Nature Will Soon Be at Your Fingertips!
For me, it’s exciting to see those little snow clouds pop up on your weather app as well as the banner associated with lake effect snow warnings, like what we have right now for Chautauqua County. After a long year under the influence of a strong El Nino, it will be a welcomed relief to see its effects diminish while the influence of a forecasted La Nina is expected to move in. The area’s local businesses, organizations and outdoor enthusiasts could certainly benefit from some augmented snowfall this upcoming winter season. If you stop and think about it, its rather amazing that...
Read MoreEastern Towhee Male
I was hiding in the shadows and bushes when photographing this male Eastern Towhee, albeit unintentionally and unexpectedly, instead of it hiding from me in the vegetation and darkness. That piercing eye still sees all! They might be dining at your house sometime this winter, if you’re lucky. Most of the time they are found at bird feeders during particularly inclement, and especially snowy, weather. We may not have much of that going on, yet, but with the temperature dropping the lake effect snow machine will be turned on again soon at least. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation &...
Read MoreRough-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...
Read MoreLake Effect Snow Band Eye?!
Here’s an amazing lake effect snow feature via US National Weather Service Buffalo NY from this morning – a band with an eye! It was not a snowcane but it did have circulation. Lake Erie certainly creates some unique and engrossing weather.
Read MoreFeeding Fox Sparrow
Twan snapped this snappy shot of a fine Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca) feeding in the snow here at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. We have a solid snow cover thanks to the lake effect madness off Erie in the past week, though certainly nothing of the magnitude our neighbors just to our north do. Fox Sparrows are notorious for seeking out feeders during inclement weather. If difficult conditions strike at the right time, especially in the March movement north, you may end up with several or even over a dozen in your yard. Have you had any of them visiting you this...
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