Hurricane Sandy created perfect conditions for rarities to show up in Pennsylvania. I will admit I was skeptical of just how disruptive this storm would be. Hurricanes in the northeast tend to get exaggerated by the media, and they always seem to lose power quickly and break up once they hit land. But Hurricane Sandy was really the perfect storm; … 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
PA Fall Migration Predictions – End of Oct: Part 1
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
Evening Grosbeak! – Centre County, PA
Due to low conifer and hardwood tree seed supplies in eastern Canada, it has been predicted that this year could be a good one for Evening Grosbeaks to visit Pennsylvania. Evening Grosbeak is a species I have been missing on my PA list. They are also the ABA Bird of the Year so I knew that as soon as a chaseable report came … Read More
How I Twitch Using eBird
Some time ago, I did a half-day trip and drove cross-state to score a regional rarity. The target bird was a juvenile White Ibis at Pointe Mouillee State Game Area in SE Michigan. In this post, I’d like to highlight the way I prepare for a twitch like this one, and explain how I used eBird data to make my … Read More
Delaware Day Trip
On August 12th Chad Kauffman, Andy McGann, Jason Weller, and I traveled down to Delaware to check out various shorebird hotspots as well as try to boost our personal Delaware state lists. There was also quite a bit of lifer potential for Jason which always makes a trip more fun because I love helping people see a species for the … Read More
Conejohela Flats – Black Terns and Stilt Sandpiper
This morning Ian Gardner and I took the short drive down to Conejohela Flats from Hershey. We arrived at 8:20am and kayaked around for 2.5 hours. The weather started off very windy with rough water on the river, and heavy cloud cover. Later in the morning, the wind died down and the sun came out. The water level in the area … Read More
When a Bird Becomes an Individual: the One-legged Great Egret
Books can be (and are) written about the ornithological knowledge gained through studies that involve the practice known as “bird banding” (or “ringing” overseas). To put it simply, banding involves the capture and marking of a wild bird with a unique serial number. In the USA and Canada, those numbers are generated by the US Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Laboratory. … Read More
Mid-summer Yard and Patch updates
It’s mid-summer and the frenzied pace of adding species to yard and patch lists has likely slowed down for a while. I thought it would be interesting to see what the first 6 months have produced. There are some very impressive yard lists from the first half of the year in all size classes. At least one person has managed … Read More
How to put Google Maps in eBird Species Comments
You’re probably getting excited… Google Maps in eBird checklists?? Yes, it’s real! Here’s an example: But before I let you in on how to do this, I should probably introduce myself. I’m Zachary DeBruine, a Hope College, MI Biochemistry major, also an on-the-side eBird-affiliated web developer (check out my website: www.birdventurebirding.com), a classical organist/pianist, and a birder. In the past, … Read More