Bird Feeder Survey, Central New York in Jan. 2020

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Nick Hunter

I enjoy photographing wildlife visitors to our feeders, especially when there is snow in the air! These are some of the birds that brighten our winter days on a regular basis.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Northern Cardinal, female

Northern Cardinal, male

Goldfinch, in non-breeding plumage

Blue Jay, opening a sunflower seed

Tufted Titmouse

White-throated Sparrow

Mourning Dove

Mourning Dove, one of about 20 fluttering in to feed on the ground

Happy Earth Day

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Nick Hunter

Celebrating Earth Day with images from April, 2018.

Starlings searching for spilled grain on an active farm

Mallard at rest on a wintry spring day

Ring-billed Gull foraging in a flooded field

Mature whitetail after a long, cold rain

Turkey Vulture cleaning up a road-kill

White-throated Sparrow with a kernel of corn

Breeding Wood Frog in a vernal pool – today – a month behind schedule

Wild turkey (a young gobbler or “jake”)

Songbirds Weathering the Storm

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Nick Hunter

Black-capped Chickadee

White-breasted Nuthatch

Blue Jay

White-throated Sparrow

Bird Feeder Survey – 14January2016

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Nick Hunter

Winter weather isn’t always conducive to outdoor photography. There are times when cheating, i.e. setting up beside the wood stove and observing wildlife over bait, is the more rewarding (and sane) thing to do. Mindful of that reality, but wanting to work with the special effects of snow, I decided to create a photographic record of the wild visitors to my “bird” feeders this winter. My goal is to present each visiting species, bird or mammal, popular or unpopular, in an aesthetically pleasing way.

European Starling

White-throated Sparrow

“Stubby” the tailless, three-legged Red Squirrel!

Benign Neglect

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Nick Hunter

Some try to be kind and call it a “farmer’s lawn”, implying that it is functional and economical at the expense of beauty, that real grass is a minority occupant. Others are more blunt and say it’s a badly neglected piece of real estate, a sad reflection of my twisted priorities.

I use the phrase “benign neglect” to justify my imperfect lawn. The many resident cottontails, butterflies, bees and birds are with me on this. Robins are raising a family on the healthy earthworm population that resides under the untreated sod. Indeed, it is a farmer’s lawn — green, friendly and ecologically functional.

Dandelions and English Daisies

I actually worked on the lawn today and, as I pulled, mowed and whacked, decided to photograph during work breaks. I focused on Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and its associate, Speedwell (Veronica spp.). English Daisy (Bellis perennis) was also in the mix. All of the featured flowers are commonly labeled as perennial lawn weeds.

Dandelion (and honeybee) surrounded by a carpet of Speedwell

The tiny (1/4 inch) flower of Speedwell

Dandelions are prolific generalists, capable of colonizing and carpeting a fallow field. The reproductive potential of the species is enormous: millions of air-born seeds are produced in a field like this; estimates approach 100 million per hectare. Although native to Europe, dandelions are now naturalized throughout the temperate regions of the world

A weed is a plant growing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Under different circumstances, it may not be a weed at all. Dandelion root is a registered drug (diuretic) in Canada; the leaves yield nutritious salad greens; the flowers are harvested to make dandelion wine.

Wildlife species that utilize dandelions (leaves, nectar or seeds) for food include deer, rabbits, turkeys, goldfinches, sparrows, butterflies and bees.