When I first moved into my Astoria apartment in early December, I immediately began keeping a “yard list” of birds seen around my new home. My expectations for the potential of this urbanized neighborhood weren’t particularly high, but I reasoned that watching for birds of note outside my window would be a fun way to pass the time between proper … Read More
Migrants and Mysticetes
Weather and fall pelagic trips often don’t mix well. The September two-day trip out of Hyannis, Massachusetts that I hoped to attend with the Brookline Birding Club was regrettably called off due to interference from the remnants of Hurricane Florence. The cancellation was a bit of a letdown, but I told myself that I was satisfied with the offshore action … 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
East Shore Park, CT – Late warblers and other goodies!
If you were following the live feed of my birding trip through New England last week, than you probably know that my friends and I spent our last full day of birding (November 20th) in Connecticut. Some of our main targets for the day were near New Haven at East Shore Park. East Shore Park is a fairly large city park bordering … 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
Virginia’s Warbler Chase – Feb. 19
When news spread that Jim Stasz had found a Virginia’s Warbler near Easton, MD I knew I wanted to try and chase the bird, especially since it would be a first state record for Maryland as well as only a handful of records for the east coast. I have already seen Virginia’s Warbler in Arizona, but I love seeing birds in … Read More
Think cool
As the heat wave continues to roll across the country I thought I would dig up some cooler bird photos to share to maybe take the edge off.
Snowbirds
This past weekend I was in Lancaster County and so I decided to look for a couple of the interesting birds that have been around southeastern PA. I started off Saturday at the Anna’s Hummingbird in Shartlesville, which I got to see take off from her night roost. For helping rehang the frozen feeders after they were thawed, I was … Read More
Dark-eyed Juncos- the females
On Friday, we caught three Dark-eyed Juncos in one net check. As you can see from the photo of the three together, they exhibited a range of feather colors on their backs. Ranging rusty brown to slate gray, the back color of our ‘Slate-colored’ eastern subspecies are the easiest way to determine the gender and age of the juncos. The … Read More
Bird Banding at Sunset Park
Since the weather was so nice (also read: “freezing cold”), Emily Thomas decided to try banding this morning. There was quite a crowd there from the local bird club, but unfortunately we didn’t catch many birds. The species we captured included Northern Cardinals, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-throated Sparrow, and House Finches. Here are some photos from this morning: For more photos … Read More