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Great Birds, Poor Photos!

Filed under: Chat — January 7, 2010 @ 10:48 pm

Greetings,

Today on the way up to Coxsackie I stopped at 4 Mile Point. Didn’t see the Screech-Owl or any “good” passerines (wrens, thrushes, etc.). However, while walking a trail on the Scenic Hudson property I did flush a lone BARRED OWL ahead of me. Unexpected, but totally gratifying. (more…)

Happy 2010!

Filed under: Chat — January 1, 2010 @ 10:13 pm

From all of us here at Chat Happens, Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Filed under: Chat — December 24, 2009 @ 9:42 pm

Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us at Chat Happens.

The Gulls are Coming…

Filed under: Chat — December 20, 2009 @ 11:38 am

Greetings,

Last night I had the great fortune of spending some time with Chat Happens Co-Administrator, Ryan, for a little dinner on his way through my home area. Catching up was of course great, as were talks of birding adventures past and hopeful ones in the future. Catching me totally off guard at the end of the eat-and-greet, was a Christmas gift given to me from Ryan. As should be expected by now (there is a well accepted pattern), I was given a new bird book to add to my growing collection. The book is “Gulls of the Americas” by Howell/Dunn, and is something I’ve been wanting to add to my bookshelf since its arrival to the published scene.  (more…)

Winter’s Sprite

Filed under: Chat — December 14, 2009 @ 10:48 am

Looking outside my window this morning towards my bird feeders, I noticed one of which is perhaps my favorite birds to see in the winter. No, it wasn’t a redpoll, or a siskin, or even a grosbeak, it was perhaps a bird that some don’t associate with winter…a wren. Now, living in the northeast in the Upstate region of New York, at this time of year it could only be one type of wren…a Carolina. (more…)

Winter Raptor Research 2009/2010

Filed under: Chat — December 12, 2009 @ 11:22 am

Greetings,

In the coming weeks to months I will have the great opportunity to be working for the Greene County IDA in upstate NY studying the land usage of winter raptors on two parcels of land. These lands are a part of the greater Coxsackie Grasslands Complex, a unique and truly valuable resource to grassland birds in Upstate NY. (more…)

IES Lowland Banding

Filed under: Chat — September 8, 2009 @ 7:30 pm

Greetings,

No real back story here. We did some banding today in the Lowlands at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies targeting American Robins, which surprisingly have been terribly difficult to catch. We did catch 5 today, as well as a few cool other birds. Here are some photos for some of these birds that had the time to be photographed. Enjoy! (more…)

Cary Institute Lowlands Bird Banding

Filed under: Chat — August 18, 2009 @ 6:00 pm

Greetings,

Today while capturing and banding birds for the Anaplasma project at IES, we had a nice assortment of birds make their way into the net. While the highlights were several, please take a look at the photos below. (more…)

Lawrence’s Warbler!!!

Filed under: Chat — August 12, 2009 @ 8:05 pm

Greetings,

Several weeks ago I started my current position as a bird bander at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY. For the first time in my career as a bird biologist I was given the opportunity to work in the local area which I grew up in (I work one county south of where I live (Dutchess and Columbia respectively)). This was a very exciting opportunity; a chance to finally work in my field of choice in a region that means so much to me and is so close to my heart! (more…)

So start the trills…

Filed under: Chat — March 19, 2009 @ 4:10 pm

Greetings,

With my window open today getting some atmosphere into my room, I heard the trill of a singing Dark-eyed Junco outside my yard across the street. This is the first of trills that I have heard this year, and it made me remember one of my favorite articles that I wrote on the site, the Trillogy. If you are like me and you need a refresher on this, please check it out. It will make you ready for the Chipping Sparrows and Pine Warblers yet to come!

Chad

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