From the Field – Page 4 – Fishers Island Conservancy

Indigo Blue

An Indigo Bunting and a White Throated Sparrow pause in their preferred habitat: thickets and bushy wood edges.

Indigo Buntings, abundant songbirds, are sometimes nicknamed “blue canaries”, but are part of the cardinal family. This migratory bird ranges from southern Canada to northern Florida during the breeding season, and from southern Florida to northern South America during the winter.

The White Throated Sparrow is one of the continent’s best-studied and most familiar songbirds. It is found at some season throughout much of North America, south of the tree line and principally east of the Rocky Mountains.

From the Field, Field Note Justine Kibbe June 26, 2019

June 26, 2019

Crow’s Thievery

Field Notes, From the Field

A band of crows that regularly patrols both ends of Elizabeth Airport runway have discovered “easy pickins”, while mother Killdeer sounds the alarm circling around her clutch of eggs hidden inside tiny potholes of broken pavement.

From the Field, Field Note Justine Kibbe June 12, 2019

June 12, 2019

At a Snail’s Pace

Field Notes, From the Field

Alone No More!

Field Notes, From the Field, News

I am so happy to have seen a spotted sandpiper pair south of the airport runway on Sanctuary of Sands. A lone sandpiper has arrived every spring since 2015, and now there are a pair of these exquisite shorebirds!

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

The spotted sandpiper occurs across North America. It has richly spotted breeding plumage, a teetering gait, stuttering wingbeats and showy courtship dances.

Female spotted sandpipers arrive at breeding grounds early to establish and defend territory. Females also may mate with four different males at a time, but it is the male that incubates the eggs and cares for the young.

From the Field, Field Note Justine Kibbe June 3, 2019

June 3, 2019