Squirrels!

Northern and Southern flying squirrel

ranges in the the United States.

Range map credit:

www.flyingsquirrels.com

I couldn’t come up with a more creative title for all of the cool pictures I’m about to share. Over the course of the past couple weeks, I was able to capture 3, possibly 4, different species of squirrels on my Cuddeback Attack flash camera trap!

I believe there are a total of 6 species of arboreal (tree-dwelling) squirrels in New York: gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), Southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans), and the Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus).

I can say say with certainty that I have gotten the gray and red squirrel. The 3rd and possibly 4th species are of flying squirrel. In New York State, we have both the Northern and Southern. The maps at left show how the two species overlap into NY. Both species extend into Canada, but the Northern moreso.

Also, I should add that there aren’t any Eastern chipmunks showing up anymore this year because I believe they’re all tucked into their dens hibernating!

I modified the flash by taping

~2/3 over the flash with black electrical tape.

I recently wrote about and shared the preliminary results of messing with a nontraditional mounting of the camera, check that out here: A different perspective…. This was the trial period of playing with the flash (it’s way too bright for close range critters), and how to mount the camera (on it’s back looking up the trunk of the tree).

I got some interesting color variations of the two more well known squirrels…a black squirrel (actually a gray!) and an orange (actually a red!) squirrel. Sometimes people have a hard time understanding how this works. A squirrel that is black, should be called a black squirrel, right? Well you can call it that, but it’s genetics tell us it is the same species as the gray…just a different variation of color. I’m a blonde, you might be a brunette, a red-head, or gray. Those are all just variations of the color. Unfortunately, when people were first discovering plants and animals, they named them as they saw them. Gray squirrel, red fox, bluebird, white-tailed deer. All of these animals can and will show up from time to time a different color.

Anyway, here they are!

A black, gray squirrel.

A very orange, red squirrel.

Red squirrel again...

And most likely the same black squirrel again...

 

 

These top 4 pictures are taken from atop a cinder block at the base of the tree. That large branch at the right of the picture is where the camera was mounted for the rest of the pictures. That branch is ~8-9 feet off the ground.

Flying squirrel! Species unknown.

Flying squirrel again, species still unknown.

Flying squirrels are next to impossible to identify to the species level "in the field", as they say. Perhaps those who study flyers know a way to do so. The only way I know, besides examining their DNA, requires you to be handling the squirrel. You blow gently into their belly fur (both species have a buff colored underside), but when the hairs are parted, the Northern reveals a dark gray base to the fur. But, that's a difficult way to ID a wild animal.

A true gray squirrel.

 

The only complaint I have about these images is that because the lens is pointing directly skyward, as the squirrels ascend and descend the trunk, bits of bark come loose and drop onto the camera. The lens is recessed into the casing of the camera a little bit, so these pieces and condensation can collect here. You can see in the last picture a dark spot in the upper left hand corner. A small price to pay for some neat photos! Now that I have the flash issue figured out, I'll be messing with this angle MUCH more and trying to lure the flying squirrels in for a closer look.

 

Turkey "trivia"

I don’t have much to write about this week, as I’m taking the week off from learning. That’s right- NO learning going on here which started at 4pm Tuesday and will run through Sunday night. Then it’s back at it. I have a camera trap set up on a branch again in the “flying squirrel” tree back at my house in Schoharie. For the holiday week though, I’m in Wayne County visiting my parents.

Photo credit: Art Kirsch (Senior DEC Wildlife Biologist, Region 8) Naples, NY

But, in light of the holiday (Happy Thanksgiving!), I thought I’d share 10 trivias I found around the internet. I’m going to cite a source for each “fact”, so please don’t hold ME to it if they’re incorrect   I do not claim that ANY of them are true, although some might be. I just thought they were fun to share.

1. Ben Franklin (yes, a Founding Father of the USA, no, not a President) didn’t want the Bald Eagle to be our country’s mascot!

