Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Hey all, I really do get annoyed with myself when I don't update here as frequently as I ought to, but the past month has been a whirlwind of sorts in terms of moving back "home" and then up to my new digs in Syracuse. As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in a studio apartment on the eastern side of the city (but not East Syracuse because that's a different place entirely) with the sun glaring brightly outside. The chirrupings of House Sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) and hum of traffic is especially apparent, along with the irregular screams of ambulances rushing to the medical facilities downtown and the occasional noises and conversations I hear from my neighbours.  So why am I in Syracuse? Why have I moved here? Well unsurprisingly, it's for work and it is my first full time position! Sometime after my last blog post about a Snowy Owl ( Bubo scandiacus ) that I saw in Biddeford, I accepted a position at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. I left Maine soon afterwa...

Hello all. Over the past week, I've been getting settled in up in Saco, ME and I'll be sharing a little bit about what life is like at the moment. I'm living literally 100 feet from Ferry Beach and it is an amazing resource. The beach provides splendid views of the surrounding coastline and represents the longest stretch of sandy beach in Maine! When I headed out yesterday morning to look for some wintering water birds, I didn't expect there to be so much mist. The clouds and cold temperatures had decided to bequeath us with a sprinkle of snow and as a result, the surrounding beach and ocean was veiled in translucent mist. The view south towards Camp Ellis and the jetty. With the spitting snow obscuring the camera lens and binoculars alike, I strained to make out the black, gray, and white blobs bobbing in the surf beyond. Fortunately, the light gave way to dozens of waterfowl and other water birds diving for clams and other molluscs in the surf below. Black ( M...

For the past two weeks, I've been acclimatizing, getting to know the people, and learning my role for my job here in Horsham, Pennsylvania. As such, I've been looking around at what's similar and different about here to home. Earlier this week, I discovered these strange cocoons hanging from the tips of a spruce ( Picea spp. ) near the dining hall. I recognized them as bagworms, but admittedly, I know little about them. So after work I looked up some information on what species they were and their life cycle. The pictures above show small, pointed cocoons about 2 inches in length, that are constructed from needles and silk, and hang from the tips of the conifer. The photo below shows that there were a lot of them on the end of the branches. There were probably up to 30 or more on the upper and middle branches of the spruce and by the looks of it, the tree wasn't looking so hot. I visited PennState's College of Agricultural Sciences entomology page and found a...

This past week has certainly been telling me that spring is on the way with my earliest sighting of an Eastern Phoebe ( Sayornis phoebe ) ever last Sunday, to seeing a Red-winged Blackbird ( Agelaius phoeniceus ) and a Common Grackle ( Quiscalus quiscula ) at Cumberland Farms in Middleboro, and all the songbirds I've been hearing around the house too, it seems a sure sign that winter is coming to an end. Now when it comes to weather prediction and seasonal changes, the last thing I rely on is the perceived advice of a rodent. For those of you who don't know, I have a passionate disdain for woodchucks ( Marmota monax ) as they have made life difficult for the chickens by living under their shed and stealing their feed (which now costs $16 per bag making me even less happy to share the bounty with them). According to the rodent's forecast this year it would be the paradoxical claim of "six more weeks of winter" even though if the thing hadn't seen its shadow, it...

Hello all! Just a quick update before I do a more fully fledged one later in the week. I have arrived safely in New Jersey and am so excited to start my new job here. So far, I've seen a lot of Turkey Vultures ( Cathartes aura ), a few Eastern Bluebirds ( Sialia sialis ), and a Yellow-rumped Warbler ( Setophaga coronata ). When I get a better feel for the area, then I'll give a fuller report and that will also allow me to use my new camera (better zoom, clearer images, and more features for me to figure out!) Until then, I look forward to showing y'all the wilds of New Jersey. Have a great week and as always, happy birding ^_^.