Brown Thrasher
This Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) has been avoiding my camera for at least two weeks now. It may have a mate, but I never end up spotting any true signs of probable nesting, and certainly lack any confirmations thus far. Sadly it is a far more notable sighting than it was back in Roger Tory Peterson’s day in the Northeast. The species has dropped dramatically in abundance, and what used to be a common breeding bird for many is now a ghost in behavior and population. I am still always startled by how boldly patterned, uniquely shaped, and even loudly musical they can be, yet often...
Read MoreDeer Overbrowsing
I may not be an expert on vegetation, especially ornamental, but something seems…not right…here. You have probably seen similar sights in the last couple of months now that the ice and snow have fully cleared as White-tailed Deer did a number on anything they could eat in the Northeast. Everything just above their head is bright and green, and parts below are bare and brown. Our overpopulation of deer wipes the forest floors clean to the point where they must pick at what we could call scraps like these in our neighborhoods. Some people may object to wolves in their backyards,...
Read MoreMourning Warbler
Sean is excited that some of our neotropical migrants are being seen more and more frequently here in the Northeast, and he hopes that we will all have the chance to see some uncommon species like this Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) this weekend. Good luck, everyone! Photographed by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser for the Meet Your Neighbours global biodiversity project in Costa Rica while on assignment for the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History.
Read MoreBlack-and-white Warblers
Here we have both the male and female Black-and-white Warblers (Mniotilta varia), friendly birds who are coming back to our backyards as we speak. The male is darker and more heavily streaked with more black than white. A few are being seen here and there in the Northeast, though our migratory conditions for all avian species have been less than helpful thus far in late April. Continuing northerly winds or unsettled conditions should plague us for most of the week, with a few calm moments or westerly winds helping move birds at times. Nevertheless, I think a major surge of new arrivals and...
Read MoreRadar Migration Overnight April 3, 2015
Here’s a radar grab from the overnight period of April 2 into April 3, 2015. As you can see precipitation is moving across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic with heavier waves to the west and lighter showers to the east. Midwestern areas had strong and severe thunderstorms while the Atlantic Coast especially had moderate avian migration occurring – see the diffuse and circular areas of blue centered around radar stations contrasting with the green rain. Birds avoiding this wet weather included a lot of sparrows like the White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow and Swamp...
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