Due to a closed bridge, I was only able to access the western two-thirds of my Winter Raptor Survey (link to Part 1), so today Josh Lefever and I ran the last third as its own survey. The weather was great, with a bright sun and blue skies accentuating the snow-covered stripmines of northern Centre County, Pennsylvania. Within the first … Read More
Winter Raptor Survey – Snow Shoe, PA 2013
Winter Raptor Surveys are very popular in Pennsylvania, and I am always excited for this time of the year to finally get out and see what raptors and other winter birds are around the northern portion of Centre County, PA. Last year was the first year that I ran a WRS route in Centre County, and we tried to plan … 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
Western Tanager and bonus Crested Caracara!
On December 5th, 2012 Cape May birder Will Kerling was riding his bike through Cape May Court House and spotted a male Western Tanager in some trees along the road at the intersection of Hand Ave and Dias Creek Rd! The tanager was following a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker around in some Siberian Elm trees, trying to get at the sap that … Read More
Chasin’ on a Foggy Day
This is the second year in a row that a Pink-footed Goose has shown up in eastern Pennsylvania. Last year, I just never had a chance to chase the goose so I was really excited when another pink-foot was found this winter at Peace Valley Park in Bucks County. In addition to that bird, there are also potentially up to … Read More
Delaware Big Day – January 2013
One of the main reasons for our New Year, New Birds trip was to do a January 1st Big Day in Delaware with Tim Schreckengost from Thermal Birding. Tim lives and works down in Delaware right now, and has been a friends of ours for a few years now. The following story was co-written by Alex and Tim and is … Read More
Close Encounter of the Peregrine Kind
After enjoying Delaware’s 1st Anna’s Hummingbird on the morning of January 2nd Josh Lefever, Mark Mizak, and I drove towards Cape May, NJ. Our primary goal for the day was to spend some time birding Stone Harbor Point, one of my favorite birding locations in New Jersey. Stone Harbor Point rarely disappoints and more-often-than-not, we find species there that we don’t see … Read More
Photographing Roosting Owls: How To Know You’re Doing It Right
A sleepy owl is a happy owl! Of all the potential subjects for aspiring bird photographers, roosting owls just might be the most intoxicatingly enticing subject of all.  Owls are an especially charismatic clan of birds.  Whether or not you enjoy their typecast roles in folklore, you have to admit that there is an overwhelming temptation to map our human modes of … Read More
New Year, New Birds – Live Updates from the Field!
On Monday, December 31st myself and honorary nemesis birders Josh Lefever and Mark Mizak are embarking on a 5 day birding trip through Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The goal of the trip is to find some lifers for Josh and Mark, conduct a Big Day in Delaware, and get a really nice start to our 2013 year lists! … Read More
Lititz CBC 2012
Tomorrow I am headed on a trip through MD, DE, and NJ so today was my last full day of birding in Pennsylvania for the year. 2012 has been a great year of birding for me in the state, with my highest state year list ever – 292 species. I guess I should have tried a little harder and tried … Read More