Tag: Travel
Buff-bellied Hummingbird at RGV
I have exactly ten seconds to post something before festivities continue, so here is an image of Buff-bellied Hummingbird seen at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. More soon!
Revved up for RGV!
In two days I’ll be escaping the chill of upstate New York and plunking myself down in the sun-drenched land of southeastern Texas for the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Birding Festival (held in Harlingen, Texas). It looks like festival attendees are in for some good weather, as long as Hurricane Ida behaves. Already, early reports say [...]
Rio Grande Valley Festival Coming Soon!
Apparently, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that showed up in central NY last week had a message for me: Get to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival! And quick! “You REALLY ought to get the Rio Grande Valley Birding festival, Laura,” said a friend a few years back. “It’s one of the biggest festivals of the year, [...]
Scenes from a Boston “Duck Tour”
Coffee, cards, beer, Betsy’s home cooking, and watching the kids destroy the house. Those were the only requests we had on a recent trip to visit some of our oldest and dearest friends and their two kids in Boston, MA. What more do old friends need? Being nature geeks, we had brief hopes for a whale-watching tour out [...]
Approaches to Bird Identification & A Kirtland’s Warbler
I recall an interesting conversation I had at the Midwest Birding Symposium on approaches to bird identification. To set the stage, I also dug up a few more decent shots of the Kirtland’s Warbler at East Harbor State Park, western Lake Erie in Ohio (September 18, 2009). At lunch I had the pleasure of sitting [...]
Flying High Over the High Peaks
Flying at 6,000 feet over the Adirondack High Peaks was a major soul-tank filler and a great introduction to the mountain ranges we’d soon climb.
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.
Birding Guide: Eastern Shore of Virginia (Part III: Links)
The Eastern Shore of Virginia contains the longest stretch of undeveloped coast on the eastern seaboard. Here’s a list of the best natural areas on the peninsula with recommendations for lodging, food, and area attractions.
Wandering Winding Down, Writing Winding Up
May, June, and July have been a swirl of travel, birding, photography, deadlines, and outdoor pursuits. I’ve traveled to the Adirondacks for four days, to the East Coast for five, and then back to the Adirondacks for another week. I’ve slogged through buggy bogs, toured isolated islands by boat and ferry, canoed winding rivers, climbed three mountains, and toured the High Peaks in a six-seat Cessna.
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).
Five Reasons to Climb a Mountain This Summer
Another installment in my Adirondacks series: I want to show you five reasons you should climb a mountain in the Adirondacks this summer: And now I want to give you five easy Adirondack mountains to climb. So head on over to Rochester’s City Newspaper Summer Guide ’09, which just published my list of Five Easy Hikes [...]
