No one likes to let vacation time go to waste. As my schedule began to fill up with responsibilities and obligations, it became apparent that I wouldn’t be able to orchestrate a grand international adventure for my February break this year. Nevertheless, I still had a few days to spare and didn’t want to spend them just sitting around. I … Read More
Churchill Photo Highlights
It was a cold, northerly summer for yours truly this year. Fortunately, that summer was in one of the bird world’s great locations – Churchill, Manitoba. I spent two months ~25 miles outside the town of Churchill at the edge of the tundra along the coast of Hudson Bay conducting research on high latitude nesting of Savannah sparrows and Yellow … Read More
Digiscoping Spotlight 30 – Brambling
The Digiscoping Spotlight will highlight some of the fun shots we’ve gotten recently with a camera paired with a spotting scope or binoculars. We welcome submissions of your favorite digiscoped shots to be featured in future spotlights, just use the contact form in the menu above. Just before the New Year, I ventured into Ohio with Katie Barnes to see … 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
Among Amazonian Royalty
As a sluggish day of bird-banding drew wearily to a close, Osmaildo (one of my Brazilian mateiros) approached the station with a trio of once-white bird bags. The mateiros have literally spent years of their lives in the Amazon rainforest and, as such, not much seems to faze them anymore. Thus, their dispassionate expressions betray little and I am often … Read More
Brooklyn Overnight Pelagic AKA Skua Fest 2015
East coast pelagic birding is what it is. Usually it’s relatively unproductive (ignoring the pelagic birding off of North Carolina) with low numbers of individuals, and you’re lucky to see one or two rare or heavily sought after pelagic species. On the west coast it is not unusual to see hundreds of shearwaters and tens of thousands of storm-petrels, plus the rare … Read More
Whimbrel at Somerset Lake (AGAIN!)
Lightning struck a second time today at Somerset Lake IBA. After work, Mike Lanzone and Jeff Payne stopped by the lake, hoping for a White-rumped Sandpiper or maybe even a Red Knot. They were both shocked to find a WHIMBREL instead. This Arctic-to-Caribbean-and-back migrant is a powerful flier, and research by the Center for Conservation Biology has tracked Whimbrels regularly … Read More