Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

My "naturadar" was going off again today. Anyone is who in awe of the natural world possesses some form of this mechanism. Some people are only just discovering theirs, while others always seem distracted by the petals on a flower or the smell of the ocean in the wind. Mine is constantly on, scanning for signs of life in and around the house. While sitting in my parent's kitchen, I glanced out of the glass door leading out to the deck. Flecks of snow drifted quietly from the skies above while caramel oak leaves littered the ground, occasionally dancing to the wind before settling back down. The cloudy skies above almost disguised the flakes as they left their skyward home and descended haphazardly to the earth below. Further along the decks railing stood our well worn bird feeder swaying gently on its hook. Our bird feeder is a large tube feeder with a metal top and bottom, plastic tubing, and stiff metal perches. The top bore the scars of squirrels trying to chew throu...

As I mentioned in my weekend post about the American White Pelican ( Pelecanus erythrorhynchos ), Alison and I headed up to Beaver Lake Nature Center to watch the action at the feeders and to spot some year birds for our lists as well. As I write this, I thought about deviating from my usual "describe how the day/event went" style and instead create an unofficial guide to the species we saw at Beaver Lake. So without further adieu, here we go. Beaver Lake Nature Center is a 600+ acre park located in Baldwinsville, New York and features 9 miles of hiking trails, abundant wildlife, a wide range of habitats, and a 200 acre lake popular amongst local canoeing and kayaking fans. It has quickly become our favorite park to visit and so we decided that on Saturday afternoon, we would visit the main building to watch the feeder birds flit about and snarf away many, many sunflower seeds. The first birds we noticed were the American Goldfinches ( Spinus tristis ) in their dull straw...

So this past week, I've traveled to a new home once again and got settled in. I'm happy to report that the people and place I'll be working at for the next few months are lovely, quaint, and filled with fun and adventures to be had. We start with our first school on Monday and I'm so ready to start teaching again. Naturally, with my first "well-earned" weekend, I set out to find some life birds. While traveling along the now familiar Interstate 76, I had decided the night before to visit Middle Creek WMA in Stevens because of the huge numbers of wintering waterfowl that could be found there. While driving, I wondered how I would look for the Tundra Swans ( Cygnus columbianus ) that had been reported there. It didn't take me long to find them. As I entered the parking lot, I munched on a granola bar and thought about my game plan. As usual, I'd come up with nothing and decided that randomly ambling about until I either got bored or frustrated was goin...