Chuck-will’s-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis)
This Chuck-will’s-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis), a female, was captured and banded in Costa Rica by RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser, a first for the site list at Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica’s first national park. What makes the species special to us is a great birding memory from the spring of 2012. One early May morning I was walking the property at Stratford Point in Stratford, Connecticut, conducting an avian site survey. It was a temperate but cloudy, drizzly and foggy morning, with some confused migrant birds overshooting their likely targets, pushing into Long Island Sound and...
Read MoreChautauqua County Snow Depth
Our friends at the Chautauqua Lake Snowmobile Club have this NOAA/NWS snow depth map regularly updating on their website to let members and the visiting public know how much snow is on the ground in Chautauqua County. While it has gone down a bit recently due to a brief warm-up (very brief, and I am being very generous in saying “warm-up”!) and some rain, freezing rain, and sleet, there is still a ton of snow covering the earth in the region. You can see the escarpment well in this photo and the effect of elevation on snowfall and temperature. It will be utterly frigid later this...
Read MoreRainy Red-tailed Hawk
This drenched Red-tailed Hawk was another bird being impacted by the weather and seen yesterday by our friend Gale VerHague, this time at the Dunkirk Airport. It doesn’t feel like rain today in Chautauqua County, does it? That will be the end of that for some time! Let’s see how much snow we can bank up this week.
Read MoreAmerican Coot (Fulica americana) in the rain
This American Coot (Fulica americana) was photographed earlier this week, not trying to dodge any of the drops while displaying its waterproof winter coat. We have had to wear our waterproof jackets frequently lately as much of the Northeast has been targeted with a lot more rain than snow. We currently have a couple of unseasonably warm and sunny days on tap which at least provide a great excuse to get outdoors to enjoy the winter wonders of nature with family and friends. By this time next week the temperature will have dropped and we may be thinking about snow to start off 2015. We all...
Read MoreWet Mockingbird
I don’t know what a forlorn bird looks like but I think it is something close to this Northern Mockingbird thanks to some wet, cold, and dreary weather. Personally I love our four seasons and embrace the rotation of life they feature all around us. I wonder if birds like this one know spring is only a few months away… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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