Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis) by Twan Leenders
Early in the afternoon of November 21 Twan and I took a couple of minutes to go outside at RTPI and move our dumpster. Exciting, I know. As we finished I looked up, as I always do instinctively, for anything flying over and said “What is that..?” incredulously at the non-raptor drifting over us heading west. “That” was a Sandhill Crane. Naturally we did not have binoculars or cameras on us which is particularly rare for me because I hate ending up in these situations. The birds know when you’re unprepared. Here’s a shot of a Sandhill Crane that Twan took...
Read MoreSabine’s Gull (Xema sabini) by Scott Kruitbosch
Check out this rare juvenile Sabine’s Gull in the center of these record photos among many hundreds of Bonaparte’s Gulls in Lake Erie at Barcelona Harbor in Westfield, NY at sunset on November 19, 2013! Thanks to Jim Pawlicki for finding it and getting the word out. Elyse and I headed over and enjoyed seeing this gull which nests in the very high Arctic and typically migrates offshore or along the West Coast. It was a beautiful sight in flight with its contrasting black and white wings and tail. Many birders feel that adult Sabine’s are the most gorgeous gulls on the...
Read MoreBonaparte’s Gulls in a feeding frenzy
Last week I ventured out to Lake Erie to survey a couple of sites in New York that are included in our Natural History Atlas: Dunkirk Harbor and Barcelona Harbor in Westfield (keep an eye on our Natural History Atlas page for many more to come!). I found a lot of great waterfowl, especially ducks and grebes, but the highlight was at least 850 Bonaparte’s Gulls (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) that put on a tremendous show for me as they fed in Barcelona Harbor. Among them was one Little Gull (Hydrocoloeus minutus), a rare but annual visitor to the east coast and Great Lakes from Eurasia...
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