Water Merlin
Those falcons sure do love their water! They know that birds are in the open, exposed, sometimes exhausted and usually abundant along bodies of water including oceans, rivers, lakes, swamps and more. At this time of year, with so many birds on the move back to the north, hunting along and over water makes life easier for a falcon like this Merlin, able to snag prey that is already in a foreign place and tired from a long journey across the globe. Clever predator.
Read MoreWilson’s Snipe
As the snow recedes and the marshes, rivers, wetlands and wet meadows thaw, birds like this Wilson’s Snipe can finally trickle back to the north. You can’t bury your bill in the frozen earth, but thankfully for them the end of the winter’s grip is here. This late afternoon bird is being heated by that warming sun, knowing its path back to its breeding grounds will soon be easier.
Read MoreIntern Presentation
Although winter has come in like a lion for the month of March, be assured that spring will soon be on its way. Warming temperatures and increased daylight will bring everything underneath the snow and ice back to life, including some remarkable reptiles that inhabit the waters of Jamestown’s Chadakoin River. The spiny softshell turtle (Apalone spinifera) is a unique species that the Roger Tory Peterson Institute and Jamestown Community College students have been studying over the past year, attempting to better understand their habits and behaviors as well as the current conditions of their...
Read MoreBald Eagle in Florida
Twan took this shot of an immature Bald Eagle in flight in Florida, the bird spending its winter in a far more pleasant climate. In the Northeast we have had a lot of Bald Eagle action during all of these historically frigid days with the enormous raptor hunting waterfowl on any open water it can find and grabbing fish from icy rivers.
Read MoreAmerican Coots (Fulica americana)
Here is a series of photographs recently taken of two American Coots as they were swimming and feeding on a sunny day. The lovely weather permitted me to snap off some shots while they eagerly dived for food. Watch how one bird gets a sense of the snack it wants, some delicious aquatic vegetation, circling with its head facing downward. They must have some sensational, well-tuned sight to be able to see so well down through the water column. Once it decides what to grab…down it goes in a splash! The other bird, having followed the first nearly the entire time, circling in the same...
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