It was difficult to leave Portal behind after the fantastic experiences I enjoyed while exploring the Chiricahuas. I’d seen so much in such a short period of time that even if the remaining days of the trip were completely birdless I would still consider the vacation a success. Of course, the second half of my visit to southeastern Arizona turned … Read More
Arizona Birding Adventures, Part 1
The last time I visited Arizona was the first time I visited Arizona. During the summer of 2005, my family embarked on one of our most ambitious cross-country camping trips, driving through the Rockies from New York to California and returning by way of the desert southwest. Our time in the state was focused on visiting the National Parks: Grand … Read More
Crimson-collared Grosbeak at Laguna Atascosa NWR
April 17th, the first full day of our Nemesis Bird Nature Tour to south Texas, brought us to the headquarters of Laguna Atascosa NWR. This vast refuge is one of the last homes for Aplomado Falcons and Ocelots in the United States, but our sights were set on hunting down a visiting rarity – the immature male Crimson-collared Grosbeak that has been hanging out … Read More
South Padre Warblers on Parade
Sandwiched between the rush of spring-breakers in March and the arrival of beach-goers in June, there is another invasion of visitors to South Padre Island during the end of April and beginning of May. They may be much more discrete than rowdy, drunken college kids but dress just as gaudy and they don’t crowd the beaches with 4X4’s and umbrellas like … Read More
Cape May Pelagic – February 6th, 2015
This past Saturday was the Cape May See Life Paulagics trip, and our boat-full of eager birders were in for a great day on the ocean. We sailed out of the Cape May canal while the first hint of light rose above the horizon, passing 2 Harlequin Ducks, 7 Great Cormorants, 30 American Oystercatchers, and a nice spattering of the usual seaducks around … Read More
Rhode Island Mini Pelagic
Ah, the open sea. Is there anything more exciting than a trip to look for pelagic birds? Last Wednesday, along with Olivia DaRugna (who is something of a natural-born scrimshander), my old Borneo compadre Ryan Steiner (who is on pace to crack 1,000 species in one calendar year), and Clara Cooper-Mullin (queen of the hashtags), I was lucky enough to … Read More
There will be games
Friend of NemesisBird, Matt Sabatine, provides another great guest article – this one about his recent trip to Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona where he met up with Alex Lamoreaux for a little birding near Salt Lake City and the Grand Tetons…. Actor John Cusack was once visiting the domicile of the great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, and surprised by the … Read More
Borneo Big Day
Hank Aaron, Edmund Hillary, Billy Mitchell: record holders and champions of their respective fields. While a big day of birding isn’t exactly the same as reaching the summit of Everest or holding the highest score in Q*bert, the task of racking up as many species as possible in 24 hours can be daunting in its own right. Make the birding location … Read More
Birding the Kinabatangan River
The phrase ‘jungle river cruise’ is tossed around a lot these days. Every morning at the old office water cooler, somebody just keeps on talking about that excellent jungle river cruise they took years ago. Well, I decided to try my hand at such an experience in Borneo on the Kinabatangan River, and boy was it worth it. For starters, … Read More
Afternoon in Cancun
The most cost-efficient option for me to get from the US to Belize this past November was to fly to Cancun, Mexico and then take an overnight express bus to Belize City. Being a birder, I purposely scheduled my flight to arrive in Cancun early so that I could have the entire afternoon to roam around the city before the bus left at … Read More