Back to the Grasslands


The Grassland Bird Trust held a "Raptor Fest" at the Washington County (aka Fort Edward) Grasslands today. We skipped the morning events (flight demonstrations and lectures) and joined an afternoon hike around the property. 

The birding was exceptional, capped off with a Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis) -- only the second one I've seen and heard in my life. They are a relatively rare species and listed as threatened in New York State.

Other birds included Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii), and many Boblink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) nesting and singing in the fields.


We were with a group of biology/ornithology students from Union College in Schenectady, New York. Their well-rounded knowledge of nature was impressive. They stopped to study insects, bones, and plants along the way. 


The mid-afternoon sun was quite warm. After several days of cold and rain, we're suddenly in a summer-like heat wave that will bring temperatures into the low 80s (F) this week.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OPENING DAY FOR GRANVILLE (NEW YORK) DAILY PHOTO

Image
 March 3, 2026 Welcome to Granville, New York, Daily Photo!  Quoting from Wikipedia: Granville is a town on the eastern border of Washington County, New York, United States, abutting Rutland County, Vermont. It is part of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town population was 6,215 at the 2020 census. The town of Granville contains a village that also bears the name Granville. Granville is properly part of "upstate New York" and is on the Route 22 corridor that stretches east of the Hudson River from the Bronx all the way to the Canadian border. Granville is a historic center of the slate industry, producing colorful slate for roofs, walkways, and other uses. There are still active mines and slate producing factories. Some beautiful homes in the village of Granville attest to the area's former wealth. The region as a whole is agricultural. A major employer in the village is Telescope, a fabricator of patio furniture. I've lived in the town for a little...
Read more

Amazon

Image
Depending on your perspective, it's a modern convenience or the Devil's handiwork, or maybe both. I read that when Amazon converted a former lumber yard building in Granville into a warehouse/distribution center in 2023, they promised 200 jobs, but it's unclear whether there are currently more than 100 employees there. (I am going to call them to ask.) That's still a decent number for our small town. I am not out of the habit of using Amazon; there are products which are easier to order, and usually less expensive, than driving at least 45 minutes to an hour to a retail center to buy. I read a lot of books on my iPhone Kindle app. But I fully acknowledge Amazon's reputation for terrible, dangerous working conditions, its animosity toward unions, and the damage to our country and the world that Bezos and his ilk do.  Here I go getting political again. And I need prettier pictures. Coming up soon, I promise! Happy one-week Daily Photo bloggiversary to me!!
Read more

Timberdoodling With Friends

Image
We went out last evening at sundown with our friends Kate and Tim to listen and look for American Woodcock, aka Timberdoodles, doing their mating performance (description below). They live next to a rail trail that bissects several miles of fields and wetlands. Kate and Tim strolling ahead of us. They are such a lovely couple. Tim is a bird and nature artist as well as a birder Our first sighting was of an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) flying by. As it got darker, a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) hooted from the woods. At about the point it was fully dusk ...  Swamp habitat along the rail trail. If you look closely, you can see Venus shining in the cloudless sky. ... the timeberdoodles started their displays. There must have been up to a dozen of them on the mile-long path we walked. They are difficult to see but unmistakeable to hear; at one point,  however, one burst into flight right in front of us and went right over our heads!  Finally, as it faded to nigh...
Read more