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
What’s left of the Prairie State…
After a very busy May, which included (winning!) the Birding Cup in central PA and then guiding at the Biggest Week in American Birding, I ventured out to central Illinois to help with some bird surveys on two proposed wind facilities. Other than spending a few half-days birding Illinois during cross-country trips, I have never really spent much time in … Read More
10 Warblers you won’t want to miss at the Biggest Week
Ah, the Biggest Week in American Birding is just around the corner. As I am writing this post, the Warbler Capital of the World will be loaded with birds and birders in 2 weeks, 3 days, 6 hours, 16 minutes, and 55 seconds. Anna was thinking about the Biggest Week back when she was tired of winter back in March, … Read More
Blackpoll Warbler! – PSU Fall Banding
When I woke up this morning, it was 36 degrees in State College. I knew Big Hollow (where our banding station is) would be very cold and that it would be a while before the sun could get down into the hollow and warm things up a bit. We started off the first few net checks with catbirds, towhees, and … Read More
Foggy Morning – PSU Fall Banding
South winds all last night combined with a very heavy layer of fog this morning made for a fairly slow day of bird banding, but we still had quite a bit of fun. Twenty-seven individual birds were captured of 11 species. Two Ovenbirds were banded, one of which was incredibly fat (with a bulging area of fat on its upper … Read More
Yellow-bellied Invasion – PSU Fall Banding
After a week’s worth of warm weather, the cold front moving through also brought an incredible push of migrants across the Northeast. I was very excited to get out this morning and try to catch some birds, hoping Big Hollow would be full of migrants. As I was walking to the banding site I could hear (and sometimes see) warblers … Read More
Connecticut Warbler! – PSU Fall Banding
Today was the kick-off to our 2013 fall banding season at Penn State University’s Big Hollow site, located within the 370 acre arboretum. We will be banding multiple mornings per week, usually Tuesday and Thursday, and the public is welcome to attend. Today’s highlight was a juvenile Connecticut Warbler, and I pretty much went nuts when I saw another bander … Read More
Scotia Barrens – September is here, and so are the warblers!
This morning Anna and I went over to Scotia Barrens to search for migrants. We started off the morning at Scotia Pond, where we met up with Tim Schreckengost. Activity was low, and we only saw a Tennessee Warbler and a Chestnut-sided Warbler. The highlight was when Tim spotted an Olive-sided Flycatcher perched on a distant snag. We were able … Read More
Scotia warbler bonanza
It was a great morning at Scotia Barrens IBA. Overall I saw/heard over 150 individual warblers while I drove through Scotia Barrens. Highlights were an Orange-crowned Warbler near the powerline close to the south entrance, a singing Mourning Warbler that I got great looks of at the research shed, a Wilson’s Warbler singing and jumping around low in some bushes and … Read More