Cloudy with a Chance of Snowys
This is the first of a series of Winter Birds Forecasts focused on Connecticut and the surrounding region brought to you by Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History and written by Patrick Comins, Director of Bird Conservation, Audubon Connecticut with Scott Kruitbosch, Conservation & Outreach Coordinator, Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Photos by Patrick Comins. A spate of early sightings of Snowy Owls in the Northeast has the birding community excited for a possible repeat of last year’s mega irruption that saw dozens of sightings of...
Read MoreDrought Monitor Improving
Here’s the U.S. Drought Monitor as of last week, still showing a frightening and sad situation for many people in the West. However, even since that time there has been more rain for California and slowly but surely (very slowly) the three-year drought seems to be improving. They will need a lot of consistent rain to make up for such an enormous deficit. For us in the East there is very little to mention apart from some patchy long-term moderate drought in Rhode Island, Connecticut and part of New York. That took a hit, thankfully, due to the Nor’easter that ripped through the...
Read MoreTimber Rattlesnake near den
After a lot of feedback let’s keep talking about Timber Rattlesnakes today. In the Northeast, Timber Rattlesnakes are extirpated in ME and RI and down to – at best – a handful of populations in NH, VT, MA and CT. They have a severely reduced range in NY. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a grand total of about five people die per year from any venomous snake bite in all of America. The vast majority of those bitten have been harassing or aggressively attacking the snake without cause. Like nearly any other wild creature if you leave it alone it...
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