I’ve always appreciated the seasonality of birding. When you’re paying close attention to the goings-on in the world outside your windows, the annual cycle of nature is conspicuous and easy to track. This visible, reliable schedule has been a major boon throughout the pandemic, which has caused weeks and months to blur together and warp all perception of time. The … Read More
Life in Queens: A New Patch
My recent move from Nassau to Queens was one of the final big events in a very eventful 2019. A few months out, I’d consider myself comfortably settled in, and the pros certainly outnumber the cons so far. Somewhere in between “notably shorter, easier commute” and “return to reliance on laundromats” on the Cool-to-Lame Scale lie the changes to my … Read More
October Big Day 2019
Who doesn’t love a Big Day? Any excuse to get out and count birds in the name of science is a worthwhile cause in my book. eBird has been orchestrating Global Big Day events each May since 2015, an international effort to record as many of the world’s species as possible within a 24 hour period. Last fall, the Cornell-based … Read More
Susquehanna River Kayak-Birding Highlights
Over the past two weeks I was happy to take many birders and bird-photographers out to the Conejohela Flats along the Susquehanna River in Lancaster County, PA. Although there were multiple days with morning or evening storms, almost all of my scheduled trips went along as planned, and I was able to get out to the flats with people on a … 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
Santa Rosa Island Raptor banding 2015
I’ve been working on Santa Rosa Island for the Institute for Wildlife Studies for nearly four months now, monitoring Peregrine Falcon and Bald Eagle nests. This week was banding week on SRI, the culmination of all of our hours of observation and hiking. I have lots of photos from the last few months and posts to write, but I figured I’d … Read More
Santa Rosa Tour 3 Update: Part Two, March 14-17
Wow, does time fly by when you are on an eight day on, six day off schedule (this schedule is possibly the secret to life). I’ve finally gotten around to posting the second half of tour three on Santa Rosa Island, working for Institute for Wildlife Studies (Read part one here first!) Weather was excellent for the second half of tour 3 as … Read More
Santa Rosa Tour 3 Update: Part One, March 11-13
We arrived for our third tour on Santa Rosa on March 10 (I am currently working for Institute for Wildlife Studies monitoring Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles on Santa Rosa Island). Since we stopped at both landing sites on Santa Cruz, we didn’t arrive until later afternoon. On Wednesday, we headed to the west side of the island where we … Read More
Santa Rosa Tour 2 Update: Part Two, February 27 – March 3
Weather can be extremely variable on the Channel Islands, as we found out during the second half of our second tour on Santa Rosa working for Institute for Wildlife Studies. Friday was our most brutal day on the island with very high winds; our legs were being blown out from underneath us on the long trek to Bonn Point. The … Read More
Santa Rosa Island, Tour 2 Update: Part 1, February 24-26
After arriving on Santa Rosa Island Tuesday afternoon for our second tour with Institute for Wildlife Studies monitoring Bald Eagle and Peregrine Falcon populations, Sarah and I checked on the Lopez Bald Eagles, who are now incubating; this means both of our known pairs on Santa Rosa now have eggs. We are still following up on other eagle sightings on … Read More