Tag: Birding
Birding With Kids: The Raw, Unfiltered Truth
I’m ALL FOR getting kids inspired by nature, but as I’ve said before, here at Birds, Words, & Websites, I’m all about the truth. Therefore, I must beg you to consider the raw, unfiltered reality of birding with kids before you attempt this yourself.
Where Birding Meets the iPhone
A quick note here to let you know that my latest article, a fun story covering seven ways the iPhone enhances my birding, can be found in the October issue of Birder’s World.
Birding Guide: Eastern Shore of Virginia (Pt 1)
The Eastern Shore of Virginia is a critical staging area for migratory birds along the mid-Atlantic flyway. Each fall, favorable wind conditions funnel migratory birds down the DelMarVa Peninsula where they rest and refuel on its largely undeveloped coastline.
Roseate Spoonbill – Delaware’s First Record
Here’s a reason to use Twitter: it can put you onto a rare bird faster than a New York minute!
The first Roseate Spoonbill ever to grace Delaware’s shores was observed the Sunday before my trip to Maryland. The bird—believed to be a first-year juvenile —was first observed in Fenwick Island (Assawoman Bay) in the extreme southeast corner of the state, close enough to the MD line to make MD listers green with envy (and hoping for a strong north wind).
Birding the Adirondacks: Overview
Rarely have I been so lucky as to immerse myself in four full days of birding in an entirely new habitat, so close to home. I have been on extended birding tours in Honduras, Belize and other places, but what’s exceptional about the Adirondack Park is that it is a largely unspoiled 6-million acre wildlife [...]
Great Adirondack Birding Celebration – THIS weekend!
REMINDER: The Seventh Annual Great Adirondack Birding Celebration will be held June 5-7 at the Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Center in Paul Smiths. The weekend features birding trips, lectures, workshop and the popular Teddy Roosevelt Birding Challenge. The keynote address will be given by Bridget Stutchbury, York University professor of biology. For more information, [...]
How My Nikon Ruined Me For Bird Watching
When my mother-in-law says “garage sales ruined me for retail!” I think I know what she meant. Birding has taken a strange twist since I bought my first dSLR with zoom (Nikon D90 with 70-300 mm lens) a few months ago. Before, I could be completely satisfied to tick off a wide variety of migratory [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
