Gray Ghost
The past week yielded a very large push of migrant Northern Harriers throughout the Northeast, with a sizable percentage of these birds being gray ghosts – adult males – like this one. The strong north and northwest winds following this current cold front should help many more migrants come through our area in the next few days. Will there be more southern and western November rarities with them? Probably, so keep an eye out for everything from the Swainson’s Hawk to the Townsend’s Warbler. Don’t forget we are only a couple weeks away from December 1 and the...
Read MoreHummingbird Garden
This November has been a warm one until recently! As mentioned yesterday, the month is typically known for its avian rarities in the Northeast with southerly flow events followed by strong cold fronts, moving those that traveled up on those winds back down to coastal areas especially. Cave Swallows are a featured species in this phenomenon, with some more still being seen around the Great Lakes today and hundreds of others transported back to the New England coast to presumably move south again. Hummingbirds are also being seen more frequently in late autumn and early winter across the...
Read MoreBlack-bellied Plover
Though this Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) is not quite living up to its name during the non-breeding season it still has a surprisingly appealing look. The plumage may initially seem dull but when it takes flight it flashes some of that namesake color with its black axillars and an always white rump and tail. The species can be found hanging out on the Atlantic Coast in many locations during the late autumn and winter. It is a bird we record nearly year-round for our work in the Audubon Alliance for Coastal Waterbirds.
Read MoreWinter Raptor Surveys
The Harriers have arrived! This is a migrant Northern Harrier hunting over coastal grasslands in November. The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History will be assisting the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for a third season of wintering raptor surveys in Chautauqua County in 2015-2016. The primary focus of these surveys is to determine where Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus), ‘endangered’ in New York, and Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus), ‘threatened’ in New York, are spending the winter season to roost and feed. We need your help,...
Read MoreRuby-crowned Kinglet
This friendly little Ruby-crowned Kinglet finally let me see why they are so named after I spent so much of the fall seeing “incorrectly” labeled birds. Thanks, man! You can usually see the crown exposed when a bird is agitated or singing, dealing with a potentially dangerous situation or engaged in courtship or territoriality. In this case I was simply lucky to be in a good position with an extra-tame individual. These autumn gems are still passing through as we enter the final week of October. Enjoy some birding before we get to trick-or-treating. Scott Kruitbosch Conservation...
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