The majority of waterways in Pennsylvania are frozen up tight, as are most of the northeastern states, aside from a few small pockets here and there. Luckily for birders, one stretch of open water along the Susquehanna River is near the mouth of the Conodoquinet Creek where the West Fairview boat launch is located. This location is a birding hotspot throughout the year; … Read More
Coastal waterbird notes from southern Belize, Fall 2014
We are spoiled in the United States with many concentrated birding efforts taking place throughout fall and spring migration such as hawkwatches, seawatches, Big Sits, and other surveys which all help to pull in loads of data on bird numbers and distribution, but there are very few endeavors taking place in countries like Belize. Thanks to the Belize Raptor Research Institute, there … Read More
Weekend Digiscoping Spotlight 11
The Weekend Digiscoping Spotlight will highlight some of the fun shots we’ve gotten recently with a camera paired with a spotting scope. We welcome submissions of your favorite digiscoped shots to be featured in future spotlights, just use the contact form in the menu above. ~~=-=~~ This week I chanced upon some very cooperative Red-breasted Mergansers that weren’t hiding in … Read More
Winter Waterfowl in Illinois
Last Saturday (the 15th), Michael Retter and Matt Hale drove up from West Lafayette to stay at my house for the weekend (specifically for the Gull Frolic, more on that coming soon). They had to head out on Sunday, but before they left, we birded a bit looking for Scoters on the lakefront. This winter has been quite unlike others … Read More
Monday Morning Blues
My friend Mark Mizak found a kayak that he wanted to buy online, but it was in New Jersey. Mark is heading south to Florida for the rest of the winter before heading back to Montana to work as a wildlands fire-fighter. He offered to take Josh Lefever and I along to get his new boat on a day-trip to … Read More
Will, Grundy, and Cook County Illinois Birding
Yesterday, I was able to get out for a day of birding with my friend and one of my mentors, Geoff Williamson. In 2013, the ABA bestowed Geoff with the ABA Ludlow Griscom Award, which is for those, “who have dramatically advanced the state of ornithological knowledge for a particular region” (http://www.aba.org/about/awards.html). Geoff helped me when I first found birding, … Read More
Provincetown Birding Part 1
Ian Gardner, Josh Lefever, and I woke up on the morning of November 19th to the calls of Virginia Rails. We had set up camp the night before near High Head, near Provincetown – the tip of the Cape Cod peninsula. As we crawled out of our sleeping bags and into the cool morning air, birds were all over. Seven species … Read More
Waterfowl Fallout at Beltzville State Park
When Drew Weber posted about possible fallout conditions for Saturday, I was excited to check out the reservoir at Beltzville State Park. Unfortunately, I was unable to get out and had to wait until today, Sunday. Since the night had not been rainy, I figured some birds may have left. There was the possibility, however, that some birds would stick around … Read More
Lake watch at Derby Hill Hawk Watch
I was up near Derby Hill Hawk Watch this week and decided to run up to see if the NW wind would bring a good flight of ducks or maybe something rare like a jaeger. I didn’t spot anything crazy like that but there were good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers in small flocks offshore as well as a nice mix … Read More
Answers to Forest Fest Mystery Bird Quiz
This past weekend, we celebrated Forest Fest at Penn State. At the festival, the avian outreach class had a table set up that talked about birding, demonstrated bird banding, and led a guided bird walk through the arboretum. We also had 10 photos, that I took, of 10 different species of birds for people to try and identify. Below are the photos … Read More
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