Originally posted Dec 2013. By December, most warbler species have made it to Central and/or South America where they will spend the rest of the Northern Hemisphere’s winter and then return back North to their breeding grounds. I say most warblers because some species like Yellow-rumped Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers can survive cold temperatures and actually over-winter successfully in parts … Read More
South Padre Warblers on Parade
Sandwiched between the rush of spring-breakers in March and the arrival of beach-goers in June, there is another invasion of visitors to South Padre Island during the end of April and beginning of May. They may be much more discrete than rowdy, drunken college kids but dress just as gaudy and they don’t crowd the beaches with 4X4’s and umbrellas like … 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
Review: The Warbler Guide
The Warbler Guide Tom Stephenson & Scott Whittle 560 pp. | 6 x 8 1/2 | 1,000+ color illus. 50 maps Princeton University Press | 2013 Get it on Amazon Ok, let’s just get this out of the way right now. The Warbler Guide is the coolest, most informative bird identification guide to be released since the original Sibley Guide … Read More
Another year of birding underway!
With the first month of the year officially behind us now, I thought I would take a look the current status of my year list. Beginning a new year is always fun – every single bird is ‘new’, it’s winter, and there are typically a bunch of winter rarities and other good birds around to chase. You never really know what the … Read More
Winter Rarities at Cape May Point SP
It isn’t much of a secret that Cape May Point State Park, at the southern tip of New Jersey, is one of the country’s top birding locations and rarity traps. Every winter something interesting turns up at the park and stays for a few days, weeks, or maybe even over-winters there. This winter, however, is totally off the charts! Besides … Read More
Thanksgiving Rarity Round-up Summary
It has taken me a month to finally post about all the rarities and other cool birds that Josh Lefever, Ian Gardner, and I chased through the southern New England states over the weekend before Thanksgiving. Since they are scattered around our archives throughout the last month, I thought I would make it easier and summarize the trip very briefly … Read More
Connecticut Crossbills
November 20th was the last day of our 5 day birding trip through coastal New England. Our goals for the day were to bird various hotspots in Connecticut and try to find some of the recently-reported rarities as well as build a nice state list. None of the three us (Ian Gardner, Josh Lefever, or myself) had ever eBirded in … Read More
East Shore Park, CT – Late warblers and other goodies!
If you were following the live feed of my birding trip through New England last week, than you probably know that my friends and I spent our last full day of birding (November 20th) in Connecticut. Some of our main targets for the day were near New Haven at East Shore Park. East Shore Park is a fairly large city park bordering … Read More
PA Fall Migration Predictions – End of Oct: Part 2
October is a very special time of the year in Pennsylvania. The first week of the month there are still a ton of neotropical migrants around, but then their numbers start to drop off drastically. Coming to the rescue are the sparrows and raptors, which really excel during the second half of the month. Waterfowl also begin to trickle through … Read More