Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)
I photographed this drake Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) from afar yesterday so as not to disturb it. As you can see it is looking right at home in a forested suburban pond. Many duck species are starting to appear more frequently in our area as we enter the autumn waterfowl season. We will be sure to share some of our finds with all of you. What new fall arrivals have you spotted? Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreLeaves are leaving
This is a picture of the Chadakoin River before all of yesterday’s formidable gusts blew away much of our fall foliage here in Jamestown. Yep, the leaves are leaving. What makes me shake my head is how low the water level has been lately as our precipitation has fallen back to near average or below after a very wet summer. We sure could have used these conditions for Spiny Softshell Turtle work the rest of the year when they were more active, nesting and basking in strong numbers. The weather shapes all of the life around us in both positive and negative ways. This is also why active...
Read MoreIdentify this silhouette at a distance
I spotted this bird at RTPI today from a distance without binoculars and knew its identity immediately. Standing in our garden I could see the basic silhouette and how it had positioned itself. Those two clues plus the date should help you determine the species as well. Any ideas? If you do not want to know the answer don’t keep reading…did you figure it out yet? It’s…an Olive-sided Flycatcher! I had one of the uncommon southbound migrants last August as well but it was my first of 2014. I watched it feeding for a while as I looked for butterflies, the bird grabbing...
Read MoreRTPI/SUNY College Lodge BioBlitz completed
One week ago today we were readying ourselves for the 3:00PM kickoff of the RTPI/SUNY College Lodge BioBlitz. It took place at the SUNY College Lodge Nature Preserve in Brocton on about 200 acres of beautiful habitat on the escarpment near Lake Erie. A BioBlitz is a 24-hour race to identify as many species of plants and animals of all kinds on a given site – this can be anything from an entire town, a river or lake, or a bounded property. We had a few dozen experts join us over the Friday and Saturday time period with specialties ranging from ants, spiders and other small insects,...
Read MoreRTPI BioBlitz of SUNY College Lodge complete
At the end of 24 hours we have tallied 510+ species at the SUNY College Lodge BioBlitz with many yet to be identified and added to the count. We hope to be able to crack at least 600 despite a rainy last 10 or so hours. That’s a lot of life for 200 acres! Thank you to all the experts who came from near and far to help us out and the visitors who joined us on walks and enjoyed what we were collecting. We’ll share photos and cool species over the coming days.
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