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
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
Belize Mammal Spotlight: Baird’s Tapir
Last fall, I had the opportunity to travel to Belize to participate in the Belize Raptor Research Institute Cattle Landing Hawk Watch. Through this experience, I met count leader Victor Bonilla, who also works for Ya’axche Conservation Trust in Belize. I feel very grateful to have met Victor, and I learned a lot about the local raptors in Belize from both him … Read More
Weekend Digiscoping Spotlight 29
The Weekend 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. Coming to you all the way from the Eastern Hemisphere, I figured I … Read More
Ducks in the City
The majority of waterways in Pennsylvania are frozen up tight, as are most of the northeastern states, aside from a few small pockets here and there. Luckily for birders, one stretch of open water along the Susquehanna River is near the mouth of the Conodoquinet Creek where the West Fairview boat launch is located. This location is a birding hotspot throughout the year; … Read More
Weekend Digiscoping Spotlight 28
The Weekend 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. Yeah, I know that an Anhinga was last weeks digiscoping spotlight, but Anhingas … Read More
Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrows in PA
After having a great opportunity to study an adult Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) at Arlene Koch’s property last weekend near Easton, while also enjoying the immature Harris’s Sparrow there, I was interested to learn more about this western subspecies’ history in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic. Gambel’s White-crowneds are essentially the western-Canadian counterpart of our more familiar Eastern birds … Read More