Snow Birds
Winter Birds Forecast #5 is brought to you by Audubon Connecticut in partnership with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Snow Birds The weather has taken a snowy turn this winter and indications are that the trend could continue. Whether you dread the next storm or look forward to every run of the models to look for the next snow opportunity, snow is a fact of life in New England. Snow has a huge impact on both birds and birding and knowing how birds adapt to the snow can enhance your winter birding experience. One thing that nearly all of us can agree on is that...
Read MoreRough-legged Hawks Irrupting
This is a companion blog entry to the Winter Bird Forecast by Audubon Connecticut and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Be sure to watch for our fifth forecast, coming soon! Wherever you are across the Northeast you have likely seen or read a report about a Rough-legged Hawk nearby this winter. This beautiful raptor, available in both a light and dark color morph, has irrupted across a broad swath of the upper parts of the Lower 48. The wintering specialty is at home in open and coastal areas such as marshes, grasslands, airports – hey, a lot of the same places the...
Read MoreWinter Bird Wonderland!
Winter Birding Forecast #4 is brought to you by Audubon Connecticut in partnership with the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History. Winter Bird Wonderland A rich variety of birds call Connecticut home in the wintertime. So far 166 different kinds of birds have been recorded in the state in 2015. Overall 435 species have been recorded in the state over the years. These numbers are a testament to the rich array of high quality habitats Connecticut has to offer, offering wonderful opportunities for birds and birding alike! One of the birds creating a buzz in the...
Read MoreRough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) by Twan Leenders
This Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) was recently seen in a snow squall at Dunkirk Airport here in Chautauqua County, New York. RTPI staff and volunteers are continuing to search for wintering Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) and Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus) across the region in partnership with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and recording other birds like this along the way as well. Please let us know if you have seen either of the two focal species this season! Email your sightings to RTPI’s Conservation & Outreach Coordinator Scott Kruitbosch...
Read MoreHelp fill in eBird data gaps
As we enter 2014 there is no better time than to declare yourself a citizen scientist for the New Year. Make the resolution now please and start your journey by eBirding all of your sightings on New Year’s Day and every day you can thereafter. For those who do not know eBird it is essentially a protected database of avian observations from around the world that is fully searchable by the public, completely free, and intended to last forever to be used by scientists anywhere on Earth. Our collective efforts help to fuel this conservation machine and their maps, graphs, and tables allow...
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