Cape May is having a great run of rarities this fall, and yesterday morning Richard Crossley (of the Crossley ID guides) added to the madness by discovering a beautiful young male Vermilion Flycatcher hawking insects at the Rea Farm (aka The Beanery) in West Cape May! The flycatcher spent the rest of the day showing off for birders by perching at … Read More
The NNY Northern Wheatear
What does it take to drop everything and drive an hour to see a bird? Apparently a Northern Wheatear was enough for me when I got the alert that there was one at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. I’ve seen Northern Wheatears in both Delaware and Pennsylvania, but its been quite a few years. Anyways, as luck would have … Read More
Whiskered Tern – The Video
Heads up, this video is set to (loud) music. By now, we all know the story. On Friday, September 12, 2014, a Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) was found in Cape May, New Jersey by Louise Zemaitis and Alec Humann. Only the third North American record, the previous two records, in 1993 and 1998, both occurred in Cape May. The species … Read More
Whiskered Tern – Cape May, NJ
The ABA area’s 3rd record of a Whiskered Tern was found early this afternoon by Louise Zemaitis and Alec Humann, flying around Cape May Point. Cape May has actually hosted the first two records as well; in 1993 and 1998. One of the former records eventually flew over the Delaware Bay and went to a collection of impoundments in Delaware for … Read More
Life Looks – Kirtland’s Warbler
I once had a run in with a Kirtland’s Warbler, a debacle which is described in this post. My first visit to the famed migration hotspot, Magee Marsh, and I just happened to be an hour away on a canoe when hundreds of people were getting face melting looks at a cooperative Kirtland’s Warbler. By the time I made it back … Read More
One day wonder: Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Illinois!
On Monday, May 12, an email went out to the Illinois birding community that the Bowman brothers (Chris and Mark) had found a Fork-tailed Flycatcher at Gunnar Anderson Forest Preserve in Geneva, Illinois (Kane County). The last Fork-tailed Flycatcher seen in Illinois that many people saw was a one day wonder found by Josh Engel at Paul Douglas Forest Preserve (Cook County) … Read More
Willow Ptarmigan – 1st for New York!
Today myself and 8 fellow PA birders embarked on a weekend-long PSO field trip to the southern Lake Ontario shoreline, however our plans took a very unexpected turn when I noticed a forwarded email. It was from Drew, saying that there was a Willow Ptarmigan on Point Peninsula in Jefferson County reported by Eugene Nichols. Obviously we were all quite skeptical of … Read More
Pink-footed Geese – Centre County, PA
This past Friday morning, Matt Sabatine discovered not one, but two Pink-footed Geese mixed with a large flock of Canadas at Bald Eagle SP in Centre County, PA. This is the first record of Pink-footed Goose for central PA, the first time more than one has been found at once, and the western-most record for North America! The geese came … Read More
Winter Waterfowl in Illinois
Last Saturday (the 15th), Michael Retter and Matt Hale drove up from West Lafayette to stay at my house for the weekend (specifically for the Gull Frolic, more on that coming soon). They had to head out on Sunday, but before they left, we birded a bit looking for Scoters on the lakefront. This winter has been quite unlike others … Read More
Chase-able Common Murre – Cape May, NJ
Any murre species, and most alcids in general are difficult to see from land along the east coast. Most winters, small numbers of Razorbills can usually be seen migrating from shore but most birders must venture out on a boat to find the others. A report from Tom Baxter of a murre species found floating on Sunset Lake near Wildwood … Read More