New York is home to an impressively diverse array of natural habitats. The Empire State’s various ecoregions run the gamut from the beaches and marshes of Long Island to the grasslands and high peaks near the Canadian border. The Adirondack Mountains are perhaps the wildest, most distinct region of the state, representing the southern edge of the boreal forest biome … Read More
Morning on the Mountaintop: Bicknell’s Thrush Quest
2019 was easily the fullest, most dramatic year of my life for birding. In contrast, 2020 has by necessity been a much more subdued affair. Birding close to home has nevertheless been unexpectedly rewarding, with no shortage of unexpected surprises spotted from my fire escape and at nearby Astoria Park. As the end of the school year drew nearer, the … Read More
Apartment Birding and Fire Escapism
When I first moved into my Astoria apartment in early December, I immediately began keeping a “yard list” of birds seen around my new home. My expectations for the potential of this urbanized neighborhood weren’t particularly high, but I reasoned that watching for birds of note outside my window would be a fun way to pass the time between proper … 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
Phone Skope Big Year 2014
Towards the end of 2013 I started thinking about how I could do a Big Year. I really enjoy digiscoping, so why not a Phone Skope Big Year? I am trying to digiscope as many species as possible with my iPhone 5 and Phone Skope Adapter using a variety of optics. My goal is to digiscope 200 species for the … Read More
Lincoln’s Sparrow vs. Song Sparrow – PSU Fall Banding
Overcast skies and a nice breeze made for a more relaxed morning of bird banding, but the flocks of White-throated Sparrows moving through kept us busy. In total we banded 2 Eastern Phoebes, 1 Blue-headed Vireo, 3 Gray Catbirds, 1 Eastern Towhee, 2 Song Sparrows, 1 Lincoln’s Sparrow, 38 White-throated Sparrows, 5 Northern Cardinals. We also had a number of … Read More
Phoebe and White-throats – PSU Fall Banding
October 8th was our most recent day of bird banding in the PSU Arboretum, and we were able to capture 41 individual birds of 10 species. White-throated Sparrows finally officially took over as our most common bird, with 17 captured today. Gray Catbirds, which were the most commonly-caught species prior to the 8th dropped down into 2nd place, with a … Read More
Answer to the Tricky Angles photo quiz
The answers to the Tricky Angles photo quiz were mostly correct for the first and last bird in the quiz, but the middle bird had lots of different answers. If you haven’t looked at the quiz, check out the images below before looking at the answers. The Quiz Photos
Circleville Park, Centre County, PA
While driving to Scotia Barrens to look for warblers this September, I repeatedly drove by Circleville Park thinking, “I should really stop there.” The park is between Circleville Road and Valley Vista Drive, and accessed from either road. It park has various sports fields and a playground, and in the warmer months it always seemed to be full of people. … Read More
A Year in the Yard
Back in January 2011, I decided I would spend the next year trying to find as many birds as possible on my property during the year. During the previous year I had recorded 149 species, annoying close to the 150 mark. To find 150 species in my yard during the year would be a tremendous feat, considering I don’t live … Read More
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