“For my own part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country; he is a bird of bad moral character; he does not get his living honestly…like those among men who live by sharping and robbing…he is generally poor, and often very lousy. Besides, he is a rank coward; the little king-bird, not bigger than a sparrow, attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district…For in truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America. Eagles have been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours…”- As written in a letter. (LiveScience)

2. Turkeys can blush!

When a turkey becomes frightened, agitated, excited or ill, the exposed skin on its head and neck can change from its usual pale pink or bluish gray color to red, white, or blue. And during mating season, the male turkey’s wattle turns scarlet to reflect his elevated sex hormone levels. The fleshy flap of skin that hangs over the gobbler’s beak is called a snood and also turns bright red when the bird is excited. (LiveScience)

3. Turkeys eat rocks!

A part of the bird’s stomach, called the gizzard, contains tiny stones that the bird has previously swallowed. Also known as gastroliths, these polished stones aid in the breakdown of food for digestion, since birds do not have teeth. (LiveScience)

4. Periscope eyeballs.

A turkeys eyes are located on opposite sides of its head. The position of the eyes allows the animal to see two objects at once, but limits its depth perception. Turkeys have a wide field of vision and by moving their neck, they can gain a 360-degree field of view. (About.com)

5. There is actually a “Turkey Lovers Month”…

According to the National Turkey Federation, 95 percent of Americans surveyed eat turkey during Thanksgiving. They also estimate that about 45 million turkeys are consumed during this time. This translates to about 675 million pounds of turkey. With that being said, one would think that November would be National Turkey Lovers’ Month. The month of June however is dedicated to turkey lovers. (About.com)

6. There once was a turkey SHORTAGE in America!

Wild turkey populations dwindled to fewer than 30,000 birds by the 1930s due to habitat destruction and unregulated shooting. Today, there are roughly 6.4 million wild turkeys. They can be found in every state except Alaska (although while I was in Alaska this summer, a man I met had a flock of wild turkeys on his farm that he brought up from the lower 48!). (10000 Birds)

7. Turkeys can ballroom dance.

The ballroom dance the “turkey trot” was named for the short, jerky steps that turkeys take. (10000 Birds)

8. Turkeys can MOVE!

Turkeys can run at speeds up to 25 mph, and they can fly up to 55 mph. (National Wild Turkey Foundation)

9. The bearded ladies.

Typically male Turkeys sport a “beard”, which is really just a modified feather that hangs from their chest. This is a secondary sexual charasteristic, much like antlers on a deer. This characteristic does not define the sex of animal, but in this case, the beards and antlers are USUALLY expressed on males. This being said, female Turkeys can show a beard, and does can show antlers…rarely, but they can (if they have higher levels of testosterone than ‘normal’)! (This is all me, I knew this!)

AND 10. When you wish upon a…turkey?!

The wishbone that so many of us break on Thanksgiving vying for luck is actually called “furcula” (little fork). Why do they have these bones? The furcula is thought at least in part to store energy during flight during a half wing stroke and then release it back. (Huffington Post)


Hey, have a great Thanksgiving… please be thankful and spread the love!

'Deer check' 2012



Just a WARNING before I begin: this is going to be a gory, bloody post. If you have an aversion to hunting, and pictures of dead animals, please do not continue.

 

Photo credit: NYSDEC

On Sunday, November 18th, 2012 I accompanied NYSDEC Region 4 Fish and Wildlife Technician Gary Golja on a run around Region 4 (depicted at left) to collect some biological information from recently harvested white-tailed deer (plus 1 other species!). I'm originally from Region 8, and will probably mention that further through the post.

I'm not sure of where exactly we went, but if he had kicked me out of the truck, I would not have been able to get back home!

The morning was crisp, clear, and very sunny. Everything was covered in a frost that just sparkled.



Otsego Lakes is beyond those spruce trees, which I think was the source of the frostiness!

Stop reading now if you're sensitive to blood!

 

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The first place we stopped kept us busy for awhile...Chris Boss has a butcher shop on his dairy farm. The place was clean, cold, and obviously well kept. I was able to participate in a deer check last fall in Region 8, and visited a butcher that was not nearly as pleasant (as pleasant can be) to visit. You're probably wondering why on Earth I would volunteer my time on a Sunday to hang out with a bunch of carcasses. Acquiring biological data from dead animals is extrememly time efficient, especially if they're concentrated like they were here. We had to age the deer (I'll explain that process below), sex them, take down the deer tag number, what hunting season it was taken in, and we took a few samples as well. Doing all of this with live, wild animals is stressful (to animal and biologist), dangerous, and time consuming. Since the shotgun season just opened this weekend in the southern half of NY, there was no shortage of deer to take information from.

