By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
RED HOUSE — More than 850 nature lovers attended the 67th annual Allegany Nature Pilgrimage in Allegany State Park last weekend.
Despite cool, damp weather on Saturday, the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage enjoyed the biggest crowds since before the Covid pandemic when for two years the ANP went virtual, according to Marcia Morgan Nixon, the group’s longtime registrar.
Field trip chairman Lon Myers said this year’s Allegany Nature Pilgrimage represented about 200 hours of programming with 144 programs and 82 leaders. “There’s a lot of new programs this year,” he said
The group also welcomed its new chairman, Rob Reeves, who had been running its information technology for the past few years.
Saturday and Sunday mornings both start with coffee and bird banding/watching. State park naturalist Tom LeBlanc identified birds caught in a mist net set up not far from the banding station. Dozens of participants — many who brought their camp chairs — began settling in for the bird banding at 7 a.m.
The hikes and field trips ranged from general nature walks, nature photography and historical uses for Indigenous plants to all-day birding, primitive skills, mammals, orienting for beginners and reptiles and amphibians.
Mark Carra of West Valley has been interested in nature since he was a kid. He was one of the field trip leaders. His mother gave him a certificate in nature when he was 8. “She knew what I had under my bed,” he said.
Carra had scouted the area for the reptiles and amphibians walk the day before, but there was a light rain and conditions were wet. There was a group of 25 families following him up a power line where he’d spotted shale deposits, a likely place to find snakes, on Friday.
One of the Saturday programs under a tent (a good place to stay dry) was offered by falconer Jess Hill of Buffalo, who brought her American kestrel, one of three falcons in New York state. The other two are the Peregrine falcon and Merlins.
Hill said she feeds the kestrel based on its weight. Mice, starling and quail are its favorite. When the kestrel can’t be out flying for its own food, Hill feeds it mice and quail that have been frozen. It eats twice a day for a total of 10-15 grams. If it gets a starling and consumes all of it except the feathers, the kestrel may not eat for two to three days.
The kestrel always returns to Hill when they are out hunting, she said. Hill is one of around 10 falconers in Western New York.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation monitors Hill and her kestrel. Permits are needed to take one in the wild and to keep and hunt with a falcon, she said.
The standing room only audience peppered Hill with questions about her kestrel.
Hill said before obtaining the kestrel she had three red-tailed hawks which have since been returned to the wild.
Hill worries about both the bird flu and West Nile virus, both of which can be fatal to birds.
Saturday evening there was a chicken barbecue with a folk concert afterward by Nan Hoffman, and then at 8 p.m. by a presentation under the big tent of Allegany’s Natural Wonders by Julie Lundgren.
There were also night walks including
Bugs by Nightlight with Wayne Gall and Steven Daniel, and Owl Prowl with Chuck Rosenburg and Early Summer Sky Tour with David Wymer.
Two of the most popular walks for younger people were the Splash Hike and the Science Lake Pond Creatures Hike. Water shoes or boots were mandatory.
The 68th Allegany Nature Pilgrimage is set for May 29-31, 2026.
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All Rights Reserved. Star News LLC. Eric M. Firkel.
