East coast pelagic birding is what it is. Usually it’s relatively unproductive (ignoring the pelagic birding off of North Carolina) with low numbers of individuals, and you’re lucky to see one or two rare or heavily sought after pelagic species. On the west coast it is not unusual to see hundreds of shearwaters and tens of thousands of storm-petrels, plus the rare … Read More
The Thousand Mile Chase
This post comes from Matt Sabatine, who recently had the chance to bird from Pennsylvania to Nova Scotia, where some great birds have been reported recently. The reliable duo of rarities in Nova Scotia was just too good to resist. A EURASIAN KESTREL has been hanging out in the area of Hartlen Point outside Halifax, Nova Scotia since December, and a FIELDFARE has been … Read More
Greater White-fronted X Snow Goose hybrid – Lancaster, PA
Yesterday evening while driving north along PA896, I noticed Snow Geese landing in a field near the road. As I drove past, I saw that it was a ‘small flock’ of only about 400 Snow Geese, so I hesitated a few moments about whether or not I should stop and scan through them for anything besides Snows. I decided to … Read More
Almost a nemesis
One of my targets for my recent trip to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival was the Florida’s only endemic bird– the Florida Scrub-Jay, a social member of the corvid family. There are 2 other species of scrub-jay, Western Scrub-Jay which I’ve seen in Arizona, and Island Scrub-Jay, which is found on the Channel Islands off the coast of Los … Read More
Harris’s Sparrow and ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow
Arlene Koch’s famous backyard habitat near Easton, PA which has lured in countless uncommon, unusual, and rare birds over the years is currently hosting a first winter Harris’s Sparrow as well as an adult ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow! I was able to make a quick stop by her house this past Sunday and was happy to get great views of both … Read More
Coastal waterbird notes from southern Belize, Fall 2014
We are spoiled in the United States with many concentrated birding efforts taking place throughout fall and spring migration such as hawkwatches, seawatches, Big Sits, and other surveys which all help to pull in loads of data on bird numbers and distribution, but there are very few endeavors taking place in countries like Belize. Thanks to the Belize Raptor Research Institute, there … Read More
An Upstate Northern Gannet
Today was just another Friday: wake up late and go to my 11:15 class, relax the rest of the afternoon, read some emails, etc. But at around 3:20 PM, Tim Lenz sent me and some friends a message that there was a Northern Gannet found near Watkins Glen, over on Seneca Lake (Schuyler County). He was already en route with … Read More
Long Island Chase – Common Ground-Dove 11/16
I recently took a hiatus from blogging (mostly unintentionally), but would like to change that in upcoming months. In these past few months, I have been getting accustomed to the college life, as I am now an undergrad at Cornell University (in Ithaca, NY). Birding out here is amazing, and the community around Cornell is quite special. Â There are many … Read More
BRRI Hawkwatch: November 20, 2014…rained out!
Today we were rained out at the BRRI Cattle Landing Hawkwatch (run by Belize Raptor Research Institute). However, rain is not a day-killer here, at least for me; it just means I leave my camera at home (don’t worry, photos at end). I planned to head to the dump again, but I had not yet been to Belcampo, a nearby … Read More
Pygmy Kingfisher, King Vulture, and more Kites!
Today was another great day of birding in Cattle Landing, Belize. The morning started out great with four new species for me. Early in the AM, I found a Red-legged Honeycreeper near my house sitting in the top of a tree. Soon after on a trek down a new road, a single Olive-backed Euphonia was foraging near a Greenish Elaenia, … Read More