 

This wall was all likely heading to a
taxidermist sometime soon for preservation.

Each deer had a tag on it, and most of the ones we checked at this location were already skinned out. So we had to match the carcasses hanging above, to the skull caps (left). The deer with head and skin intact, was referred to as a "cape". We had to match those to a carass as well. The capes were going to most likely be sent to a taxidermist...as you can see, they seem to be larger bucks.

So everything was labeled, there just was a bit of back and forth to match them all up. Thank goodness it was cold out (mid 20's F!), because it could have been fragrant in there. Gary did all the "work", as he is the professional. Alicia, a classmate and a The Wildlife Society clubmate, and I just hung back and recorded data for him. We asked a million questions, and learned (and relearned...as I did this last fall) how to age the deer by their dentition (teeth) and antler size.

I believe Gary said that he's been at this for 30 years +, so he quite experienced and has looked at a lot of deer. I'm not sure who came up with the system of aging deer, but this system can be used to age almos to the month of birth.

 

On the other side of this form, there were depictions of a "young of the year" (aka: fawn) jaw (6 months or less), 1 year 5 months, 1 year 6 months, and 1 year 7 months, and 2 years 6 months.. An assumption was made, based on white-tailed deer natural history: all fawns are born in the spring (~May) of the year. There is some give and take, and overlap between conditions between ages, so the person doing the aging had to use his/her best judgement.

 

Key things to look for were: number of teeth (young of the year have less than adults), types of teeth (milk teeth vs. adult teeth), and the wear on the teeth. Deer are herbivores that browse and graze on soft succulent vegetation, and tougher woodier vegetation as well. Their teeth wear down and the dentine (brown part of tooth) is more and more exposed as the deer ages.

 

 

On deer that were not being saved for taxidermy, Gary was able to cut the cheek back giving us a better view at the teeth. AND because I didn't write it down/I can't see the teeth well enough in this picture, I can't give you an age for this deer. But, if I had to guess, based on the 3rd premolar (it isn't tri-cusped yet), that this is a young deer. Check out the Deer Hunters Guide for Aging and Jawbone Removal website I've been looking at.

 

Here we are at another location. Gary is checking out the rack from this young buck (likely 1 year 5/6 months old), and Alicia recording the data.

After much driving around, looking at over 75 dead deer, and having cold toes all day, Alicia and I were ready to go by the last stop. We pulled up and saw this:

 

 

And then inside we saw this:

 

Even more deer! These had already been seperated from the body, and the carasses were hanging in the cooler waiting to be butchered. I'm getting over being squeamish, but that doesn't mean I don't get grossed out! What I really don't like is how their tongues stick out!

 

We had many more deer to get through, but the 3 of us made quick work of collecting all the information Gary needed to turn into the state. All of this same information is gathered across the state, and is used by a statistician to determine what the population of NYS white-tails is, how many hunters there are, sex classes being taken, and age classes being taken. All of this is important for biologists and wildlife managers to be able to create management plans and hunting seasons to help maintain the populations of deer.

 

As we were almost done, a pickup truck backed up to the door of the shop with a big black bear in the bed of the truck! Anyone who knows me personally, or has read this blog for a length of time, you'll know I LOVE black bears. I get asked all the time if I'm sad when I see a dead one. No, I'm not. I understand the importance of hunting (to managing our resident bears), and I got to handle and inspect a very large black bear yesterday! If that hunter hadn't brought him in to be butchered, I would not have been able to see it. And this was even more exciting for Alicia, who has never experienced something like this before. Lucky for me, I have several times.

 

Alicia and the bear. This bear was taken in the town of Summit, NY on 11/18/2012.

