New York is home to an impressively diverse array of natural habitats. The Empire State’s various ecoregions run the gamut from the beaches and marshes of Long Island to the grasslands and high peaks near the Canadian border. The Adirondack Mountains are perhaps the wildest, most distinct region of the state, representing the southern edge of the boreal forest biome … Read More
Morning on the Mountaintop: Bicknell’s Thrush Quest
2019 was easily the fullest, most dramatic year of my life for birding. In contrast, 2020 has by necessity been a much more subdued affair. Birding close to home has nevertheless been unexpectedly rewarding, with no shortage of unexpected surprises spotted from my fire escape and at nearby Astoria Park. As the end of the school year drew nearer, the … Read More
Boreal Bird Blitz
No one likes to let vacation time go to waste. As my schedule began to fill up with responsibilities and obligations, it became apparent that I wouldn’t be able to orchestrate a grand international adventure for my February break this year. Nevertheless, I still had a few days to spare and didn’t want to spend them just sitting around. I … Read More
Kinglet and Thrashers – PSU Fall Banding
Heavy fog and very cold temperatures again this morning, and we had our slowest morning of banding yet with just 22 birds of 7 species captured and banded. The official breakdown was 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 11 Gray Catbirds, 1 Brown Thrasher, 1 Common Yellowthroat, and 4 White-throated Sparrows. We also had a number of recaptures including 1 Northern Mockingbird from 10/23/12, 1 Gray … Read More
Headed for Canada, but not without a Tufted Duck
This past weekend, I joined the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology (PSO) on a four day birding trip through Ontario. This would be the second time I had ever been to Canada, and the first time I had been there for birding! I had been dreaming about this trip for months and it was finally happening – I had a chance … Read More
Circleville Park, Centre County, PA
While driving to Scotia Barrens to look for warblers this September, I repeatedly drove by Circleville Park thinking, “I should really stop there.” The park is between Circleville Road and Valley Vista Drive, and accessed from either road. It park has various sports fields and a playground, and in the warmer months it always seemed to be full of people. … Read More
Bird Banding Highlights – March and early April 2012
So far this season, we have had six days of bird banding in the PSU Arboretum’s Big Hollow property. Nick Kerlin is our official bird bander as well as the State College Bird Club president. The biggest change this season from previous seasons is that we have a new banding area – instead of sitting on the ground surrounded by … Read More
Presque Isle trip
Late update…I’ve been a bit busy recently with classes and helping teach ornithology. Anyways, I took my first trip ever up to Presque Isle State Park with Nate and Tim to look for waterfowl and the large number of redpolls that have been reported up there. We were pretty excited about birding in the 10 degree Fahrenheit weather but at … Read More