Ed note: Tom Johnson helpfully pointed out that this bird is not leucistic, but rather has dilute plumage. Leucism would leave the bird with white patches of feathers rather than the fading this bird shows. Article has been updated to reflect this. On August 6th, I covered the Chincoteague NWR’s biweekly shorebird survey for Clyde Morris and Joelle Buffa since … Read More
Photo Study: Marbled Godwit
One thing I really love about shorebirds is that there is so much variety in size, shape, color, and habits. From Least Sandpipers to Long-billed Curlews, there are some truely amazing species across North America. One of my favorites is the Marbled Godwit. The first time I ever saw these big, cinnamon-colored shorebirds was on an Audubon Society field trip … Read More
Starting off 2012 the Florida way….
I managed to end my 2011 year list with 439 species, just a few short of my 2010 total. I added 20 species in the last week of the year alone, travelling from Pennsylvania through New Jersey, and down the Atlantic coast to Jacksonville, Florida. Alex and I made a quick stop to see the Snowy Owl at Merrill Creek … Read More
Cape May Trip – Part 2
This post is part of a series of posts about my recent birding trip to Cape May, which began at this link. As the tide began to rise, we knew it was time to head over to the southern point of Brigantine Island to see the shorebird flock that we heard had been roosting there recently. We arrived around 2:40pm … Read More
Spring Shore-birding in Idaho
Spring and fall shore-birding is one of my favorite activities; you never know what might show up in a flock of shorebirds on a mudflat! This spring I am in Idaho and so I had a bunch of new shorebird spots to check out. By far the best spot that I went to on a regular basis for shorebirds was … Read More