April, 2009
Birding Island Cottage Woods in April
The southern shore of Lake Ontario has many well-known hotspots for birds, some of which serve as important migratory stopovers where birds rest and refuel before moving across the big lake to northerly climes. Island Cottage Woods, a 61-acre nature preserve managed by the Genesee Land Trust, is one such site. Located a stone’s throw from the [...]
The Worst Video of A Snowy Owl EVER
Glad I caught your attention. Well, I’m not kidding. This is bad video footage. It was a rotten, frigid day with wind blowing off the Great Lake of Ontario. I was standing on the side of a narrow, busy road with my van illegally parked, hazards flashing, leaning on a guard rail, and fighting gale force [...]
Seven Owls, One New York Winter
Owls may be quiet, secretive, and hard to find, but this past winter was an incredible winter for owls for me. I luxuriated in long looks of Snowy, Great Horned, Long-eared, Short-eared, and Northern Saw-Whet owls, and while less thrilling but no less important, caught vocalizations of both Barred and Screech owls. My first Life [...]
Chasing a Black-headed Needle In a Haystack (part 3)
This story continues from (part 1), (part 2) *** We stood on the banks of the Niagara River staring at a ginormous flock of seagulls. Thankfully, Brad is a patient and knowledgeable birder. Cross that with an obsessive desire to finally nail his NY nemesis, he needed all the eyes he could train on this flock. He [...]
Chasing a Black-headed Needle In a Haystack (part 2)
This story continues from Part 1 *** So you see, I had no choice but to leave my desk and travel on a very short bird chase to Niagara Falls from Rochester, NY. We’ll be back by 1 pm, he promised. We’ll just do a quick check of the river. It sounded fishy. But when ignorance works in [...]
Chasing A Black-headed Needle In A Haystack (part 1)
I’m always amazed by what lengths extreme birders will go to spot a rare or unusual bird; how much effort, time, gas, and money they expend, and how many responsibilities they’ll drop faster than a hot potato. The funniest part is what IMPROBABLE ODDS they’re willing to scale to spot a single rare bird, particularly [...]
Today I Got My Game (Bird) On
Unless you’re a hunter or live in the boonies, it’s unusual to spot more than one game bird species on a typical outing. Today, in addition to the ever present Canada SkyCarp, I bagged (figuratively) at least six American Woodcocks and a Ring-necked Pheasant. The Am. Woodcocks were not a surprise. Males of the species are have [...]
Tale of Two Headless White Pelicans
As luck would have it, my visit to Jamestown, NY coincided with the unexpected visit of two American White Pelicans.
Ninety years of birdwatchers’ notes going online
As a person with a background in citizen science (the term used to describe projects where a network of volunteers collect observations and send them to scientists), this Yahoo! headline caught my eye: Ninety years of birdwatchers’ notes going online For most of the last century, 6 million notecards containing observations made by bird watchers [...]
