All Blog Posts (140)

By Christine A. Smyczynski

One of the premier birding events in western New York is the annual Birding Festival at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown. This event will appeal to novice birders as well as more experienced birders. There are a number of lectures, field trips, exhibits, and other events during the four-day festival.

The event kicks off on Thursday June 9 with a reception at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. Jim Berry, president of the RTPI, will give a…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

Wild Wings is a not for profit organization that houses and cares for birds of prey that have been permanently injured and unable to survive on their own in the wild. This organization, which was incorporated in 1995, is based in Mendon Ponds Park in Honeoye Falls, which is south of Rochester.

Their mission as a wild bird sanctuary is to foster awareness of the natural world, and teach environmental programs to school, Scouts, and other groups. These…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

Today’s blog  takes you to several nature preserves and wildlife management areas located in rural Allegany County, probably one of the least developed counties in western New York. These nature areas are also, for the most part, mainly undeveloped, meaning that there are no amenities, like restrooms, visitor’s centers, and picnic areas. Most of the areas mentioned here are under the jurisdiction of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

You like to bird watch and keep track of all the birds you see. Now you can keep a record of that information electronically and contribute important information to databases of bird records that can be sued by researchers. Two of these databases were mentioned in a recent issue of New York State Conservationist Magazine.

NY eBird (www.ebird.org/ny) is a joint project of the New York State Ornithological…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

What better place to bird watch and/or enjoy nature than a park. In the Buffalo area we are blessed with a beautiful park system designed by the renowned landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted, who is considered the Father of Landscape Architecture. This 1,200 acre urban park system is considered Olmsted’s best work.

The system, which was designed by Olmsted in 1868, consists of six major parks, Cazenovia, Delaware, Front, Martin Luther King Jr.,…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

The Bergen Swamp, located in northern Genesee County in the town of Byron, is one of 600 National Natural Landmarks in the United States. However, it has the distinction of being the very first site that was given that recognition back in 1964. The swamp is managed by the Bergen Swamp Preservation Society, which also manages several other natural areas in the Rochester area, including Taylor Marsh, near Honeoye Lake, Zurich Bog, located east of Rochester,…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

Today’s blog revisits Braddock Bay State Fish and Wildlife Management Area, an area that was mentioned briefly in my series about birding along the Seaway Trail, which I blogged about several months ago. Braddock Bay State Fish and Wildlife Area, a 2,402 acre nature area located west of Rochester on Lake Ontario, is considered a migration “hot spot,” as millions of birds travel through this area during spring migration. There are about 130 species of…

http://jackieplacebloggin.blogspot.com

I have my blog up and working.

It's about what I do at my web site.

Today I saw a rare bird in Arkansas it doesn't usally come this far south and it flew off before I could get a photo.

I am hoping it will come back I can hear it sing in the yard.

It is a Rose Breasted Gross Beak. I loved seeing them in New York at our feeders as a…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

Today’s blog takes us down to an interesting natural area in Chautauqua County. Panama Rocks is a privately-owned park located about seven miles south of Chautauqua Lake. It is the largest outcropping of glacier-sculpted quartz conglomerate rock in the world.

About 300 million years ago, these rocks were sea islands, part of an ancient river delta. Eventually, thousands of feet of sediment built up over the sea islands and the rock was compressed,…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

If you want to find out more about birds, birding events, and more, check out www.birdstars.org, which is put together by a consortium of leading bird organizations, including the Bird Education Network, Birdzilla, Environment for the Americas, National Bird Feeding Society, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System and the Wild Bird Center of America. One can sign up for newsletters and…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

    Since we celebrate Earth Day in April, I thought I’d highlight some of the “green” products found at USA Bird Supply. And, until April 24th, they are running an online only special. Order from the website using the code GoGreen, and you will receive 15% off your order.

    Go green with some of their recycled feeder, many made with recycled plastic. Not only are these feeders environmentally friendly, they are durable and actually safer for the…

By Christine A. Smyczynski

    The Penn Dixie Paleontological Outdoor Education Center is a 32 acre regional fossil site owned and operated by the Hamburg Natural History Society. It was founded in 1993 to protect the area and promote education about natural resources. The site contains an abundance of 380 million year old fossils from the Devonian era. The public can visit the site to study and collect fossils and learn about local geology.

    There are several upcoming…

The tree swallow is a dart of a bird that winters as far south as Central America, Florida, and Baja and returns to New England meadows and marshes in April on a path of weaving bobs and streaming wires of iridescence. On the wing…