Where Are You Birding This Third Weekend of July 2008?

We’re almost a month into summer around here and I’m ready to relax. Too bad there’s so much to do in July! Where are you watching birds this weekend? Comment below on the excitement you have planned!
I and a small army of friends and family will, as is our tradition in the third weekend of […]

Where Are You Birding This Second Weekend of July 2008?

It’s hot out there, at least on my side of the Earth. Don’t let high temperatures keep you indoors! If you can brave the heat, you’re bound to see something beautiful. So where are you going birding this weekend? Comment below on the excitement you have planned!
I’ll be ogling avifauna at Ocean City, Maryland. This […]

Clapper Rail at the Marine Nature Study Area

So, if you aren’t already sick of the birds of the Marine Nature Study Area after over imbibing on Black Skimmers and Great Egrets, there is one more bird that Daisy and Kerry and I spotted there that I would like to share with you: a Clapper Rail!  After we had been at the preserve […]

Black Skimmers at the Marine Nature Study Area

In my last post, about the Great Egrets at the Marine Nature Study Area, I said that I would be doing a full post about the birding adventure that we had.  Well, I guess I’m a liar.  Going through the pictures I took (and I managed to fill up my camera) I realized that almost […]

I and the Bird #79: The Third Anniversary Edition

 

 
“I and the Bird” is three years old! That’s amazing. I remember the conversation Mike and I had when we first met back in 2005 (we went to Jamaica Bay if you’re interested) and he talked about an idea he’d had for a new blog carnival he was launching called “I and the Bird” (IATB). […]

Have You Blogged About Why You’re Still Blogging?

For the upcoming 3rd anniversary edition of I and the Bird, we’re asking a rather direct, if not altogether awkward question: Why are you still bird blogging?
Did that touch a nerve? We’d rather it got your wheels spinning or, better yet, those blogging juices flowing! After all, most bloggers leap at the opportunity to write […]

Canada… The Conservation Capital of the World

Did you hear this incredible news? The Canadian Province of Ontario announced last week that it will conserve a huge swath of the province’s northern wilderness, the area we frequently reference as the Boreal Forest. The promise to permanently protect at least 225,000 square kilometers of the Canadian Boreal Forest has been universally lauded by […]

Planning on Visiting Washington DC This Thursday?

You might want to drop in on the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Oversight Hearing…
The House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans will hear from experts including American Bird Conservancy’s Vice President for International Programs Dr. George Wallace and others to further investigate the factors affecting stressed bird populations and bird habitats, and […]

William Blake’s “The Birds”

William Blake, the 18th and 19th century English poet, painter and engraver, is most remembered for his two linked collections of poems, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.  Of all of Blake’s poems, people are most familiar with the oft-anthologized “The Tyger” from the latter volume, though he wrote many other poems worth reading […]

Swainson’s Francolin at dawn

A couple of days ago I posted a short trip report on a visit I made to one of my favourite spots on earth - Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in South Africa. Writing the post reminded me of just how many birds I’ve seen at this one small site, and I thought I might put a […]

Book Review: “A Guide to the Birds of East Africa - A Novel”

Review: “A Guide to the Birds of East Africa - A Novel”
Nicholas Drayson
The summer holidays are coming (for some of us anyway) and perhaps you’re thinking about a book to read “on the beach” or in the hammock at home? If you are - and even if you’re not - I’d like to recommend […]

Review: “Woodland Birds of North America”

There are some absolutely gorgeous photos of birds in Scott Leslie’s Woodland Birds of North America. The book, which is billed on the cover as “A guide to observation, understanding, and conservation,” has at least two pictures of almost every one of the nearly 100 species described in it (nearly 200 pictures altogether). […]

Hybrid Thrush Found in Vermont

A hybrid thrush has been found on Stratton Mountain in Vermont.  The bird, which was determined through DNA analysis to be part Bicknell’s Thrush and part Veery, was found by researchers with the Vermont Center for Ecostudies who were studying Bicknell’s Thrush on the breeding grounds.  It was first noticed by a researcher who heard […]

Blue Crane, South Africa’s National Bird

Blue Crane Anthropoides paradisea
Agulhas Plains, Cape Province, South Africa. April.

