Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

I was visited by a mourning dove ( Zenaida macroura ) this morning. No doubt as soon as some of you read the title, you were annoyed as any proper birder would be. Upon reading it, the thought; "it's pronounced "mourning" not "morning"!", flashed through your mind with unforgivable zeal. Perhaps I'm being too presumptive. Maybe. Mourning doves are a common backyard bird found over most of the United States and are one of two species of pigeon that can be found in New York state. The other is the ubiquitous rock pigeon (or dove depending on the age of your field guide) that I see everyday stealing grain from the ducks on the zoo's main pond or soaring v-winged over the skyscrapers and ruined factory buildings of downtown Syracuse. While we've been visited by pigeons every once in a while, the bird that visited this morning was a juvenile. The plumage on this bird is scalloped and a little unkempt. It likely hatched out a month ago and ...

So for the past few weeks here in Syracuse, it has been interesting seeing just how much nature permeates our surroundings and our daily lives. Syracuse is a lot greener in places than I ever expected an urban environment to be. The first thing one notices is all the concrete and stonework and cars and other industrial creations that fill the air and surroundings with their noise and looming presence. I've read about urban sprawls and jungles in books and magazines and seen it described in glowering tones on environmental documentaries, but seeing it up close and living in it, makes you realize that things aren't always as they seem. Sure the typical urban wildlife can be found in droves. Squirrels bound from tree to tree, while ants crawl between cracks in the sidewalk. The big birdy three consisting of Rock Pigeons ( Columba livia ), European Starlings ( Sturnus vulgaris ), and House Sparrows ( Passer domesticus ) swoop through the streets and trees, filling most pockets wi...

While on a stroll the other day, I came upon one of nature's crime scenes that one glimpses every once in a while. It was absolute carnage with the only visible signs of what the prey originally was, were by its ragged and forlorn wings and a single, severed leg. I knew instantly that I'd come across several carcasses of feral pigeons* which were strewn and shredded all over the grass near where I work. While I was examining the carcasses, a guy in a pickup pulled up and shouted, "Boy! Someone was hungry!" *I don't called them "Rock Pigeons" because they have become mutts after interbreeding with domestic birds and don't carry the traditional colors of their species any more. The only "true" ones of their kind can be found in the more wild areas of the world where their stock hasn't been corrupted by the influence of other breeds "Yeah, I guess so." I was a bit startled and hadn't noticed the truck pul...