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
There will be games
Friend of NemesisBird, Matt Sabatine, provides another great guest article – this one about his recent trip to Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona where he met up with Alex Lamoreaux for a little birding near Salt Lake City and the Grand Tetons…. Actor John Cusack was once visiting the domicile of the great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and surprised by the … Read More
Lincoln’s Sparrow vs. Song Sparrow – PSU Fall Banding
Overcast skies and a nice breeze made for a more relaxed morning of bird banding, but the flocks of White-throated Sparrows moving through kept us busy. In total we banded 2 Eastern Phoebes, 1 Blue-headed Vireo, 3 Gray Catbirds, 1 Eastern Towhee, 2 Song Sparrows, 1 Lincoln’s Sparrow, 38 White-throated Sparrows, 5 Northern Cardinals. We also had a number of … Read More
Lincoln’s Sparrow Bonanza!
October is fall at its finest. The leaves are changing color and the weather is beginning to slip from summer’s warmth to winter’s cold. With these changing conditions comes the peak of fall migration, sending billions of birds southward. One bird species I particularly love to see each year and always associate with the fall is the the Lincoln’s Sparrow. … Read More
Sparrow Shindig!
Regular readers of this website have probably heard about how Alex’s Canon 400mm lens went through a pretty nasty rainstorm, which resulted in the lens having to be sent back and repaired. Today, he finally got the lens back from the shop, and it is working great! We were both pretty excited to get out and take some pictures of … 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
Lincoln’s Sparrows – Beautifully Bland
The ABA area has it’s fair share of sparrows and I have been fortunate enough to have seen most of them but for some odd reason the one that really gets me excited, and the one that for whatever reason I really like the most, is the Lincoln’s Sparrow. To a beginner birder, the Lincoln’s Sparrow might look identical to … Read More
The (Kunkletown) Big Sit!
On Sunday, October 9, 2011, I conducted my annual “big sit” in my yard. The Big Sit! is a birding event run by Bird Watcher’s Digest, where people from around the world each pick a spot, set up a circle, and stay within that circle for 24 hours and count birds. I have participated in this event for a few … Read More
Lincoln’s Sparrow
This evening Alex, Mark and I went to the PSU Retention Pond. It was pretty quiet with just a few Mallards and Canada Geese on the ponds and Red-winged Blackbirds in the cattails. Our excitement came when a Lincoln’s Sparrow popped up onto some dead vegetation about 20 feet from us and perched for a long time, occasionally giving its … Read More
Past Two Days…..
Anna and I have been out near the Island Park area of Idaho trying to conduct Flammulated Owl surveys in the Targhee National Forest for a few days now. Check out this post Anna put up yesterday if you want to read more. Rain has been a real pain for us and has resulted in a cancellation of last nights survey. The … Read More