 

 

Gary couldn't field-age this bear, but has to pull one to send into the state pathology lab to be aged. The tooth is sliced in half, and the cross section bears rings, similar to a trees growth rings. I can tell you though that this bear was not a cub born this year, a yearling, and was most likely several years old. Before the hunter gutted it in the field (they do that so the meat starts to cool down immediately, so it won't spoil before it's butchered and packaged) this bear likely weighed 300+ pounds.

 

Guts removed, this bear weighed in at 290 pounds.

 

 

It was a great day spent with Gary and Alicia! Gary mentioned some projects coming up this winter that we can participate in, one of which is a large fisher project across the state. Looking forward to working with him again!

 

 If you're interested in seeing my 'deer check' experience from last fall, check that entry out HERE.

 

 

 

 

2012 NYS shotgun season commences!





Mady on shotgun season-eve,
with her "hunting stand" (a folding bar stool)
strapped to her back!

This morning marks the opening of the 2012 shotgun season in NY. As I write this there are countless fathers, uncles, brothers, and sons out in the woods sitting high in a tree waiting for the perfect buck to carelessly wander close enough to take down. 

But at the same time there are plenty of ladies out there too- my roommate Mady in fact is up the hill behind the house as I write (and I just heard 2 shots, not sure if it was her or a neighbor, but I hope it was her…love venison steaks!).

I’ve been asked several times my “stance” on hunting, and I’ve been reluctant to share because it can be controversial…but I think it’s time to share.
 

I’m not a hunter (or huntress?), but I’m not anti-hunting.
 

I don’t have the gumption to get up at 5am, crawl into the freezing cold woods and sit there up in a tree. I am NOT a morning person. I don’t have it in me to shoot a living, breathing animal. And I certainly don’t have the stomach to field dress and then butcher the animal. But, because I’m pursuing a career in wildlife management, I realize the necessity of hunting. The licensing fees help fund salaries of biologists (which I hope to be) and law enforcement officers, as well as funding conservation efforts across the state. The removal of animals via hunting/trapping/fishing helps to “cull the herd” and somewhat maintain populations. And actually, the white-tailed deer population is increasing, and numbers of hunters is decreasing across the state (Hunting and Trapping Participation in NY)… so there are actually less hunters out there, than can put a dent in the deer population! And for all you meat-eaters out there, wild game is delicious! It often is healthier and leaner than store bought red meat. We all like organic/grass fed beef right?

All of that being said, I wish everyone luck and safety- please keep control of your muzzle and know what you’re shooting at! Keep track of your hunting buddies, if you’re hunting in pairs, and for the LOVE of Mother Nature, wear some blaze orange! I don’t even know what the statistics are like for hunting related accidents, but there are more than anyone wants.

The image below is borrowed from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation hunting section of their site. This has all the information NY hunters need to know. Check it out!

2012 NYS deer bow/regular hunting seasons.

If you or someone close to you happens to bag a nice white-tail, send me a comment and I’d love to share your picture!

Tomorrow I will be accompanying a Region 4 wildlife biologist on a mission to collect biological information from harvested deer. I’ll be writing an entry on that outing soon, so stay tuned.

Have a great weekend!

(Oh, and I just received a text from the woods: those shots were Mady…she missed a 4-point. Better luck next time!)


A different perspective...

I've been having some camera trapping issues lately...and so in a fit of rage, I pulled the camera from where I had it, and brought it right down close to the back of my house. This tree is "the flying squirrel tree" as well as the tree that has 3 bird feeders hanging from it. There is ALOT of activity that goes on, so I *assumed* I'd get some cool images.

At first, I stood the camera upright, and pointed it directly at the platform feeder, hoping to get flying squirrels. I did in fact get them, but the flash on this camera is WAAAAY too bright for up close subjects. I even tried to diffuse the flash by layering a folded plastic bag (folded multiple times) over the flash. Didn't really work...

Can you tell what you're looking at? That's a flyer coming right at you, tail erect, little paws reaching towards the camera...

 

And this one, the squirrel is perched on the right edge of the platform looking out.

 

Well, I wasn't quite satisfied, so I tried a different tactic. I cut a rectangle of an empty milkjug plastic, the clear-ish kind, not the solid white. Taped that over the flash and repositioned the camera, this time laying on it's back on the branch, pointing straight up the trunk of the tree. This happens to be a Boxelder, by the way. Here's what the night time looks like:

 

 

Something triggered the camera, but got away. It's also STILL too bright. I did get some cool daytime action though...

