Douglas H. Domedion

1 week ago | lockportjournal.com | Douglas H. Domedion

It appears that the main waterfowl migration is over. The tundra swans have headed back to their nesting grounds in the Arctic tundra country. The swans we’re seeing in the marshes now are trumpeter swans, local birds whose numbers have been growing slowly every year. Large masses of migrating Canada geese have also headed farther north to their breeding grounds. The geese we are seeing now are resident geese that remain here most of the year.

2 weeks ago | lockportjournal.com | Douglas H. Domedion

This is the time of the year to get some nesting boxes prepared for our feathered friends. Bluebirds, wood ducks, kestrels, martins, screech owls and tree swallows will use man-made nesting boxes. Why provide nesting structures? What did these birds do before humans started building bird boxes? Well, we have lost a lot of old, hollow trees which provide nesting cavities not only for birds but also animals such as raccoons and squirrels.

3 weeks ago | lockportjournal.com | Douglas H. Domedion

Last week I told you about my great photo adventure with a bald eagle and two fisher cats at Point Breeze. Then a few days later a great nature show started about five miles from my home when huge numbers of tundra swans showed up on one of the marshes by the Feeder Road at Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. Last year about 400 of these northern birds showed up on the same marsh around the end of January and stayed all of February.

1 month ago | lockportjournal.com | Douglas H. Domedion

The first week of March started off poorly for me. One morning I sat for three hours, while it was 8 degrees outside, waiting for my chance to photograph eagles working on their nest. By the time I quit my core was cold. When I got home and tried to put the images in my computer, my hands were shaking so much I couldn’t do it. A hot bath solved that, but apparently something else was at work as I was too sick to go out the rest of the week.

1 month ago | lockportjournal.com | Douglas H. Domedion

We’ve had a rough, “old-fashioned” winter but a recent turnaround in the weather gives us hope for the coming spring, when nature comes alive again. Canada geese have started to return to the Alabama Swamps, eagles are into their nesting season, tundra swans are showing up and soon wood ducks will be here too, along with other varieties of waterfowl. It is a pleasant time to be outdoors witnessing the awakening of nature, especially for those of us who enjoy observing and photographing its beauty.