Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Tomorrow
Noble Proctor BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset on May 14, 2016 Please join family, friends, colleagues and students for a celebration of Noble Proctor’s life in the form of a BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut on Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 8AM to sunset. Our headquarters for the BioBlitz will be at the pavilion near Willard’s Island. A BioBlitz is a race to find every species of life possible – birds, mammals, plants, insects, and more. We will form teams to search the park and record all the species we can discover. At 1:00 PM, we will come together...
Read MorePileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)
Let’s switch gears from the little migrant birds to the big resident birds with this Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) as photographed last week during its breakfast. This meal, while being obviously tasty and delicious, also provides us a lesson in forest and yard management. Most of the time Pileated Woodpeckers can be found eating at dying, dead or fallen trees like this one as they hammer away for ants and various insects associated with decaying wood. If we removed all of the rotting wood from the forest or our yards what would they have to eat? Not much! If you can safely...
Read MoreBlack-and-white Warbler
I finally took some good photos of Black-and-white Warblers (Mniotilta varia) over the last few days as the species is peaking as a migrant in the Northeast. These stunning little birds never stop moving…and they move like a nuthatch, creeping and crawling along branches, vines and tree trunks for various insects and spiders. This nonstop motion makes them a difficult clean capture as their photos often end up a little blurry. At least this guy – while still not paying me any attention – paused for a moment or two while searching for prey on Sunday morning. I found an even...
Read MoreLeucistic Yellow-rumped Warbler
Here is that unique Yellow-rumped Warbler which I mentioned in a previous post. Can you see what looks different about it? I noticed it naked eye while tracking various subjects in a loose flock through the trees last week including more Yellow-rumps, Black-and-white Warblers, Blue-headed Vireos, and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. After I got my binoculars on it I realized this bird was partially leucistic, and I quickly raised my camera to snap off a record photo. Leucism in birds is when melanin pigments are produced at less than normal levels or in an unexpected pattern. In this case many of the...
Read MoreNoble Proctor Video
NEXT SATURDAY: A celebration of Noble Proctor’s life in the form of a BioBlitz Challenge at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Connecticut on Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 8AM to sunset. Our headquarters for the BioBlitz will be at the pavilion near Willard’s Island. At 1:00 PM, we will come together as a group, sit down for lunch, and have a gathering at the pavilion to say a few words about Noble. Please take a look at this touching and wonderful short video on Noble by Patrick...
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