Kids everywhere know that Santa Claus subsists on Christmas cookies. Young, caring souls go out of their way to set aside a plate of the seasonal goodies for Saint Nick every Christmas Eve to make sure he has the energy to work his magic. But, what about his ride? What do his reindeer eat? How do they fuel up for their intercontinental travels? In the Far North of Canada and Eurasia, reindeer moss is an incredibly important food for caribou (also known as reindeer). It has been estimated that it provides 50% of the nourishment for the hoofed creatures in the summer months and 90% in the winter months. Even though it is slow growing at just 3 millimeters per year, reindeer moss blankets the tundra and the understory of boreal forests, even after continual consumption by the caribou. It’s a ubiquitous part of the northern landscape. While we aren’t the Far North, reindeer moss can be found in the higher peaks of Western New York. Its greatest abundance – and even then, it’s quite...

  Due to the relatively late start of the last few winters in Western New York, we have been periodically blessed by decent numbers of northern harriers, birds which were once called “marsh hawks”. Typically, these beautiful hawks aren’t here in any volume in the winter months because the snow inhibits their ability to hunt the open fields for mice and voles, so they head south where it’s not an issue. But, Novembers and Decembers, for the most part, have been snow-free in recent years, so our friends from the north stick around and have a productive time flying over local wheat and alfalfa fields. Harriers are fairly large birds of prey, coming in at 18 to 24 inches in length. To put that into perspective, the common red-tailed hawk is 19 to 25 inches in length. They look smaller, though, because they aren’t as bulky as red-tails and are more streamlined. Male harriers have a grey back and lightly-streaked underbelly while females are brown. Both sexes have a white rump patch, w...

  One evening last week I was serenaded by a screech owl. It reminded me of how much I appreciate their call, something that could easily give goose bumps to the uninitiated. Most people assume that all owls make a “hoot” call. While local owls such as the barred owl and great horned owl do that, the screech owl does not.   The screech owl, despite its name, does not screech. Instead, it has a descending, mournful call that some folks describe as “whinny.” It sounds just like one would think a ghost might, or even perhaps a banshee, the mythical she-creature that foretells the death of a family member. Their calls can scare young children and will do the same to many a grown adult. Sometimes, the quivering call ends with a sharp trill. Other times, you might hear that trill all by itself. The owls use that to define their territory. Not only does their sound defy your expectations for an owl, so does their appearance. When one thinks of an owl, they think of large birds like...