 





 

Both the video and this last image are of a gray squirrel!

 

I know none of this is too exciting in the world of camera trapping, but I've been meaning to start playing with different angles of mounting my camera, other than 90 degrees; to the ground. I don't remember where I first saw this being done, but John at Backyard Beasts did it recently and yielded some cool results: Flying squirrel in action... which inspired me to try!

 

So I took the camera down to check it, and now THIS time, per John's advice, I'm blacking out 2/3 of the flash with solid black electrical tape. This time I just set it on the back porch railing with some bird seed on the railing (I have to get out a ladder and climb up like 8 feet to get to the branch otherwise), and will hopefully have better results with the flash. THEN I'll mount it back up the tree.

 

Any suggestions for flash diffusion???

 

 

A series of peculiar events...

Dead brook trout, nailed to a tree.

Recently I acquired several dead fish from the hatchery I work at (SUNY Cobleskill). I shared with my readers that I was going to rig them up somehow in the woods, and place my camera trap near it, to hopefully lure in a curious carnivore like a fisher, bobcat, or who knows what else.

At first, I nailed the fish to a tree. This worked well, until it didn’t. As written about in The Masked Bandit: A Robbery, the fish hung on the tree for awhile, until after a flurry of ‘coon activity, it was gone. I didn’t get a picture of the culprit in the act of stealing, but I can assume it was a ‘coon.

I also received a few comments that perhaps I should rig the fish up on a cable or wire, instead of having the nails sticking out, which could hurt wildlife, or even me or whoever wandered by. Good idea, wish I thought of it to begin with (nailing into a tree through a fish is grisly business).

So 2 days ago, I thawed out a fish, I had stuck the other 2 in the freezer triple wrapped by the way… :) I found a piece of cable left over from a mirror hanging kit I had, and hiked up the hill behind the house to set the thing up.

Stupidly, I did not take a picture of the finished product. It was really cool. I had the fish cabled through the gills, and it was free-hanging from a limb, so nothing could climb up the tree and easily get the fish, so I thought. The camera was set ~10 feet away. Then I “set it and forgot it”, ’til today, when I just HAD to check.

Back up that hill I trudged. I reach the camera site and imediately notice: the fish was GONE. The cable was still hanging there, nothing was disturbed…like I would expect if an animal struggled to free the fish. I was really interested to see whodunnit, so I turned to unmount the camera from the bracket that attaches it to the tree. As I was removing it from the bracket, I noticed that the bracket was broken in several places. It’s really cheap plastic, and not meant to last (ironic…business security to keep the consumer comin’ back…). But it was strange. Fish gone, broken bracket. When I checked the camera, there was only 1 image recorded. And here it is:

BLANK!

Something must’ve tripped the camera, but managed to get away, with my brook trout. The cable is right in the center of the image, you can’t see it because it blends in.

Let me recap:

1) Missing fish, no disturbance, cable intact.
2) Broken bracket (but I should add, the camera wasn’t tilted or off center…it was like someone handled the camera, broke it from inexperience of use, but was able to set it back up almost like normal)
3) NO PICTURES TO REVEAL THE CULPRIT.

I’m so frustrated with this Cuddeback Attack Flash, that company, and camera trapping in general lately. I used to use such reliable equipment, and always got great pics, or at least pictures of a blurry critter running by! At least SOMEthing. Now it is hit or miss with results.

So, I took the camera and cable down, came back down the hill and rigged the camera up on a branch of a tree in the backyard where we have a platform bird feeder. I *should* get some great bird pics and judging by all the camera flashes I’ve seen tonight- some interesting flying squirrel pictures! Hopefully they turn out!

Flying squirrel...in action!

I can't take credit for this AMAZING picture, but when I saw it posted on the NYS Conservationist Magazine Facebook page, I knew I had to share it with fellow bloggers and readers. If you've been a reader for any amount of time, you'll know that I love me some flying squirrels. They're unique, resourceful and darn cute. I know, I know...they're pests and get into all sorts of trouble. I have some in my roof, I know they're annoying. BUT they're super cool regardless.

