This Week in Birding 38

This Week in Birding

:: Canada Rare Bird Alert: A Brown Booby (Code 3) was seen on October 7th on Lake Erie at the source of the Niagara River flying over Ontario waters. This is a first record for Ontario.

::  Alpine Swifts can fly more than 200 days without roosting or landing on their migration

Vencejo real - Alpine Swift - Ballester

:: Bird Studies Canada is holding young birder’s workshops in Toronto — one on October 19th and one on November 3rd. Sign up because space is limited!

:: Google UK honoured ornithologist, naturalist, and illustrator William John Swainson with a Google doodle for his birthday

:: Jeff Bouton has made a video showing how to make a homemade phonescoping adapter

:: For the first time in 40 years, the critically endangered Socorro Dove has returned Mexico

:: The Kirtland’s Warbler population is at an all-time high, with 2,004 singing males observed during the official 2013 survey

:: DNA analysis identifies an egg from the endangered Jerdon’s Courser in an old collection at the University of Aberdeen

:: The U.S. government shutdown has halted long-term research at Antarctica’s Palmer Station, including “an unbroken series of observations on Adélie penguins, which in that region have experienced population crashes as sea ice disappears” going back to the mid-1970s.

:: California is the first state has banned lead bullets for hunting, because they are poisonous to wildlife if consumed

Great posts in birding blogs this week: 

:: From Shyloh at Beaking OffPlaying Hard To Get… Or Not

:: From Sophie at The EyrieYBY Illustration Module: Some Insights from a Judge!

:: From Jeremy at AZ BirdbrainClark’s Nutcracker

:: From Michael at Knob and KettleOctober Grousing – plumage variation in the Ruffed Grouse

:: From Josh at Birding is FunWarbler Migration’s Swan Song

:: From James at Bird CanadaCan has Chickadeezburger? How Many Birds Do Cats Kill in Canada?

:: From Alfredo at 10,000 BirdsWatch For Shorebirds With Colored Flags