Reptiles

Along with the warm weather reptiles start to move out and about. There are a few different types of reptiles that are found around upstate New York. The most common being the Garter Snake this is an abundant species up here and is the most likely reptile you will see. There are a few different types of milk snakes that live up here as well but are far harder to find. Then there is a Grass Snake which is an emerald green color and are even rarer but they are quite extraordinary. With the warm weather I have come across quite a few different Garter snakes some in the fields, most in the woods and a few in our garden. Although it is hard to believe there are a few different lizards that live around here as well. I have never seen them before but there around. The Fence lizard is found around here but is pretty rare.  

Garter Snake in a garden. These snakes are quite common and are found all over from woods, fields to bodies of water.

work

For the past two weeks I have been taking the data and putting it into excel. This has been a long process and is not very interesting. There are some cool things though that I have been able to do with this, you can show graphs of peeks of bird migration and when things show up, flowering dates and other things. I also have been going on a few walks and bike rides taking pictures and recording data. It has been hard as rain usually sets back the number of animals I can see. But it also has allowed me to enter a whole lot of data into excel. I have now been working on my narrative for the final project along with the research commentary which has been a good reminder of why I chose to do this project. It also has helped me get motivated to start working on the presentation. The presentation is on June 6th which is only 2 weeks away. This is hard to believe as time has flown by these past few months. I am prepared though which is good and already have the basics of the power point presentation setup.

Update

My project is going very well, I have been entering a lot of data into excel. An example of the data I enter is when a bird shows up and how many I see on a walk. For example Tree swallows showed up for the first time on my land on April 12th and I saw 2 of them. So for the day I would write out the species I saw and then the number that I saw. 

If I can I also try and get a picture of the species of animal or plant that I see. This can be hard for birds and animals as it could just fly over and then be out of sight so that is a little tricky but here are a few pictures that I have taken of the annual migration through our area. 

This is a picture of an Oven bird, they are a type of thrush. These birds migrate from central and south america and breed around here, there song sounds like they are repeatedly saying teacher teacher teacher.

This is a picture of a Yellow-rumped Warbler, this species breeds in our woods and winters in central  america and the southern U.S. They are easily identifiable from the yellow patches that are seen on it's side.

This beautiful bird is also a migrant and is called a Rose Breasted Grossbeak, these birds also breed around here and fly down to south america during the winter. They are quite common around feeders. 

This is a picture of  a Barn swallow also a migrant from South america these birds inhabit open fields and get their name from nesting in barns or along houses.

The Barn swallow above uses this nest which is right in the center of our main entrance  to our house. This nest is quite old over 20 years and is still used as you can see they do not use white mud (we painted that part) but continue to fix up the old nest. 

Mammals of the area

There are quite a few mammals found around this area most we hardly ever see as they are very cryptic but there are a few that are quite common. American Red squirrels, Eastern Grey Squirrels, Easter Chipmonks and White Tailed deer are common. They can easily be found through out the city and suburbs of this area. Then there are the common but cryptic mammals these include the American opossum, North American Raccoon, Brown Rats, and House mice. It is stated that in any major city you are always within a 4 foot radius of a Brown Rat. This is remarkable and it is mainly do to how well the can adapt and reproduce they are a true K strategist species. Another family of mammals that falls into the cryptic category is the Mustelid family, this includes skunks,   weasels, fishers and wolverines. These are very hard animals to see and usually the best way to know that these mammals are around are by their tracks.
One type of Mustelid that lives around this area is called an Ermine these small creatures are superb hunters and have caused quite a few problems where they are not native. They eat anything they can grab hold of, birds, other mammals from rabbits to mice, incests and reptiles. In the summer they have a brown coat but in winter they have a pure white coat with a black tip on their tales. These coats were very sought after during the fur trade in the 1800s and dramatically reduced the population during this time. However now ermines are making a comeback and are quite common just very very hard to see.

Finally the main carnivores around this area are mammals. If we lived around here 200 years ago we would have many more different large mammals, at one point Mountain Lions, Black Bears, Lynx, and Grey Wolves would have lived here. But during the early 1900s there was a mass extermination of these large mammals as they would kill livestock and sometimes people. This led to the extermination of Mountain Lions, Wolves and Black bears from this area. This caused a few problems that are still linger today. One of the reasons why white tail deer now are such a problem is that Wolves where one of the primary predators of deer, and with them gone the deer population has been able to explode with no natural predators able to kill them. Coyotes can take out young but are not able to take on full grown adults like Grey Wolves can. Coyotes though are now also exploding in population for the same reason as deer, since Grey Wolves and Coyotes used to compete for territory many Wolves would end up killing the Coyotes in order to have a larger area for themselves. On the land I live on there is a pack of coyotes that comes through and are especially active and loud at night. Here is a video of a coyote pack howling.

Breeding plumages

Through out the year birds change their plumage from their mating plumage to their regular plumage which is usually a duller version that allows for better camouflage with their landscape. The breeding plumages of birds vary immesnly and usually are incredibly exuberant and flashy. Females don't usually have any breeding plumages and are dull compared to the males, the reason for this is because since they are on a nest they have to blend in much more than that of a male so if they were brightly colored they would have a disadvantage of having to stay in one spot for such a long time.

Male wood duck

As you can see this plumage is a lot more flashy than that of the female, this as explained above is because the female has to sit on a nest during incubation.  

Female Wood Duck

Female Wood Duck, as you can see is not very flashy and can blend in pretty well in the landscape.

Male Tree Swallow

The Male tree Swallow has a much bluer back than that of the female it is also glossy. Unlike the wood duck above the male Tree Swallow will keep this plumage throughout the year while the male Wood Duck will Molt.

Female Tree Swallow

The female here is brownish and darker and less glossy than that of the male this is for the same reason as the female wood duck and it is an evolutionary advantage to be a duller color. 

It's getting green

After a very long winter and a pretty cold spring, plants are blooming trees are budding and it is getting green once again. Through out the woods Leeks, also known as Ramps, are everywhere. These are edible plants which are like a wild onion and are delicious. They can be eaten raw or most people use them in soups and stews for their nice flavor. These are one of the first plants that grow in the spring and are able to withstand multiple frosts.

Wild leeks you eat the roots.

Along with leeks Red maples are beginning to bud giving the hills a reddish tone another early sign of spring which is very welcoming. There are many trees that are now beginning to bud giving the hills a green tint. The deciduous forests of North America where once a non stop forest from the middle of Maine to the edges of Ohio south to Georgia. It is one of Americas largest biomes and includes much diversity in plant life to animal life. Every year the trees in this region loose their leaves in the fall for preparation for winter as if they kept their leaves it would be a waste of energy, and they would die do to the freezing and expansion of their cells. In the spring the regrow their leaves and the cycle continues.

This is a picture of a budding Red Maple sapling

Summer Homes

Winter is harsh in upstate New York as most of you know, cold temperature, lots and lots of snow, and it's long.  Starting in the middle of march migratory birds start arriving back to their summer breeding grounds, some go as for north as the upper reaches of the tundra and some stay here. The reason why birds come back up instead of staying in their winter homes is that there is plenty of food in the north with many bug hatches providing a plethora of food and there are not as many predators as there would be if they stayed in the southern parts.

Tree Swallow (Tachycienta bicolor)

One example of a migratory bird is the Tree Swallow which spends it's winters in central and south america and then migrates back to its wintering homes as far north as the upper stretches of Canada. The Tree Swallow is a fairly common small bird which lives in open fields where it eats bugs. They are one of the more common birds that people have in bird houses if next to a field. They feed on flying insects which causes them to live next to open areas where these incests are abundant.