To read my other flying squirrel entries, click HERE!

About a week or so ago (late October), I saw this picture posted on the Conservationist's FB page:

Photo credit: Michael J. Morsch, Sr.

 

Like I said, I really wanted to share it...but needed to get permission from the person who submitted it. I wrote an email to the Conservationist, and they forwarded my email on, and Mr. Morsch of Speonk, Long Island, New York wrote back. So yes, flying squirrels really are EVERYWHERE :) !!!

Mr. Morsch shared with me that he had this Cuddeback Capture IR camera set about 3 feet off the ground, and was quite surprised to see this image show up! I'll say it again: flying squirrels do not fly. Confusing, I know, but they glide rather. That large membrane of skin you can see between wrists and ankles is called the petagium, and that allows the squirrel to catch air and glide from tree to tree. I've seen this several times, and it never ceases to amaze me. Because the squirrels can't fly, they tend to lose altitude from the lauch site to the land site. So, this squirrel looks like it landed right ON the camera, from probably high above an adjacent tree. Imagine if this was a flash camera? That would have scared the bejesus out of this little one!

Thanks Morsch family for letting me share your awesome catch!

Finicky Fisher

Since I moved to Schoharie, I've been told to be on the lookout for a few animals different that have been absent from the Finger Lakes in the past. Those 3 specific critters are the bobcat (Lynx rufus), the porcupine (Erithizon dorsatum), and the fisher (Martes pennanti). They are my "Big 3" of the Catskill region of NY.

I got a great picture of a bobcat in my backyard within weeks of moving here:





And I've seen enough road-killed porcupines to last me a lifetime! I would like to see a live one show up on my camera though...







What I have yet to see with my own eyes, or through my camera, is the fisher. I have had two classmates set up cameras in my backyard. Both cameras were set up within a stones throw of mine. In fact, one was set up on the very same tree that mine was on when I got the bobcat, although I had moved mine temporarily...ugh!



I wanted to share the pictures because fisher are cool. They belong to the weasel family (Mustelidae), making them cousins to weasels, mink, marten, otter, badgers, and wolverines! It's pretty crazy to think that they're all related, but they are. And, for a long time the skunks were thrown in that family too, although now they've been placed in their own family.



The "weasels", and I use that generally, are hard to camera trap, or observe with the naked eye. They are very smart for their size, they are wary, and are mostly nocturnal. So, unless you're skulking around in the dark, in their specific habitat (because they all have very specific habitats), you're not likely to see them. I've only ever seen mink, otter, and a weasel species of some sort by chance. I've much more often see sign left behind: scat.



Here are the fisher images:




Photo credit: Adam Rogers

Photo credit: Courtney Stein

I don't know why I haven't gotten a picture of my own yet! Unless it's the technology I'm using. I am using a flash camera, where as both of these pictures are taken on an infra-red camera. Perhaps the flash keeps the fisher away, although I would think that I should at least be able to get ONE picture before the flash goes off and spooks the animal! ((Plus..I still think my Cuddeback is a lemon.))


And as you can see on the time stamps, this is likely the same animal. Taken the same night, 3 minutes apart. The bottom picture was actually taken first. My camera was BETWEEN these two. I don't get it!!!

Oh well, I'm crossing my fingers for the future.

Sleeting, and Snow Geese, and Sandhills...oh my!

Photo credit: The Wildlife Society

When I was at FLCC, I was very involved with their chapter of The Wildlife Society. I was elected to be the president in the fall of 2010, and then was lucky enough to keep that title through 'til I graduated in May 2012. My current college, SUNY Cobleskill, has a very active chapter. I think it's a bit easier for a 4-year school to keep members, there's less turnover and more momentum between school years. And because FLCC is still very near and dear to my heart, I had wanted to do a joint event between the chapters. FLCC and Cobleskill have a good articulation agreement, so many students transfer here from there, as I did, and I thought it would be cool to get the 2 groups to mingle!

