Snowy Owl Season
Welcome back to Snowy Owl season! I took these photographs of a very calm and sleepy Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) today at Silver Sands State Park in Milford, Connecticut. One had been reported about a week ago in the area, though it was not seen again until the last couple of days. I was able to go over and briefly enjoy this bird sitting on a rock jetty along Long Island Sound with a few other birders. It was in the perfect place to be seen and not disturbed, and unknowing folks taking a walk or jogging were mostly on the nearby boardwalk and far enough away from the owl so that it did not...
Read MoreStormy Skies
This late astronomical fall and early meteorological winter has felt a little different than last year’s El Niño conditions to say the least. We are seeing and feeling far more typical weather rather than the much above average temperatures the previous season yielded. Here is a picture of Stratford Point from my archives showing a very stormy sky near sunset in the middle of winter with a fair amount of snow on the ground. How much snow are you looking for this season? We may get plenty across the Northeast and Great Lakes, and that is good news for our “Nature at Your Fingertips”...
Read MoreMapping Global Temperature Changes
This is a sobering graphic via the Twitter feed of Ed Hawkins (https://twitter.com/ed_hawkins), Climate scientist at the University of Reading. He said, “When considering changes in global temperature, it’s always important to look at the big picture, rather than obsess over short-term effects” which is why something like the cold and snowy days in the winter are not an indicator of how the planet is feeling. Our lives encompass a very small span of time compared to that of the Earth itself, and we often do not have an appropriate sense of the environmental and climate...
Read MoreAutumn Meadowhawk
We are really at the end of the insect season now, and here was likely the last Autumn Meadowhawk dragonfly of the season for me last week. Our warm stretch allowed life to flourish a little longer than usual, a continuing impact of our changing climate. Each year we seem to be setting new records for the earliest spotted and latest recorded individuals of species of butterflies, birds, and sometimes even flowers. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
Read MoreGreat Blue Heron
Check out this Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) sitting on one of the new reef balls at Stratford Point. I’m glad it found the spot inviting! Yes, new reef balls have been put in place along the north shore to expand on the success of the pilot project, and I will show and tell you more about them in an upcoming post. Now if a Snowy Owl could be sitting on one in the next couple of weeks I would not object… Scott Kruitbosch Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
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