American 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...
Read MoreNorthern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
Depending on where you live the Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) may be an uncommon to rare species or a typical neighborhood pest. They have been advancing north in the past several decades, possibly because of development and more favorable habitats and likely thanks to climate change. They are still a scarce bird in the Chautauqua-Allegheny region likely for both of those reasons. Why the pest, you ask? One day, if you’re fortunate, you may wake up to a car alarm going off all night long outside your window…except it’s a bird doing a perfect imitation and it will...
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