Birding
Family Travel Car Game for Birders
Birding while driving has taken on a whole new dimension with this family friendly traveling car game inspired by the worlds’ birds.
Yellowstone National Park: What to Drive?
You’ll be driving mile after starstruck mile in Yellowstone park, so a good vehicle is key. Taking on such an expensive vacation may tempt you to think your usual economy rental car, something like a Ford Focus, will be sufficient as you cart your family around with a mountain of luggage, gear, and food. But [...]
Animated short: Gulls. Are WE the crazy nut job birders?
My latest animated short is produced in honor of this weekend’s World Series of Birding, and is inspired by a sketch performed by the brilliant comedy team of Mitchell & Webb. The sketch is called “Are we the Baddies?” and in order to fully understand my short, you probably want to watch it first. Or after.. The short pits California gullers against Cape May birders during the World Series of Birding.
A Spring Walk on the Esker Trail
Today I finally got out on the trail again…after a long winter and too much rain and too much inside work. My local trail – the Esker Trail – is a brutal 5-mile course that doesn’t know the meaning of “flat.” I adore this trail as a slave adores a kind master. Hiking it a [...]
Highlights from The Biggest Week in American Birding
I just returned from western Lake Erie (Ohio) where I attended The Biggest Week in American Birding, a migration celebration centered at the warbler capital of the world: Magee Marsh/Crane Creek/Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Hosted by The Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Ottawa NWR, and Tropical Birding, the festival includes seminars, workshops, and free guiding services along [...]
Sounds of Magee Marsh
What bird sounds do you hear in this video? I just returned from The Biggest Week in American Birding, where I presented on the topic of bird watching apps and birded the boardwalk at Magee Marsh on the western Lake Erie coast (Northwest Ohio). The woodlands surrounding the boardwalk at Magee Marsh are full of songbirds this [...]
New Birders’ Weekend Package in Adirondack Park
Explorers and Birders: Here’s your opportunity to visit the Adirondacks, stay in a great hotel/resort, and receive expert guiding that will get you boreal specialties such as Bicknell’s Thrush and American Three-toed Woodpecker. I have birded throughout the ADK and stayed at High Peaks Resort. I can vouch for the beauty and birdiness of the location [...]
Birds: A Common Denominator
Having just returned from the Travel & Words Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference in Seattle, I’m aflutter with ideas for promoting birding travel. The conference was an opportunity for members of the media to meet and interact with tourism professionals from regional tourism boards from northern Washington to Willamette Valley, Oregon. I met and heard stories from [...]
Video: Hummingbirds of Tandayapa Bird Lodge
The hummingbirds at Tandayapa Bird Lodge (NW Ecuador) will blow your mind. More than 24 species have been recorded here, easy to see over ten species in a few minutes. They flit, fly, and buzz past your ear to the feeders on every corner of the lodge deck. The action is non-stop all day, and [...]
Your Letter Can Help Put Bird-Friendly Coffee in Wegman’s (#ROC)
Please write a letter to the Sustainability Coordinator at Wegmans Food Markets asking him to sell bird-friendly coffee at Wegmans. At this very moment, they are being asked by Birds & Beans to put their brand of certified bird-friendly beans on the shelf. Your letter and voice of support– right now–can help place bird-friendly coffee into a major into the region — which means you’ll have better options at the store.
Birding in Ecuador’s Tandayapa Valley & High Andes (Slideshow)
What can I say, Birding in Ecuador was crazy good. There were new, amazing birds around every bend. It was like being followed from dawn to dusk by a caravan of delivery trucks that would dump out new lifers and new families every few hundred yards. Here is a travelogue of our trip captured in photos. Click [...]
