I’ve often said that people who are more actively observant of the natural world around them are more acutely aware of the seasonal cycle. When you spend most of your free time watching the comings and goings of animals, you can’t help but notice the gradual, steady changes each day brings on our yearly journey around the Sun. This is … Read More
The Season So Far: Fall 2020 Highlights
Each of the four seasons has something special to offer the birding world. I will always cherish the lively color and music of spring when birds return after months of absence. Winter brings the festive joy of Christmas Bird Counts and new year lists, while summer offers breeding bird surveys and plenty of free time for adventures. Even so, I … 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
Snowy Owl and Purple Sandpipers in Florida – January 7th
I wrote up a post roughly a week ago about birding in Duval and Nassau counties, which can be read here. A few days ago, on January 7th, Dan Irizarry came up once again to try to get the Snowy Owl. The bird had been refound the day after we had tried, and has been seen consistently ever since. Due to … Read More
NC PSO Hatteras Pelagic Trip – Part 1
On August 9-13 the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology had an out-of-state field trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. A total of 35 participants ventured down to NC for several days of land birding followed by two days of pelagic trips out of Hatteras, NC. This series of posts will show some of the highlights of this epic trip! … Read More
An Avian Coastal Evacuation
October 29: Tom Johnson and Doug Gochfeld were still navigating to my parents’ home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, when Hurricane Sandy made landfall. Their arrival was timed perfectly with the loss of internet and cable (which my parents wouldn’t see again for another three days). Shortly thereafter, we lost power. So as we huddled around a battery-powered lamp, we discussed … Read More
New Jersey Birding – Part 1
Last Friday, November 19th, was the start of our Thanksgiving Break so my friends and I decided to go to Cape May, NJ for some birding with the hope of getting Tim and Josh some life birds and get me a few year birds for my Big Year. Nate Fronk, Tim Schrekengost, Josh Lefever, and  a friend of Nate and … Read More