Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) by Scott Kruitbosch
Here’s a distant record photo of a Snowy Owl on the fence far from Girts Rd. at the Chautauqua County/Jamestown Airport in the late afternoon snow. We watched it take several shots at prey, possibly capturing one or two items, and flying around this section of the airport watching the vehicles clearing runways. It looked healthy and strong and we hope it sticks around to enjoy good hunting.
Read MoreSnowy Owl sightings and statistics
Snowy Owls have exploded across the eastern half of the United States since I blogged about the possible invasion coming this season. There has been an unbelievable push of birds heading to the south and concentrated in the Great Lakes to Northeast and the Atlantic Coast and continuing south by the day. Two years ago we had a similar burst of Snowy Owls pour down into the U.S. but it was more uniformly spread across the upper half of the country. Many Central and Northwest areas had sizable numbers of birds while the Northeast and Atlantic Coast had fewer. Why is there such a difference in...
Read MoreNovember movements and rarities
The atmosphere of the United States can be very chaotic in November with warm air being drawn up ahead of powerful cold fronts and large sections of the country being influenced by the same system. Often times these currents move birds, already in motion during migration, very far from where they are supposed to be. Across the northeastern part of the country it is known as a time to find extreme rarities. Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (Tyrannus forficatus) typically move from the central U.S. to Central America, but once in a while a bird will go the opposite direction and end up far...
Read MoreBuffalo’s Brown Booby
By now you’ve likely heard of the Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) that has been hanging out near Buffalo in Lake Erie and the Niagara River since being discovered on Monday, October 7. It may be gone at the moment with no sightings being reported since Tuesday, October 22. This extreme rarity, an adult female believed to be a first for the Great Lakes and Ontario, has been enjoyed by probably thousands of birders on both sides of the border by this point. She primarily stays on distant locations in the water associating with Double-crested Cormorants. As a species the Brown Booby has...
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