Prairie Warbler
This male Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) put on a sensational display for us last Sunday all while singing away and finding plenty to eat after his journey the previous night. It took a few hours to finally see the bird after hearing the rising, buzzy song repeatedly in the morning. The sun was shining brightly high in the sky by the time he came out into the open, giving the yellow warbler an even brighter glow while foraging in these willows. The Prairie Warbler is one of those species that perplexes me in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region. I feel like there should be more of them in...
Read MorePrairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor)
Here’s a Throwback Thursday to a Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) that I photographed several years ago. The species begins to return to us in the Northeast right abouttttt…now! I hope to be able to spot one or two in migration so that I can get some better shots and enjoy their buzzy, rising song. Look for them in scrub or shrub habitat, old fields, power line cuts, or even forests – just not the prairies. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreChipping Sparrow
This is a Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina), one of a few of the species I observed and photographed this past Thursday. The early spring sparrow migrants continue to pour through the region with dozens and dozens of Savannah Sparrows dominating any grasslands, fields, farms and open areas. The Eastern Towhees are calling out from shrub and scrub patches, yards, feeding stations and power line corridors. Winter friends like White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos are starting to wrap up their pushes north for the breeding season. The Field Sparrows have returned to nest right where...
Read MoreSnow Buntings
It is early enough in the avian wintering season that both the earth and the birds – in this case, Snow Buntings (Plectrophenax nivalis) – are brown. We do not have a solid snow cover yet, and it is amazing how well this plumage is designed to help them blend in to the ground. The Snow Bunting camouflage looks like brown grass and, somehow, a rocky, sandy and rough earth, with their wings showing off the darker pattern of what the tundra and short grasslands look like now. Notice how well these birds keep themselves just off the surface even while engaged in feeding, hiding their...
Read MoreSavannah Sparrow
This Savannah Sparrow is showing off some excellent fall and soon to be winter camouflage! Grasslands, fields, shrub and scrub, and beach habitats are some of the places to find them still moving through in late, small numbers, with others setting up their winter homes. Keep an eye out for the Ispwich Savannah Sparrow if you are on the Atlantic Coast. This subspecies of Savannah Sparrow breeds exclusively on Sable Island, Nova Scotia, and winters on similar sand dunes on the shoreline. It is noticeably paler and weighs approximately 50% more than most other Savannah Sparrow...
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