would never see if we were not trying to find them or crawling through the grass. Sometimes rolling around on the ground can be very educational.
Read MoreBlack Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
I have not seen many Black Swallowtails this year with a few here or there at best – what about you? I had been seeing an abundance of the common Eastern Tiger Swallowtail throughout the spring until their numbers plummeted to near zero in my experience Western New York throughout the summer. It continually astounds me how localized populations of even the more frequently seen species can be and how rapidly and unexpectedly their numbers can fluctuate. Nature is a delicate balance.
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