Students here already had a field trip planned to Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in Seneca Falls, NY for this past Saturday, 11/3. For FLCC, this is a quick 35/40 minute drive. For us, it was more like two and a half hours. BUT it's worth it. This past spring I planned this same trip for FLCC's chapter, and we had a great time. Check that out at: Wildlife Wednesday: April 18th, 2012.


Photo credit: Google Maps
A= FLCC, B= Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, C= SUNY Cobleskill
 

Montezuma is located at a prime location for migrating waterfowl. As you can see at letter B, the Refuge is located between NY's Great Lake Ontario, and at the northern end of NY's largest Finger Lake, Cayuga. Montezuma is a complex of wetlands. There's a lot of emergement vegetation as well as open water for birds to rest at. In the spring and fall, it's an AWESOME place to bird at. Upstate NYers are lucky to have this great spot to visit.

I've been many, many times with my family, friends, classmates, and fellow club members, and I can add to my "bird list" everytime I visit. What made this visit unique is that not only are waterfowl migrating, but we just experienced Hurricane Sandy here in the northeastern United States. While Upstate New York really didn't suffer from Sandy, the birds may or may not have been blown about, and they're using this Refuge even more than normal.

The day we went was cold, rainy, snowy, windy...not ideal for us, but the birds didn't seem to care. My only complaint about the weather was that I couldn't keep my binocs and camera clear of water droplets. I did the best I could with pictures, but the lighting wasn't the best. There were some cool birds there this time. The following is what I could best capture!

Oh, and by the way: our day was led by John Van Niel, a past professor of mine, current prof at FLCC. He has volunteered for years at MNWR, and know his birds. I selfishly wanted him to lead so that I could visit with him and the other FLCC students, and I think Cobleskill students enjoyed him too. Thank you JVN! (John's the one who got me into blogging, please visit his blog: Backyard Beasts)

We caravan'ed around the Refuge. There is a several mile "wildlife drive" that you can take, and there are several spots to get out and observe (from the road). This was one of them!

Cobleskill TWS Treasurer Kristi is using one of Cobleskill's PREMIER spotting scopes: a 85mm Zeiss Diascopes, 20-75x. I've heard that apparently we have around $45K worth of this gear, which is pretty awesome!

Canada Geese

The next place we travelled to was the Tow Path Road. John said that this was open to the public, but I'd like to think it's a secret spot. Because we saw this:

Sandhill Cranes!

 

Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Soldotna, AK
May 28, 2012

Sandhill Cranes are special to me, as I'm sure they are to many people. I first learned about these birds in the Conservation 100 class I took almost 3 years ago. John was the instructor of that class, and drilled Aldo Leopold's collection of essays, "A Sand County Almanac" into my brain. I'm a reader. I love it- BUT this was and is a hard read for me. I've since picked it up 4-5 times and tried to read it cover to cover, and I can't. So instead, every now and then I pick a story and read just that. Aldo purchased his "shack" in Wisconsin because he heard that Sandhill Cranes had been seen nearby. So he purchased this land with hopes of seeing them one day. This was back at the turn of the century, when populations of animals were low due to overhunting and slaughter. Aldo is the Father of Conservation, as he's known, and established the beginnings of managing wildlife in the United States. John also has a few great Crane stories himself, and told me before I went to Alaska this summer, to watch for them. He told me that even though I may have never heard them before, I'd know it when they were near.



Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge
Seneca Falls, NY
November 3rd, 2012

My first night in AK, I was sitting on my porch (at 11:30 pm reading in the daylight) and heard this bizarre trumpeting. I ran down the steps out into the open of the parking lot and stood staring, open mouthed at a pair of Sandhills flying over.

 

It was magical.

 

So now, I associate that sound with Alaska. You know how sometimes a particular smell or sound can bring you back to an earlier time and place? That's what these Cranes on Saturday did for me. Brought me back to my cabin in the black spruce and poplar forest I lived in for 3 months.

Ok, anyway...



Snow Geese

Assorted ducks and swans and geese...not sure of species. This was REALLY far away...

AnotherSandhill Crane...and for more information on birding at MNWR, visit: Montezuma Birding.

 

It was a great time for all, and I hope we can do a joint event again in the future!