Gerry Smith

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  • 18 posts

A Couple of Well Off Warblers

The Yellow Warbler and the Common Yellowthroat are probably the most abundant members of their clan locally.

Volume 16, Issue 6, June 2021
Gerry Smith

There aren’t enough Mays in any lifetime

The month of May is a spectacularly intense and interesting time in the bird world. Early breeders, such as Great Horned Owl, Bald Eagle, Common Raven, and Canada Goose have rapidly growing young. Yes, it's Spring!

Volume 16, Issue 5, May 2021
Gerry Smith

Broad-winged Hawks Return!

The last ten days of April and the first week of May can produce large passages of northbound hawks through our region.

Volume 16, Issue 4, April 2021
Gerry Smith

Short-eared Owl Invasion Winter 20-21

This winter a significant number of this nomadic owl species have found a winter residence in our region.

Volume 16, Issue 2, February 2021
Gerry Smith

Finch Invasion Continues

The large handsome Evening Grosbeak was a common winter bird in our region when I began birding more than a half century ago.

Volume 16, Issue 1, January 2021
Gerry Smith

Another Invasion from the North

In our region Pine Siskin, Evening Grosbeak, and species of the redpoll complex are already appearing in small numbers.

Volume 15, Issue 12, December 2020
Gerry Smith

Winter Raptors are Coming

In November, many northern raptors settle in for the winter in the eastern Lake Ontario and western St. Lawrence region.

Volume 15, Issue 11, November 2020
Gerry Smith

The Sprite of the Northern Forest is Coming

The Red-breasted Nuthatch, cousin of our familiar and mostly resident, White-breasted Nuthatch, are coming south.

Volume 15, Issue 10, October 2020
Gerry Smith

Good Times:

Ospreys in the St. Lawrence Region are doing fabulously well... seems appropriate to celebrate.

Volume 15, Issue 9, September 2020
Gerry Smith

Hard Times...

Hard times for birds eating flying insects.

Volume 15, Issue 8, August 2020
Gerry Smith

Northern Harrier Magician of Grassland and Marsh

Once known as Marsh Hawk, this species is a favorite raptor of mine. They are most often seen skimming low over open country flashing the white rump patch that helps identify them in all plumages.

Volume 14, Issue 11, November 2019
Gerry Smith

August Avian Happenings

As August dawns the breeding season for most summer bird residents of the River is over.. Early migration becomes a steady flow with some species mostly gone by months end...

Volume 14, Issue 8, August 2019
Gerry Smith

September 2017 Article Revisited: High Water is for the Birds

...writing to convince many of us today, June 2019, that the high water is beneficial when so many are suffering is a different story

Volume 14, Issue 6, June 2019
Susan W. Smith

Don’t Annoy Those Messy Swallows-They Are Hurting

Our region is home to six species of swallows ... All catch insects on the wing and are known to birders as aerial insectivores.

Volume 14, Issue 5, May 2019
Gerry Smith

Bald Eagle Redux

Already in the spring of 2019 more than 150 have passed the Derby Hill Bird Observatory (DHBO )in barely a month of monitoring...

Volume 14, Issue 4, April 2019
Gerry Smith

Grassland birds: a critical conservation priority

For my part I cannot imagine the part of the world extending from the Lake Ontario lakeshore down the international sector of the St. Lawrence, without grassland birds. The Bobolink’s bubbling cacophony ...

Volume 14, Issue 2, February 2019
Gerry Smith

Shorebirds

These birds were market hunted, whenever they were present, until receiving protection from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

Volume 13, Issue 9, September 2018
Gerry Smith

Songbird Forest: A Refuge

Migrant birds that travel twice annually between temperate North America and the New World Tropics have always faced many natural dangers.

Volume 13, Issue 8, August 2018
Gerry Smith