Start of a New Season
Happy 1st day of winter everyone! Today marks the first day of a hopefully snow-filled season as well as the official beginning of the snowmobiling season. Remember before hitting the trails on your snowmobile, skis or snowshoes to grab your cell phone so that you can explore the many fascinating stories waiting to be told through the “Nature at Your Fingertips” cell phone tour. This tour couldn’t have been possible without the help of the Snowmobile Clubs of Chautauqua County (Chautauqua Lake Snowmobile Club, Cherry Creek Sno-Goers, Ellery Sno-Cruisers, Lake-Effect Trail...
Read MoreHappy Spring Daffodil
Happy first day of spring from one of the most widely-recognized signs of spring across the world – the daffodil. These flowers are about to pop, and earlier this week I saw my first bumblebee of the year. Spring, you are here! Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreWhere Are They?!
We have now entered December, and though we lack the truly cold air that the month and the beginning of meteorological winter can sometimes bring, we are cooling down and birds are still moving south. Regular arrivals spanning the spectrum from the American Tree Sparrows of our backyards to the Tundra Swans of Chautauqua Lake are joining us now. Where are we with the irruptive avian species so far this season across the Northeast and Midwest? I went through eBird maps this morning to find that out, and let’s start with the big name… The Snowy Owls started their annual southbound...
Read MoreLate Lady
This American Lady was a lovely mid-November sight earlier this week, basking in the sun on a still warmer than average afternoon. You can see what month it is by how low that sun angle is striking the butterfly, casting a long shadow as the days continue to get shorter and darker. Are you still seeing any lepidoptera out there? Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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...
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