June 22, 2009

This morning, a bull moose was sighted trotting across the property! All of our summer camp staff were treated to views of the moose with its budding antlers but it was gone by the time campers arrived.

June 19, 2009

Late last week, a female Snapping Turtle was seen laying eggs in a large pile of wood chips outside the community gardens. As might be guessed, this would have caused problems. In addition to the risk of human disturbance, the eggs may have been more susceptible to drying out. We decided that the best course of action would be to relocate the nest. Today, we set out and transferred 29 eggs to a safer place. Snapping Turtles lay there eggs in the spring, and young emerge from nests in the fall. In the meantime, we will be keeping an eye on them.

June 15, 2009

The ninth and final installment of "Tales of Texas", a chronicle of a field-tech studying the Golden-cheeked Warbler in Texas, is now posted. This special series has been produced through NBNC's Youth Birding Program.

June 11, 2009

For several weeks, a large, white raptor has been seen along Rt. 12 between the Nature Center and Morrisville. The mystery has finally been solved and the bird has been identified as a luecistic (partial albino) Red-tailed Hawk. Although rare, mutations like this do occur and should be considered in determining an identification. For example, a Snowy Owl in Vermont in June may be an even less likely sighting than an albino Red-tailed Hawk. If you travel Route 12, keep an eye out for this spectacular bird.

June 10, 2009

For the past few weeks the Savannah Sparrows have been very quiet, but they've started singing again from the fields. In the evenings last week, the songs of American Woodcock and Wilson's Snipe were both heard.

June 2, 2009

A pair of Broad-winged Hawks were seen over the Nature Center this afternoon. About 15 minutes after the initial sighting, one of the hawks was spotted flying in the air with the long, slender body of a snake dangling from its talons.

May 29, 2009

Four participants braved the rain for our spring migration bird walk, at Hubbard Park this week. The rain, which varied from light to mderately heavy, hampered our efforts to find birds, but dispite the weather we managed to tally 16 species, with the highlight being two male Scarlet Tanagers on one tree! We also explored the many ferns of Hubbard Park, including New York, Christmas, Interrupted, Cinnimon, and Wood Ferns. Our complete bird list can be seen below:

Hairy Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Great-crested Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Winter Wren
Veery
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Pine Warbler
Northern Parula
Ovenbird
Scarlet Tanager