One of the smallest of the 15 crane species worldwide the Vulnerable Blue Crane is the national bird of South Africa. It’s endemic to southern Africa, with more than 99% of the population occurring within South Africa (a small disjunct breeding population of approximately 60 individuals […]

Birding Jamaica Bay in July

The shorebird time is upon us.  The time of heat and mud and undying stench.  The time of bloodthirsty mosquitoes and ravenous deer flies.  The time of heat shimmer, feather wear, and sweat streaming into eyes.  The time of spotting scope, rubber boots, and odd looks on the bus.  Shorebirds suck.
Which is why I didn’t […]

So How’d Abuja Suit Ya?

Pretty well, thanks for asking (and, yes, that is the best line I can come up with after just thirty minutes sleep and six hours wandering around a park in Nigeria, sorry).

I have to say I was really looking forward to this trip. My Year List has been idling rather than surging ahead (Graham has […]

They Grow Up So Quickly

I feel like I owe everyone an apology. It’s been ages since I’ve posted pictures of my children and for that, I am sorry. After all, they are... 

Kids grow up so quickly

So How’d Abuja Suit Ya?

Pretty well, thanks for asking (and, yes, that is the best line I can come up with after just thirty minutes sleep and six hours wandering around a... 

even if I'd seen very little else getting such good views of a bird like this would have made staying awake so long worthwhile

Birds of Chicken Inferno 2008

What a weekend! While the rest of the Northern Hemisphere responds to the siren song of summer by visiting beaches, lakes, and air-conditioned malls,... 

All hail the tenth Chicken Inferno!

Diamondback Terrapin at Jamaica Bay

In my walk around Jamaica Bay today I saw many cool birds, some neat bugs, and, best of all, a Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) burying... 

Diamondback Terrapin at Jamaica Bay

Clapper Rail at the Marine Nature Study Area

So, if you aren’t already sick of the birds of the Marine Nature Study Area after over imbibing on Black Skimmers and Great Egrets,... 

Clapper Rail taking a bath at the Marine Nature Study Area

Made of Fail

Kids today have such colorful colloquialisms, don’t they? Instead of describing an ill-conceived venture as wobbly, weak, lacking in coolness, or destined for... 

Made of fail

Black Skimmers at the Marine Nature Study Area

In my last post, about the Great Egrets at the Marine Nature Study Area, I said that I would be doing a full post about the birding... 

Black Skimmer skimming.

Swedish, Crested, and Manky

During my most recent trip to California, I had a chance to drop in on Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in Los Angeles. The waterfowl there were mighty... 

Swedish X Crested Manky Mallard

Birding Ocean City

This past weekend, the Core Team - Sara, Mason, Ivy, and I - met with my siblings and aunts in Ocean City, Maryland to celebrate my mother’s 60th birthday... 

Ocean City, MD is fun but the birding is bleak.

Blue Crane, South Africa’s National Bird

Blue Crane Anthropoides paradisea Agulhas Plains, Cape Province, South Africa. April. One of the smallest of the 15 crane species... 

One of the smallest of the 15 crane species worldwide

Newest Posts

William Blake’s “The Birds”

By Corey • July 24, 2008 • 1 comment

William Blake, the 18th and 19th century English poet, painter and engraver, is most remembered for his two linked collections of poems, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.  Of all of Blake’s poems, people are most familiar with the oft-anthologized “The Tyger” from the latter volume, though he wrote many other poems worth reading […]

I and the Bird #80

By Mike • July 24, 2008 • No comments yet

Welcome to the fourth year of I and the Bird! Our third anniversary bash really was something, thanks to our distinguished host and scintillating contributors. You can be forgiven for not reading through all the entries (…yet) but one response to the topic question spoke unexpectedly, albeit eloquently to the narrow scope of the topic […]

They Grow Up So Quickly

By Mike • July 23, 2008 • 3 comments

I feel like I owe everyone an apology. It’s been ages since I’ve posted pictures of my children and for that, I am sorry. After all, they are both truly sensational individuals. While 10,000 Birds is older than either of them, Mason and Ivy still tie for first in my heart. They demand more time […]

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