If it wasn’t already abundantly clear in the past weeks, winter is here! Even though the world is covered in snow and ice, it doesn’t mean that life is frozen. In fact, Chautauqua County’s bird life is every bit as fascinating during the winter months as it is during spring and summer – albeit with a different cast of characters.
In fact, several sites in our area have earned official “Important Bird Area (IBA)” status because they provide critical stop-over habitat for migrating waterfowl during the colder months. The IBA program is part of an international effort to identify areas of greatest significance to bird life. In our area, the program is administered by Audubon New York which currently identifies 136 IBAs across the state – with five located in Chautauqua County. Two of the most prominent local IBAs, Chautauqua Lake and Dunkirk Harbor/Point Gratiot, are of greatest value to birds when little open water remains. Waterfowl in particular are forced to move incessantly as lakes freeze. Most waterfowl species breed north of us and need to be in the boreal regions of Canada or the prairie potholes of the Midwest by springtime.
However, in the months leading up to that they are pushed south as cold weather spreads down from the arctic and covers lakes and ponds with ice. During periods when Chautauqua Lake is nearly completely frozen, tens of thousands of ducks, geese, swans, grebes, and loons gather in the last open sections of the lake – often near the outlet. Celoron Park is a great place to watch these birds when the conditions are right. Note that as ice comes and goes with changing weather conditions, so do the numbers of birds present there. Once the lake freezes completely, the birds are forced to move farther south and find other temporary “stop-over” habitat that provides food and shelter until conditions change again.
Being much bigger, Lake Erie takes far longer to freeze – if it happens at all. Sheltered bays along the Lake Erie shore, including Dunkirk Harbor and Barcelona Harbor are therefore also great places to watch wintering waterfowl. More than 25 species of ducks, geese, and swans are routinely found in these waters and some can be as colorful as the migratory songbirds that visit us from the tropics during the summer months, making a lake visit during the winter as worthwhile as it is in summer.
Wherever large numbers of birds congregate, predators and scavengers follow. Bald Eagles winter in large numbers on and near our lakes, feeding on weakened waterfowl. Interestingly, these majestic birds start nesting in mid-winter and they spend January and February building up their reserves and engaging in courtship flights in preparation for that, making them highly visible during that time. Chautauqua Lake and Lake Erie are excellent places to see eagles this time of year.
Winter is also a great time to watch birds in your own backyard. Keeping your bird feeders stocked and clean will ensure that a lively assemblage of feathered friends will pay you a visit. Apart from the familiar faces that share our backyards year-round (e.g. chickadees, cardinals, blue jays, crows, woodpeckers, etc.), winter brings in some different species that are not usually seen during the warmer months.
As a general rule, bird species that primarily feed on insects, such as warblers or flycatchers, don’t visit bird feeders as those are filled with seeds. Those birds migrate south in late summer or early fall anyway, because insects die off in winter and they would be left without food here. Birds that winter in Western NY tend to feed on seeds and berries and are therefore more likely to visit your feeders. Fatty foods become increasingly scarce as winter progresses, and suet feeders prove to be a magnet for a wide variety of birds that need to supplement their diet. Keep your eyes peeled for juncos, white-throated sparrows, American tree sparrows, purple finches, red-breasted nuthatches, and other winter specialties that visit during the colder months.
Some bird species that normally feed on worms or insects may temporarily shift their diet to include protein-rich berries during cold spells to survive harsh wintry conditions and you may see robins, cedar waxwings, or even Bluebirds actively feeding on holly bushes, crabapples, or other fruit-bearing trees and shrubs throughout the county.
Some winters the weather takes a particularly polar turn and with the harshest of conditions we may temporarily see truly arctic birds show up in the county. During such so-called “irruption” years it is not impossible to find good numbers of snowy owls in places that are reminiscent of their normal tundra habitat: open country with a few convenient perches from which to watch the surrounding snowscape. When snowy owls push southward, look for them along lake shores, in large expanses of farm fields, or at the county’s airports, whose fence lines and radio towers provide excellent perches. Who knows, in big irruption years you may get lucky and have an unforgettable snowy owl sighting on a light post along a random road in the county. Such encounters especially show that nature is all around us in Chautauqua County.
Even when our instincts urge us to huddle up indoors, go outside and enjoy everything our beautiful countryside has to offer. You may be amazed by what you find!
Twan Leenders
Director of Conservation
Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy
twan@chautauquawatershed.org
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